#FDCD21

sRGB: 253 / 205 / 33

#FDCD21 belongs to the yellow family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 253 red, 205 green and 33 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 46.9° lands in the yellow region. Its 98.2% saturation makes it strong in color at this lightness. HSL lightness is 56.1% 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 (13.93:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 253, 205, 33
HSL: 46.91°, 98.21%, 56.08%
HSV / HSB: 46.91°, 86.96%, 99.22%
CMYK (approx.): 0.00%, 18.97%, 86.96%, 0.78%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 62.612, 64.657, 10.621
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 84.307, 2.700, 80.883
WCAG relative luminance: 0.64655
24-bit decimal: 16633121

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 #FDCD21 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: 13.93:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text: 1.51:1

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.

Reference: 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

#2151FD sits half a turn (180°) from #FDCD21 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.

#FDCD21 #2151FD

Analogous

#FD5F21 and #BFFD21 sit 30° to either side of #FDCD21. 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.

#FD5F21 #FDCD21 #BFFD21

Triadic

#FDCD21, #21FDCD and #CD21FD are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#FDCD21 #21FDCD #CD21FD

Split complementary

Start at #FDCD21 and look across the wheel. #21BFFD and #5F21FD sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#FDCD21 #21BFFD #5F21FD

Square

Starting with #FDCD21, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #21FD5F, #2151FD, then #FD21BF. Across the square, #FDCD21 pairs with #2151FD, and #21FD5F with #FD21BF.

#FDCD21 #21FD5F #2151FD #FD21BF

Tetradic

#FDCD21 and #2151FD are opposites, as are #51FD21 and #CD21FD. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#FDCD21 #51FD21 #2151FD #CD21FD

Tints

Mixing #FDCD21 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #FDD74D, keeps 80% of the original. By #FFF5D3, the mixture is 80% white.

#FDCD21 #FDD74D #FEE17A #FEEBA6 #FFF5D3 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #FDCD21 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #CAA41A, keeps 80% of the original. By #332907, the mixture is 80% black.

#FDCD21 #CAA41A #987B14 #65520D #332907 #000000

Tones

Mixing #FDCD21 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #E4BE34, keeps 80% of the original. By #998F6D, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#FDCD21 #E4BE34 #CBAE47 #B29F5A #998F6D #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

#FDCD21

RGB

rgb(253 205 33)

HSL

hsl(46.909 98.214% 56.078%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #FDCD21;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#FDCD21 uses 253 red, 205 green and 33 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 99.2%

Green 80.4%

Blue 12.9%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #FDCD21 is 0.0% cyan, 19.0% magenta, 87.0% yellow and 0.8% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 0.0%

Magenta 19.0%

Yellow 87.0%

Black 0.8%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #FFCC22. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #FC2 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #FDCD21 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #FFCC33, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #FFCC22 Nearest web-safe: #FFCC33

Gradient to complement

#FDCD21 #D8B846 #B4A46A #8F8F8F #6A7AB4 #4666D8 #2151FD

Color vision previews

Compare how #FDCD21 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.

#E6CB00

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.

#F1D830

Tritanopia

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

#FFBAAF

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.

#EFCD00

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.

#F4D428

Tritanomaly (50%)

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

#FFC872

Grayscale (luminance)

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

#D2D2D2

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.

#E9D09C

Reference: National Eye Institute: Types of Color Vision Deficiency

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 0.98225 G 0.61050 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 0.96224 G 0.81111 B 0.30318

Linear Display P3

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

R 0.91625 G 0.62284 B 0.07483

CIE xyY

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

x 0.454 y 0.469 Y 64.657

CMY

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

C % 0.784 M % 19.608 Y % 87.059

Binary RGB

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

11111101 11001101 00100001