Yellow #FFFF00

Yellow (#FFFF00) is a near-white, vivid yellow with an OKLCH hue of 110°, lightness 0.97 and chroma 0.211. It sits on the warm side of the color wheel. In practice it behaves as a mid-weight working color for secondary surfaces and editorial blocks.

Color values

HEX#FFFF00
RGBrgb(255, 255, 0)
HSLhsl(60, 100%, 50%)
HSVhsv(60, 100%, 100%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 0%, 100%, 0%)
CIE Lablab(97.1 -21.6 94.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.968 0.211 110)

How Yellow behaves under real light

Under warm 2700K interior light Yellow shifts subtly: leans toward orange; in north-facing or shaded light it is virtually unchanged. Overall drift across common illuminants is small (max ΔE ≈ 1.7), so it is a lighting-stable choice.

Contrast & accessibility

Against white it measures 1.07:1 and against black 19.56:1, so black text is the stronger pairing. That pairing passes WCAG AA for body text. Avoid white text on this color entirely.

Palettes built from Yellow

Tonal

One color explored: close hues with real lightness and chroma structure, so the palette is the anchor through value rather than a set of colors.

#ffff00 · #d2d200 · #a9a900 · #828200 · #5d5d00 · #3b3b00

Analogous

The anchor's neighbours on the wheel — everything shares an undertone, so the chord carries color without anything having to be muted to get along.

#ffff00 · #ffdf6c · #ffc158 · #ffa142 · #fd7e3a · #e86655

Shifted

The mid-gap pairing — sage and mustard, terracotta and olive. A foil rotated 40–65° toward warm or cool: too far to be kin, too near to argue, carried by temperature and a deliberate value offset.

#ffff00 · #71c99f · #9b9b00 · #008d5f · #5e5e00 · #004c31

Contrast

One deliberately opposed voice — a single restrained counterpoint across the wheel, or temperature against temperature where the anchor is too muted to carry a loud opposite.

#ffff00 · #d2d5a5 · #b2b457 · #90913e · #6c43d6 · #323200

Quiet Support

The anchor as the only color in the room. True neutrals or complement-warmed near-neutrals let it stay dominant.

#ffff00 · #d6d4ea · #98997b · #5a5967 · #272706 · #010006

Bright Accent

This color as a ground rather than a subject — its own restraint held across a narrow value band, carrying one saturated voice from the opposite temperature.

#f1f0fc · #c8c7d5 · #9b9aa9 · #222031 · #04020e · #ffff00

Complementary

The opposite hue on the perceptual wheel, tempered to field strength — warm/cool tension without vibration.

#ffff00 · #c9eacf · #81b583 · #bf2eeb · #2c375f · #1e0615

Split-complementary

The complement's two neighbours instead of the complement itself — strong contrast with a lower clash risk.

#ffff00 · #b9e2f5 · #86a8d3 · #7a49a4 · #2b3857 · #170f04

Triadic

Three hues spaced evenly around the wheel; the anchor leads and the other two are held at supporting strength.

#ffff00 · #acdff9 · #00a4d8 · #a2006a · #49002d · #00050c

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs offset by 90° — the richest chord, kept usable by a strict lightness hierarchy.

#ffff00 · #a5e4e7 · #00abb2 · #6032c5 · #4d000d · #02000f

Tints, shades & muted variants

Tints

#FDFE51 · #FCFE73 · #FBFD8D · #F9FCA4 · #F8FBB8

Shades

#CFCF00 · #A2A200 · #767600 · #4E4E00 · #292800

Muted

#FCFE6C · #F9FC99 · #F7FABE

Using Yellow

Its moderate chroma lets it work in mid-size areas — upholstery, secondary UI surfaces, editorial blocks — without overwhelming neighbors. In palettes it pairs most predictably with its tonal ramp and analogous neighbors; reserve the complementary hue for small, deliberate contrast.

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