Mustard and Charcoal color palette
goldenrod · 0.016
darkslategray · 0.033
A warm accent against a near-black backdrop is one of the oldest tricks for making a dark room or a dark brand feel grounded rather than gloomy, and this is a clean version of it. Mustard #D5A021 carries a muted, earthy yellow with real warmth, while Charcoal #36454F is a cool dark gray with the faintest blue lean. The measures 4.19 to 1, enough separation for headlines or large type but not for body text on either background.
In interiors, charcoal walls or cabinetry quiet the room and let mustard upholstery, lampshades, or trim do the talking. For branding, it reads confident and slightly retro. If you need a bridging tone for borders or secondary surfaces, the midpoint is a muted olive-brown (#83724A).
See Mustard and Charcoal in use
better
Mustard Tailwind scale (50-900)
Charcoal Tailwind scale (50-900)
Mustard to Charcoal blend
A continuous interpolation from Mustard to Charcoal, sampled into the 10 steps below. Tap any swatch to copy its hex.
Why Mustard and Charcoal blend best in OKLab
The same two colors blended three ways. This site uses OKLab, which keeps the blend smooth and evenly lit. The other two are shown so you can see what to avoid: sRGB darkens and muddies the middle, and HSL detours through colors that are not in your palette.
Accessibility
Do not place Mustard text on Charcoal (or the reverse) for body copy. For readable text, pair a dark scale step such as mustard-800 or charcoal-900 with a light one like charcoal-50.
Contrast pairing grid
Rows are Mustard steps, columns are Charcoal steps. Each mark is a Mustard step shown on a Charcoal step: a check means it clears WCAG AA for text (4.5:1). If you can read the mark, the pairing is legible.
| 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 100 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 200 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 300 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 400 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 500 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 600 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 700 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 800 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 900 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
✓ passes AA ✗ fails AA
Copy for Tailwind
Tailwind v4 — @theme (paste into your CSS)
@theme {
--color-mustard-50: #FDF9F3;
--color-mustard-100: #FAF4E8;
--color-mustard-200: #F6EAD5;
--color-mustard-300: #F1DDBA;
--color-mustard-400: #E9CB94;
--color-mustard-500: #D5A021;
--color-mustard-600: #AE8219;
--color-mustard-700: #836110;
--color-mustard-800: #4D3806;
--color-mustard-900: #201501;
--color-charcoal-50: #F2F3F4;
--color-charcoal-100: #E5E7E8;
--color-charcoal-200: #CFD3D5;
--color-charcoal-300: #B1B7BC;
--color-charcoal-400: #8A949A;
--color-charcoal-500: #36454F;
--color-charcoal-600: #2A373F;
--color-charcoal-700: #1E272E;
--color-charcoal-800: #0D1317;
--color-charcoal-900: #030406;
}
Tailwind v3 — tailwind.config.js
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'mustard': {
50: '#FDF9F3',
100: '#FAF4E8',
200: '#F6EAD5',
300: '#F1DDBA',
400: '#E9CB94',
500: '#D5A021',
600: '#AE8219',
700: '#836110',
800: '#4D3806',
900: '#201501',
},
'charcoal': {
50: '#F2F3F4',
100: '#E5E7E8',
200: '#CFD3D5',
300: '#B1B7BC',
400: '#8A949A',
500: '#36454F',
600: '#2A373F',
700: '#1E272E',
800: '#0D1317',
900: '#030406',
},
},
},
},
};
CSS variables
:root {
--mustard-50: #FDF9F3;
--mustard-100: #FAF4E8;
--mustard-200: #F6EAD5;
--mustard-300: #F1DDBA;
--mustard-400: #E9CB94;
--mustard-500: #D5A021;
--mustard-600: #AE8219;
--mustard-700: #836110;
--mustard-800: #4D3806;
--mustard-900: #201501;
--charcoal-50: #F2F3F4;
--charcoal-100: #E5E7E8;
--charcoal-200: #CFD3D5;
--charcoal-300: #B1B7BC;
--charcoal-400: #8A949A;
--charcoal-500: #36454F;
--charcoal-600: #2A373F;
--charcoal-700: #1E272E;
--charcoal-800: #0D1317;
--charcoal-900: #030406;
}SCSS variables
$mustard-50: #FDF9F3; $mustard-100: #FAF4E8; $mustard-200: #F6EAD5; $mustard-300: #F1DDBA; $mustard-400: #E9CB94; $mustard-500: #D5A021; $mustard-600: #AE8219; $mustard-700: #836110; $mustard-800: #4D3806; $mustard-900: #201501; $charcoal-50: #F2F3F4; $charcoal-100: #E5E7E8; $charcoal-200: #CFD3D5; $charcoal-300: #B1B7BC; $charcoal-400: #8A949A; $charcoal-500: #36454F; $charcoal-600: #2A373F; $charcoal-700: #1E272E; $charcoal-800: #0D1317; $charcoal-900: #030406;
JSON tokens
{
"mustard": {
"50": "#FDF9F3",
"100": "#FAF4E8",
"200": "#F6EAD5",
"300": "#F1DDBA",
"400": "#E9CB94",
"500": "#D5A021",
"600": "#AE8219",
"700": "#836110",
"800": "#4D3806",
"900": "#201501"
},
"charcoal": {
"50": "#F2F3F4",
"100": "#E5E7E8",
"200": "#CFD3D5",
"300": "#B1B7BC",
"400": "#8A949A",
"500": "#36454F",
"600": "#2A373F",
"700": "#1E272E",
"800": "#0D1317",
"900": "#030406"
}
}How we name colors
There is no single official authority for naming colors. We use the common, widely recognized name as the primary label for each color (here, Mustard and Charcoal); many common names are themselves W3C CSS named colors. For transparency we also show the nearest W3C CSS named color and the perceptual distance, ΔE, measured in OKLab. A small ΔE means the name is essentially exact; a larger one means it is the closest standard name rather than a perfect match.
Sources: W3C CSS Color Module Level 4 and the open color-name-list dataset, used to verify every color sits near a recognized name.