Brass Color Codes
Brass is a mid-tone, muted yellow with the hex code #B5A642, RGB values of 181, 166, 66 and an HSL value of hsl(52, 47%, 48%).
| HEX | #B5A642 |
|---|---|
| RGB | 181, 166, 66 |
| HSL | hsl(52, 47%, 48%) |
| HSV | 52°, 64%, 71% |
| CMYK | 0%, 8%, 64%, 29% |
| LAB | 67.64, -6.72, 52.16 |
| CIELCHuv | 67.64, 62.47, 76.40° |
- Nearest Pantone
- PMS 618 C ΔE 9.5 · approximate
- Nearest CSS name
-
darkkhakiΔE 14.2
Community source color-name-list, community color-name index
Brass Color Hex Code
The Brass color hex code is #B5A642. Those six digits are three pairs, B5 for red, A6 for green and 42 for blue, which is the same triplet a browser reads from the CSS value below.
#B5A642
Brass Color RGB Code
The Brass RGB code is rgb(181, 166, 66). Red carries the most light at 181 of 255, which is what puts this color where it sits on the wheel.
rgb(181, 166, 66)
Brass Color HSV Code
The Brass HSV code is 52°, 64%, 71%. Read it as a hue of 52 degrees, 64% saturation and 71% value, which is the form most color pickers use because moving one number changes one thing.
52°, 64%, 71%
Brass Color CIELChuv Code
The Brass CIELCHuv code is 67.64, 62.47, 76.40°. Unlike hex or RGB this one is perceptual: lightness 68 means light to the eye rather than to the screen, and chroma 62 is how far it sits from grey.
67.64, 62.47, 76.40°
Tonal scale
What are Brass Color Palettes?
A shade mixes toward black, a tint toward white, a tone toward grey. Every step keeps the hue and is copy-ready.
Shades, toward black
Tints, toward white
Tones, toward grey
Palettes
What are Brass Color Palette Codes?
Each of these is a hue rotation from #B5A642. They are generated, not curated, so they are exact.
Complementary
Directly opposite sits #4251B5, a dark, muted blue. No other pairing separates two hues further, so this is the one to reach for when a single element has to win attention. Neither is especially saturated, so this pairing stays calm enough for large areas of both.
Analogous
#B56D42 and #8BB542 sit 30 degrees either side. All three share most of their hue, so the set reads as one family instead of three separate decisions. Good for backgrounds and for state variations that should not announce themselves.
Triadic
#42B5A6 and #A642B5 complete an even 120 degree split. Three fully independent hues, so one has to lead: keep this base dominant and let the other two appear in small quantities.
Split-complementary
Instead of the direct complement, this takes the two hues either side of it: #428BB5 and #6D42B5. Almost the same contrast, without the edge shimmer a true complementary pair produces at high saturation.
Tetradic
Two complementary pairs forming a rectangle: this base with #4251B5, and #42B56D with #B5428B. The richest of the five and the hardest to balance, so treat this base as the lead and hold the other three well back.
Accessibility
Contrast checker: is Brass accessible?
Measured against white and against black, with a separate verdict for each element type. Small text, large text and UI components have different thresholds, so one pass or fail for the whole color would be wrong roughly a third of the time.
White background
2.47:12.47
contrast ratio on white background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Fails | Fails |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Fails | Fails |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Fails | n/a |
Black background
8.50:18.50
contrast ratio on black background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Passes | Passes |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Passes | Passes |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Passes | n/a |
At 2.47:1 against white, Brass is a fill color rather than a text color. Use it for surfaces, borders and large display type, and set the copy in ink. Text placed on it should be black, which gives 8.50:1.
Color vision
How Brass looks with color blindness
Around 300 million people see color differently from the way it is specified. Each card shows the actual color beside how it appears, and how common that form of vision is.
Protanopia
About 1% of men#AFAF66
Brass shifts noticeably here. ΔE 15.6
No working red cones. Reds darken sharply and drift toward the same muddy olive as green.
Deuteranopia
About 1% of men#B0B16D
Brass shifts noticeably here. ΔE 18.2
No working green cones. With the milder deuteranomaly at nearer 6% of men, this is by far the most common form, and the one worth designing around.
Tritanopia
About 1 in 10,000#B47A7E
Brass changes substantially here. ΔE 55.1
No working blue cones. Blues shift toward green and yellows toward pink. Rare, and unlike the others it is not sex-linked, so it affects men and women equally.
Achromatopsia
About 1 in 30,000#A5A5A5
Brass changes substantially here. ΔE 52.6
No color vision at all. Also a fair proxy for how the color survives a greyscale print or a failing screen.
To a deuteranope, the most common form, Brass reads as #B0B16D. That is a shift of ΔE 18.2, so it is a different color to roughly one man in sixteen. The widest shift is under tritanopia, at ΔE 55.1. The rule this leads to needs no simulator: never let color be the only thing carrying a message. Add a label, an icon, or a clear difference in lightness, and the problem disappears for everyone.
Snippets
Using Brass in code
:root {
--brass: #B5A642;
}
.example {
color: var(--brass);
}// tailwind.config.js
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'brass': '#B5A642',
},
},
}// SwiftUI takes 0–1 components, not 0–255.
let brass = Color(
red: 0.710,
green: 0.651,
blue: 0.259
)<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="brass">#B5A642</color>// Flutter wants ARGB: FF for full opacity, then the hex.
const brass = Color(0xFFB5A642);