Olive and Mustard color palette
olive · 0.034
goldenrod · 0.016
These two read as a single warm earth tone more than a true pairing. With a ratio of 1.8 to 1, olive #708238 against mustard #D5A021 will not work for body text or any small UI element that needs to be legible. Treat this as a tonal combination, not a contrast one.
Once you accept that limit, the pair becomes useful. The sit 38 degrees apart, so they blend through a warm yellow-green range. The midpoint is a muted olive-yellow (#A39231) that you can use as a bridge tone. In interiors, this is the look of a sunlit kitchen, a wool rug, or aged brass against a painted wall. The mood is grounded and slightly retro, leaning toward the 1970s without going costume.
For branding, the pairing suits food, ceramics, herbal goods, and small farm or craft labels. Add a deep brown or off-white for type, and let the olive and mustard carry the warmth.
See Olive and Mustard in use
better
Olive Tailwind scale (50-900)
Mustard Tailwind scale (50-900)
Olive to Mustard blend
A continuous interpolation from Olive to Mustard, sampled into the 10 steps below. Tap any swatch to copy its hex.
Why Olive and Mustard 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 Olive text on Mustard (or the reverse) for body copy. For readable text, pair a dark scale step such as olive-800 or mustard-900 with a light one like mustard-50.
Contrast pairing grid
Rows are Olive steps, columns are Mustard steps. Each mark is a Olive step shown on a Mustard 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-olive-50: #F6F7F3;
--color-olive-100: #EDF0E7;
--color-olive-200: #DEE3D2;
--color-olive-300: #C9D1B7;
--color-olive-400: #ADB991;
--color-olive-500: #708238;
--color-olive-600: #5A692C;
--color-olive-700: #434E1F;
--color-olive-800: #242C0E;
--color-olive-900: #0C0F03;
--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;
}
Tailwind v3 — tailwind.config.js
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'olive': {
50: '#F6F7F3',
100: '#EDF0E7',
200: '#DEE3D2',
300: '#C9D1B7',
400: '#ADB991',
500: '#708238',
600: '#5A692C',
700: '#434E1F',
800: '#242C0E',
900: '#0C0F03',
},
'mustard': {
50: '#FDF9F3',
100: '#FAF4E8',
200: '#F6EAD5',
300: '#F1DDBA',
400: '#E9CB94',
500: '#D5A021',
600: '#AE8219',
700: '#836110',
800: '#4D3806',
900: '#201501',
},
},
},
},
};
CSS variables
:root {
--olive-50: #F6F7F3;
--olive-100: #EDF0E7;
--olive-200: #DEE3D2;
--olive-300: #C9D1B7;
--olive-400: #ADB991;
--olive-500: #708238;
--olive-600: #5A692C;
--olive-700: #434E1F;
--olive-800: #242C0E;
--olive-900: #0C0F03;
--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;
}SCSS variables
$olive-50: #F6F7F3; $olive-100: #EDF0E7; $olive-200: #DEE3D2; $olive-300: #C9D1B7; $olive-400: #ADB991; $olive-500: #708238; $olive-600: #5A692C; $olive-700: #434E1F; $olive-800: #242C0E; $olive-900: #0C0F03; $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;
JSON tokens
{
"olive": {
"50": "#F6F7F3",
"100": "#EDF0E7",
"200": "#DEE3D2",
"300": "#C9D1B7",
"400": "#ADB991",
"500": "#708238",
"600": "#5A692C",
"700": "#434E1F",
"800": "#242C0E",
"900": "#0C0F03"
},
"mustard": {
"50": "#FDF9F3",
"100": "#FAF4E8",
"200": "#F6EAD5",
"300": "#F1DDBA",
"400": "#E9CB94",
"500": "#D5A021",
"600": "#AE8219",
"700": "#836110",
"800": "#4D3806",
"900": "#201501"
}
}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, Olive and Mustard); 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.