#DDDD21

sRGB · 221 / 221 / 33

#DDDD21 belongs to the yellow family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 221 red, 221 green and 33 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 60.0° lands in the yellow region. Its 74.0% saturation makes it strong in color at this lightness. HSL lightness is 49.8% on a scale from black (0%) to white (100%). Of black and white lettering, black has the clearer light-to-dark separation on this background (14.44:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 221, 221, 33
HSL: 60.00°, 74.02%, 49.80%
HSV / HSB: 60.00°, 85.07%, 86.67%
CMYK (approx.): 0.00%, 0.00%, 85.07%, 13.33%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 55.948, 67.195, 11.462
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 85.603, -18.903, 80.750
WCAG relative luminance: 0.67195
24-bit decimal: 14540065

CMYK uses a profile-free approximation. Printed output depends on the press, ink and paper. Lab uses a D65 white point.

Text contrast

Contrast tells you how clearly lettering separates from #DDDD21 in light and dark. The ratio compares relative luminance, a measure of light weighted for human vision. Identical colors give 1:1 and black against white gives 21:1. A ratio of 2.99:1 falls just below the 3:1 AA minimum for large text. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 because its finer strokes are harder to distinguish.

Black text · 14.44:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text · 1.45:1

Normal text: Fail
Large text: Fail

AA and AAA are WCAG accessibility levels. AAA sets a higher bar: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Large text begins at 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold. Ratings use the unrounded ratio. WCAG text contrast guidance

Palettes & scales

Harmonies rotate the hue. Scales mix the starting color with white, black or middle gray in 20% steps in encoded sRGB.

Complementary

#2121DD sits half a turn (180°) from #DDDD21 on the HSL wheel. Keeping saturation and lightness steady while crossing to the opposite hue gives you a contrasting accent. Check text contrast separately before using the pair for lettering.

#DDDD21 #2121DD

Analogous

#DD7F21 and #7FDD21 sit 30° to either side of #DDDD21. The three hues are neighbors on the wheel, so you can change the color of a border or highlight while keeping it close to the original.

#DD7F21 #DDDD21 #7FDD21

Triadic

#DDDD21, #21DDDD and #DD21DD are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#DDDD21 #21DDDD #DD21DD

Split complementary

Start at #DDDD21 and look across the wheel. #217FDD and #7F21DD sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#DDDD21 #217FDD #7F21DD

Square

Starting with #DDDD21, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #21DD7F, #2121DD, then #DD217F. Across the square, #DDDD21 pairs with #2121DD, and #21DD7F with #DD217F.

#DDDD21 #21DD7F #2121DD #DD217F

Tetradic

#DDDD21 and #2121DD are opposites, as are #21DD21 and #DD21DD. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#DDDD21 #21DD21 #2121DD #DD21DD

Tints

Mixing #DDDD21 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #E4E44D, keeps 80% of the original. By #F8F8D3, the mixture is 80% white.

#DDDD21 #E4E44D #EBEB7A #F1F1A6 #F8F8D3 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #DDDD21 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #B1B11A, keeps 80% of the original. By #2C2C07, the mixture is 80% black.

#DDDD21 #B1B11A #858514 #58580D #2C2C07 #000000

Tones

Mixing #DDDD21 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #CACA34, keeps 80% of the original. By #93936D, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#DDDD21 #CACA34 #B8B847 #A5A55A #93936D #808080

Copy color codes

Hex, RGB and HSL are three ways to write this screen color. Paste any of them into a CSS color property.

Hex

#DDDD21

RGB

rgb(221 221 33)

HSL

hsl(60.000 74.016% 49.804%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #DDDD21;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#DDDD21 uses 221 red, 221 green and 33 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 86.7%

Green 86.7%

Blue 12.9%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #DDDD21 is 0.0% cyan, 0.0% magenta, 85.1% yellow and 13.3% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 0.0%

Magenta 0.0%

Yellow 85.1%

Black 13.3%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #DDDD22. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #DD2 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #DDDD21 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCC33, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand · #DDDD22 Nearest web-safe · #CCCC33

Gradient to complement

#DDDD21 #BEBE40 #9E9E60 #7F7F7F #60609E #4040BE #2121DD

Color vision previews

Compare how #DDDD21 appears in each simulation. When two chart lines or status indicators become hard to tell apart, a label, shape or line pattern gives readers another way to distinguish them. Individual perception varies.

Protanopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from long-wavelength cones, some reds and greens can look alike, and reds can appear darker.

#F0D300

Deuteranopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from medium-wavelength cones, some greens can be difficult to distinguish from reds or browns.

#F2D836

Tritanopia

A blue–yellow color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from short-wavelength cones, blue can resemble green, and yellow can resemble pink.

#EDCEBD

Protanomaly (50%)

An altered long-wavelength cone response can make reds appear dimmer and harder to distinguish from greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#EAD700

Deuteranomaly (50%)

An altered medium-wavelength cone response can reduce the visible difference between reds and greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#EBD92E

Tritanomaly (50%)

An altered short-wavelength cone response can make blue harder to distinguish from green. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#E1D87A

Grayscale (luminance)

This design check removes hue and preserves relative luminance so you can compare light and dark areas.

#D6D6D6

Partial grayscale (50% blend)

This design check mixes the original color halfway toward its grayscale equivalent in linear light. Use it to see how a design holds up as color fades.

#DADA9E

Technical reference

CAM16 and CIECAM02 below assume D65 white, an average surround, background Y of 20 against white at 100, and adapting luminance of 4.07 cd/m².

Linear sRGB

These channels scale with emitted light. Use them for lighting calculations and physically meaningful blends.

R 0.72306 G 0.72306 B 0.01521

Display P3

P3 displays can reproduce a wider range of reds and greens. These coordinates reproduce this same sRGB swatch on a color-managed P3 display.

R 0.86667 G 0.86667 B 0.31050

Linear Display P3

These P3 channels are proportional to light, before display encoding.

R 0.72306 G 0.72306 B 0.07855

CIE xyY

The x and y coordinates locate chromaticity on a diagram. Y gives relative luminance on a scale where white is 100.

x 0.416 y 0.499 Y 67.195

CMY

Ideal cyan, magenta and yellow are the complements of the encoded red, green and blue channels.

C % 13.333 M % 13.333 Y % 87.059

Binary RGB

Each eight-bit group represents one channel. Together they store the 24-bit hex color.

11011101 11011101 00100001