Tints & Shades
50
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Scale from white (50) through Daffodil (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #FFFF31
- RGB
- rgb(255, 255, 49)
- HSL
- hsl(60, 100%, 60%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.969 0.201 110)
- CMYK
- cmyk(0%, 0%, 81%, 0%)
--color-daffodilbg-[#FFFF31]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
1.07:1
On Black (#000)
19.6:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
1.02:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #FFFF31
color: #FFFF31
bg-[#FFFF31] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #FFFF31
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Blue
#0000FF
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Yellow is the most luminous color in the visible spectrum — the color our eyes detect first and at the greatest distance. It stimulates mental activity, promotes optimism, and conveys clarity. However, yellow is also the most fatiguing for the human eye at extended exposure, and pure yellow text on white fails all accessibility standards. In design, yellow works best as an accent or background for dark text. Golden yellows signal warmth and achievement; cool lemons feel fresh and modern. Yellow is the universal color of caution — from traffic lights to hazard tape. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Daffodil is applied in professional design.
- Taxi and transportation services
- Construction and heavy machinery
- Children's education products and toys
- Fast food and energy-focused brands
- Caution and safety signage
- Summer and outdoor lifestyle brands
- Optimistic lifestyle and wellness brands
- Creative agencies emphasizing ideas
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Daffodil is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (19.60:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #FFFF31;Text
color: #FFFF31;Border
border: 2px solid #FFFF31;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #FFFF3140;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #FFFF31, #ffff6d);Tailwind-style
--color-daffodil: #FFFF31;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Daffodil without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#FFFF31]Text
text-[#FFFF31]Border
border-[#FFFF31]Ring
ring-[#FFFF31]Fill
fill-[#FFFF31]From (gradient)
from-[#FFFF31]Via (gradient)
via-[#FFFF31]To (gradient)
to-[#FFFF31]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Daffodil design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-daffodil: #FFFF31;
--color-daffodil-rgb: 255, 255, 49;
--color-daffodil-hsl: 60, 100%, 60%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-daffodil: #FFFF31; $color-daffodil-rgb: 255, 255, 49; $color-daffodil-hsl: 60, 100%, 60%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'daffodil': '#FFFF31',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-daffodil: #FFFF31;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"daffodil": {
"value": "#FFFF31",
"type": "color",
"description": "Daffodil — #FFFF31"
}
}More yellow colors
View all →What Does Daffodil Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
Yellow's psychological power comes from its dual role: the color of the sun and the color of warning tape. Daffodil leans toward the former—its mid-tone quality at 60% lightness emphasizing energy over alarm.
- Across color psychology research, yellow consistently tests high for "optimism" associations, making Daffodil a reliable vehicle for energy in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on yellow-family tones to project approachability and energy—values that Daffodil communicates in a mid-tone key.
- At 100% saturation, Daffodil reads as vivid—Pure vivid yellow is the highest-chroma color the human eye perceives—it cannot be ignored and is physiologically stimulating, even more so than red in some attention research.
- Daffodil's mid-tone lightness (60%) shifts its psychological register: a balanced mid-tone that embodies optimism, clarity, intellect, and caution at its most direct.
Daffodil is the color of first impressions—it arrives before everything else and sets the energy level for what follows.
How to Use Daffodil in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
Daffodil requires careful deployment in design—its high luminosity makes it nearly impossible to use as text on white backgrounds, but as an accent, background, or highlight it has no equal for drawing the eye.
- Avoid: body text on white (extremely poor contrast), luxury positioning (gold is the exception), and clinical or medical contexts where precision and calm are paramount.
- Color harmonies: Daffodil's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Daffodil's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
- Daffodil creates strong legibility with black text overlays (19.6:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Typography: Daffodil as text requires a dark background; its 60% lightness means it provides 1.1:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
Daffodil is the color of first impressions—it arrives before everything else and sets the energy level for what follows.
Daffodil Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Daffodil (#FFFF31) achieves a 19.60:1 contrast ratio with black text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 93.0%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 1.07:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 19.60:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Daffodil background: Black (#000000) at 19.60:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 93.0% — high-luminance (near-white)—it provides excellent readability for dark text overlays and integrates naturally into light design systems
- Daffodil qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.
Always verify Daffodil at its final intended size and weight using a real contrast checker—font weight and rendering environment affect perceived legibility beyond what raw ratios capture.
Daffodil in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Across industry research, yellow-family tones consistently outperform competitors in categories built on optimism, clarity, intellect, and caution. Daffodil is a mid-tone expression of this advantage—best positioned in Food & Beverage and adjacent markets.
- Food & Beverage: Yellow stimulates appetite and communicates freshness, especially for bakery, dairy, and snack categories. Its association with sunlight and ripe crops makes it an instinctive choice for natural and wholesome food brands. (examples: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Blue Bottle Coffee) Extremely effective for children's food products; less effective for premium dining where it reads as casual.
- Education & Children's Products: Yellow is cognitively stimulating and signals playfulness, making it a dominant choice in educational materials, children's toys, and learning apps. It creates an environment of curiosity and creative energy. (examples: Duolingo, Coursera, Khan Academy) Combine with blue for a classic educational palette that suggests both warmth and reliability.
- Safety & Construction: Yellow is the universal signal for visibility and caution. High-visibility vests, construction equipment, and warning signage use yellow because it provides maximum contrast in low-light conditions and stands out in natural environments. This safety connotation can be leveraged in UX for warning states and "proceed with awareness" signals.
- Brand positioning: Daffodil is best suited for brands projecting optimism, creativity, clarity. Categories outside this positioning—body text on white (extremely poor contrast)—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Daffodil works effectively in highlights, callout banners, brand accents—contexts where clarity serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
Daffodil earns its strongest ROI in industries where trust and recognition compound over time: Food & Beverage, Education & Children's Products, Safety & Construction. Use it to build the kind of brand recognition that decades reinforce.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Daffodil? ▾
- The hex code for Daffodil is #FFFF31. Its RGB values are rgb(255, 255, 49) and its HSL values are hsl(60, 100%, 60%).
- What does Daffodil mean in design? ▾
- Yellow is the most luminous color in the visible spectrum — the color our eyes detect first and at the greatest distance. It stimulates mental activity, promotes optimism, and conveys clarity. However, yellow is also the most fatiguing for the human eye at extended exposure, and pure yellow text on white fails all accessibility standards. In design, yellow works best as an accent or background for dark text. Golden yellows signal warmth and achievement; cool lemons feel fresh and modern. Yellow is the universal color of caution — from traffic lights to hazard tape. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
- Is Daffodil WCAG accessible? ▾
- Daffodil (#FFFF31) does not pass WCAG AA on white (1.07:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 19.6:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Daffodil? ▾
- Daffodil pairs well with its complementary color Blue (#0000FF). Analogous colors like Mushroom and Off White also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Daffodil used for? ▾
- Daffodil is commonly used for: Taxi and transportation services; Construction and heavy machinery; Children's education products and toys; Fast food and energy-focused brands; Caution and safety signage.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Daffodil? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #FFFF31` or `background-color: #FFFF31`. The CSS custom property is `--color-daffodil: #FFFF31`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#FFFF31]` for backgrounds or `text-[#FFFF31]` for text.