Maize color guide
HEX
#FBEC5D
RGB
251, 236, 93
HSL
54°, 95%, 67%
HSV
54°, 63%, 98%
Maize (#FBEC5D) is a light, warm yellow reminiscent of sweet corn under sunlight — bright but still soft enough for friendly, collegiate, or agrarian themes. It carries sunny optimism without the greenish tilt of lemon or dandelion. Pairs well as a field color with navy, forest green, or deep maroon.
Best for
Trade show graphics, signage, and booth displays.
Accessibility
Check contrast before using maize for text-heavy layouts, especially on low-contrast backgrounds.
How does maize compare to nearby colors?
What is the difference between maize and butter?
Maize (#FBEC5D) and Butter (#FFFF99) are close enough that the split is more about finish than headline contrast: Maize feels more highlighter-bright, while Butter reads more butter-paper. Maize brings more shadow to the system, so it handles contrast-heavy jobs more naturally than Butter. Start with maize when the palette wants more highlighter-bright; switch to butter when the better fit is butter-paper.
What color is maize?
Named for maize (corn), a staple crop domesticated in the Americas. Familiar in university colors, Midwestern fair branding, and farm-to-table visual language.
What is the hex code for maize?
| Format | Value |
|---|---|
| HEX | #FBEC5D |
| RGB | rgb(251, 236, 93) |
| HSL | hsl(54°, 95%, 67%) |
| HSV / HSB | hsv(54°, 63%, 98%) |
| CMYK (approx.) | cmyk(0%, 6%, 63%, 2%) |
Convert Maize to other color formats
Open the color converter with Maize (#FBEC5D) prefilled to copy RGB, HSL, HSV, CMYK, or OKLCH values.
Convert Maize in the color converter →What does maize mean in design?
Maize can evoke harvest, community spirit, or approachable tradition. Compared with butter, maize is more saturated and daylight; compared with canary, it is lighter and less intense.
How do I use maize in code?
| CSS (hex) | color: #FBEC5D; |
| CSS (rgb) | color: rgb(251, 236, 93); |
| CSS (hsl) | color: hsl(54, 95%, 67%); |
| RGB % | rgb(98%, 93%, 36%) |
| Tailwind | text-[#FBEC5D] |
| SwiftUI | Color(red: 0.984, green: 0.925, blue: 0.365) |
| UIKit | UIColor(red: 0.984, green: 0.925, blue: 0.365, alpha: 1.0) |
| Android | Color.rgb(251, 236, 93) |
| Compose | Color(0xFFFBEC5D) |
| Web Safe | #FFFF66 |
Is maize accessible?
| Combination | Ratio | AA | AA lg | AAA | AAA lg | UI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AaWhite text on this color | 1.22:1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| AaBlack text on this color | 17.26:1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AaThis color as text on white | 1.22:1 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| AaThis color as text on black | 17.26:1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
WCAG 2.1: AA normal ≥ 4.5:1, AA large text ≥ 3:1, AAA normal ≥ 7:1, AAA large ≥ 4.5:1, UI components ≥ 3:1.
How does maize look with color blindness?
Simulated appearance for common types of color vision deficiency. Actual perception varies by individual.
What colors go with maize
Charcoal balances maize by turning the palette into a usable light-dark system rather than a field of soft midtones.
Because maize already carries warmth, navy blue gives the pair a steadier backbone and keeps it closer to editorial systems than to one-note seasonal color.
Cream takes the hard digital edge off maize and makes the color feel more printed, paper-backed, and approachable.
What colors clash with maize
Neon Green competes with maize so aggressively that the palette never really settles into a clear primary-secondary relationship.
Magenta remaps maize too aggressively, dragging it away from alerts, signage, and data callouts and into a brighter, more performative palette.
Cyan redirects maize toward a more technical, backlit interpretation, which is risky when the goal is warmth, polish, or print-minded editorial work.
Light Gray makes maize feel softer, but often softer in the wrong way: less defined, not more refined.
How should I use maize in design?
- •Use maize for buttons, badges, and chart accents where it can stand out. Test text contrast with WCAG tools before using it for body copy on light backgrounds.
- •Maize leans warm, so cool counterparts like navy, teal, or slate create the cleanest contrast. For a softer, tonal look, stay within neighboring warm hues and let value differences do the work.
- •Maize's high saturation makes it most effective in small doses — buttons, chart highlights, notification badges, and social media accents.
What are good maize palettes?
Design with maize in Moda
Create a presentation or document using maize as your accent color. Moda's AI applies your color palette automatically.
Create a design with maize →What are the shades and tints of maize?
Shades (darker)
Tints (lighter)
Tones (desaturated)
Hue variations
What are the color harmonies for maize?
Harmonies are calculated from the base swatch. When a harmony matches a named color page, it links there; otherwise it appears here as a computed reference swatch.
Similar colors
Lemon
Lemon lives in the same neighborhood as maize, but the finish shift is enough to make one feel better for alerts, signage, and data callouts and the other for a different visual context.
Mustard Yellow
Mustard Yellow sits close to maize in hue, but its sunlit yellow cast changes the mood of the palette even when the contrast shift is small.
Dandelion
Dandelion is almost the same hue as maize; the real difference is value, with dandelion feeling more grounded and anchor-ready.
Saffron
Saffron stays very close to maize in hue, but it lands darker, which makes it better for headlines, anchors, and darker sections than for lighter surfaces and more open applications.
Butter
Butter stays in the same color family as maize, but the change in value moves it into different layout jobs, especially once backgrounds, charts, or section dividers enter the system.
Frequently asked questions
What is the hex code for maize?
The hex code for maize is #FBEC5D. In RGB, that's 251 red, 236 green, and 93 blue. The approximate CMYK equivalent is 0% cyan, 6% magenta, 63% yellow, and 2% key (black).
Is maize a warm or cool color?
Maize sits on the warm side of the palette, so it pairs easily with other warm tones and becomes more energetic when you place it against cooler blues or blue-grays.
Should maize lead the palette or stay in supporting roles?
Maize has enough chroma to take the lead, but it usually performs best when the surrounding system stays quieter. Treat it as the voice of emphasis, not the answer to every layout need.
Where does maize work best in a layout?
Maize carries a lot of chroma, so it is usually strongest as punctuation rather than wallpaper. Use it for focal accents and let low-saturation surfaces do the balancing.
Is maize accessible?
Maize works better with dark text than white text. Black text reaches 17.26:1 contrast on the swatch, which makes the color more usable as a background or highlight surface than as a dark panel.
More yellow colors
Keep exploring color resources
All color pages
Browse the full library of color references, pairings, and palettes.
Yellow colors
Compare maize with other yellow tones.
Brown colors
Explore nearby color families to build stronger palettes and contrasts.
Green colors
Explore nearby color families to build stronger palettes and contrasts.
Neutral colors
Explore nearby color families to build stronger palettes and contrasts.
Last updated April 6, 2026
Color values are computed from the listed hex code using standard conversion formulas. RGB, HSL, and HSV are exact screen-ready conversions. CMYK is an approximate on-screen reference, not a press-ready print specification. Pairings, palettes, and use-case guidance are heuristic recommendations derived from color relationships, contrast behavior, and common presentation, document, and UI patterns.