Tailwind CSS v4 default palette
Tailwind amber-500: #FD9A00
In Tailwind CSS v4, amber-500 is defined as --color-amber-500: oklch(76.9% 0.188 70.08), which is #FD9A00 in hex and rgb(253, 154, 0): a light, vivid orange. In Tailwind v3, amber-500 was #F59E0B.
In OKLCH, amber-500 has a lightness of 76.9%, chroma 0.188 and hue 70.1°.
This OKLCH value lies outside sRGB. The hex #FD9A00 is the sRGB fallback from the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm; on Display P3 screens browsers show a more saturated color, close to color(display-p3 0.9399 0.6206 0.0585).
In v3, amber-500 was #F59E0B. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.3 away; v4 is more saturated.
Tailwind amber sits between orange and yellow and is the conventional warning color; its light shades make readable callout backgrounds.
Color codes for amber-500
| Tailwind v4 token | --color-amber-500 |
|---|---|
| OKLCH (source value) | oklch(76.9% 0.188 70.08) |
| HEX | #FD9A00 |
| RGB | rgb(253, 154, 0) |
| HSL | hsl(37, 100%, 50%) |
| HWB | hwb(37 0% 1%) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(0%, 39%, 100%, 1%) |
| Decimal | 16,620,032 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.9399 0.6206 0.0585) |
| Tailwind v3 hex | #F59E0B |
| Utility classes | bg-amber-500, text-amber-500, border-amber-500 |
Tailwind amber scale
Contrast and accessibility
On amber-500, black text has a contrast ratio of 9.79:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 2.14:1.
WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios (success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6: AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1 and 4.5:1). APCA Lc is the lightness contrast from the APCA-W3 0.0.98G model proposed for WCAG 3; a higher absolute value is more readable, and Lc 75 is its suggested minimum for body text.
| Pair | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | AAA large | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black text on amber-500 | 9.79:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 62.3 |
| White text on amber-500 | 2.14:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −46.2 |
| Amber-500 text on white | 2.14:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 41.6 |
| Amber-500 text on black | 9.79:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −60.6 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes var(--color-amber-500) with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-amber-500), white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#fd9f0d - 15%
#fda926 - 25%
#feb340 - 35%
#febd59 - 45%
#fec773 - 55%
#fed28c - 65%
#fedca6 - 75%
#ffe6bf - 85%
#fff0d9 - 95%
#fffaf2
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#f09200 - 15%
#d78300 - 25%
#be7400 - 35%
#a46400 - 45%
#8b5500 - 55%
#724500 - 65%
#593600 - 75%
#3f2700 - 85%
#261700 - 95%
#0d0800
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, amber-500's complementary color is #65B9FF (close to deepskyblue), its analogous colors are #FF8A5C and #CFB400, and its triadic partners are #00D2C9 and #D88DFF. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #65b9ff |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #ff8a5c#cfb400 |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #00d2c9#d88dff |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #00cafa#a3a8ff |
Computed in OKLCH: the hue is rotated by 180° (complementary), ±30° (analogous), ±120° (triadic) and 180° ±30° (split-complementary) while lightness and chroma stay fixed. Results that fall outside sRGB are brought back with the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm. Because this uses OKLCH, the values differ from tools that rotate hue in HSL, but every color keeps the same perceived lightness.
Warm or cool?
Tailwind amber-500 is a warm color: its hue is 37° on the HSL wheel, in the red, orange and yellow range (0° to about 70°, plus reds above 330°) that is conventionally called warm.
Nearest named and Tailwind colors
Distance is ΔE OK, the Euclidean distance in OKLab multiplied by 100. Values under about 2 are hard to tell apart side by side.
Nearest CSS named colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| orange | #ffa500 | 2.9 |
| darkorange | #ff8c00 | 4.3 |
| goldenrod | #daa520 | 6.0 |
Nearest Tailwind v4 colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| orange-400 | #ff8904 | 5.0 |
| yellow-500 | #efb100 | 5.8 |
| amber-400 | #ffba00 | 7.5 |
Code snippets
<div class="bg-amber-500 text-black">...</div>
<p class="text-amber-500 border-amber-500">...</p>.element {
color: var(--color-amber-500);
background-color: oklch(76.9% 0.188 70.08);
border-color: #fd9a00;
outline-color: rgb(253 154 0);
}import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let amber500 = Color(red: 0.992, green: 0.604, blue: 0.000)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Amber500 = Color(0xFFFD9A00)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const amber500 = Color(0xFFFD9A00);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="amber_500">#FD9A00</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for Tailwind amber-500?
- In Tailwind CSS v4, amber-500 is oklch(76.9% 0.188 70.08), which converts to #FD9A00 (rgb(253, 154, 0)) in sRGB after gamut mapping, because the OKLCH value is outside sRGB. In Tailwind v3 the same name was #F59E0B.
- What is the difference between amber-500 in Tailwind v3 and v4?
- v3 used the hex #F59E0B; v4 redefined the palette in OKLCH as oklch(76.9% 0.188 70.08). In v3, amber-500 was #F59E0B. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.3 away; v4 is more saturated.
- How do I use amber-500 in plain CSS?
- Tailwind v4 defines every palette color as a theme variable, so in CSS you write var(--color-amber-500). By default Tailwind only emits the variables your project uses; @theme static emits all of them.
- Can you use white text on amber-500?
- White text on amber-500 has a contrast ratio of 2.14:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 9.79:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −46.2 for white and Lc 62.3 for black.
- Which CSS named color is closest to amber-500?
- The closest is orange (#FFA500) at ΔE OK 2.9, followed by darkorange and goldenrod.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.