Color #686A4E Color / Colour Code #686A4E
This page shows the hex color code for color #686a4e (#686A4E). The colour is a yellow tone with 15% saturation and 36% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #686A4E against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#686A4E paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 34, 64, and 94 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 64, 184, and 304 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #686A4E
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 64 and saturation at 15%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 64 to 109 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 64 with its complement at 244 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #686A4E
Lightness variations at hue 64 and 15% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #686A4E
Design Use Cases for #686A4E
Muted Accent Color
With 15% saturation, #686A4E has a subtle, sophisticated quality. This level of desaturation works well for secondary buttons, inactive states, subtle borders, and backgrounds that need a hint of color without being distracting. Muted colors communicate restraint and professionalism.
Primary Interface Color
At 36% lightness, #686A4E is in the mid-range, making it ideal for interactive elements like buttons, links, and selected states. This lightness level ensures good contrast against both light and dark adjacent elements in most layouts.
Attention & Optimism
#686A4E is in the yellow spectrum (hue 64). Yellow attracts attention faster than any other color. Use it for warning labels, featured content markers, star ratings, and tooltip backgrounds. Pair with dark text since yellow often fails contrast checks against white.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #686A4E (hue 64) to its complement at hue 244. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 94. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #686a4e, #504e6a);
CSS Code for #686A4E
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #686A4E based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #686A4E across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #686A4E (#686A4E)
#686A4E is a yellow color (colour) with RGB channel values of 104 red, 106 green, and 78 blue. The green channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 64 degrees with 15% saturation and 36% lightness, placing it in the neutral-to-cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #686A4E is 102/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This appears dark to the human eye, so pair it with light text for adequate readability. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 2% cyan, 0% magenta, 26% yellow, and 58% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #686A4E against white is 5.58:1 and against black is 3.76:1. This meets the AA requirement (4.5:1) for normal text on white. For AAA compliance, consider darkening to at least 25% lightness.
The complementary colour #504E6A creates maximum visual tension when paired with #686A4E. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #6A5E4E and #5A6A4E, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #686A4E
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #686A4E?
- #686A4E is Color #686A4E, a yellow color (colour) with RGB(104, 106, 78), HSL(64, 15%, 36%), and CMYK(2%, 0%, 26%, 58%). Its perceived brightness is 102/255.
- Is #686A4E accessible for text?
- Against white, #686A4E has a contrast ratio of 5.58:1 (passes AA for normal text). Against black, it has 3.76:1 (fails AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #686A4E?
- The complementary colour is #504E6A (hue 244). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #6A5E4E and #5A6A4E. The triadic palette adds #4E686A and #6A4E68 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #686A4E in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #686a4e; or rgb(104, 106, 78); or hsl(64, 15%, 36%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 64 15% 36%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.