34 named colors · 91 combinations

Yellow Color Combinations.

Luminous yellows from mustard to pale gold across the Wada catalog. Yamabuki (kerria flower yellow) and ukon (turmeric) are anchors of the Japanese palette — saturated without aggression, historically associated with Buddhist robes and autumn fields.

Named colors

34 yellow colors in the archive.

Colours that go with Yellow

From a standard colour wheel, Yellow anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.

Complementary

#D4A017 #174BD4

the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.

Analogous

#D4A017 #D44217 #AAD417

the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.

Triadic

#D4A017 #17D4A0 #A017D4

two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.

Split-complementary

#D4A017 #17A9D4 #4117D4

the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.

How to use Yellow

Yellow is a mid-tone, vivid tone (HSL 43°, 80%, 46%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (8.8:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#174BD4) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#D44217 and #AAD417) for a quieter, harmonious feel.

Combinations

91 yellow-dominant color combinations.

Every palette in the archive where yellow is the dominant hue — from Sanzo Wada's 348 historical plates plus editorial deep-dives.

Muromachi era

Grass Yellow & Rikyū Grey— 刈安と利休鼠

Wild grass yellow tempered by the muted grey favored by the tea master Sen no Rikyū.

Edo era

Kerria Gold & Chestnut— 山吹と栗

The bright gold of the kerria flower against the warm brown of roasted chestnut.

Heian era

Valerian Yellow & Pale Blue— 女郎花と浅葱

The yellow of autumn valerian against late-summer sky.

Edo era

Turmeric & Indigo— 鬱金と藍

Warm turmeric yellow against true indigo — the everyday textile of Japanese farm life.

Showa era

Yellow Orange & Dark Tyrian Blue

Plate 2 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Orange, Dark Tyrian Blue.

Showa era

Isabella Color & Red Violet

Plate 4 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Isabella Color, Red Violet.

Showa era

Ivory Buff & Mineral Gray

Plate 11 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Mineral Gray.

Showa era

Isabella Color & Green Blue

Plate 12 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Isabella Color, Green Blue.

Showa era

Yellow & Deep Lyons Blue

Plate 22 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow, Deep Lyons Blue.

Showa era

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Plate 24 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sepia, Veronia Purple.

Showa era

Krongbergs Green & Salvia Blue

Plate 29 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Krongbergs Green, Salvia Blue.

Showa era

Sulphine Yellow & Turquoise Green

Plate 36 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulphine Yellow, Turquoise Green.

Showa era

Dark Citrine & Calamine BLue

Plate 41 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Dark Citrine, Calamine BLue.

Showa era

Yellow Ocher & Violet

Plate 42 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Ocher, Violet.

Showa era

Ivory Buff & Dusky Madder Violet

Plate 50 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Dusky Madder Violet.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Black

Plate 52 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Black.

Showa era

Yellow Orange & Dusky Madder Violet

Plate 53 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Orange, Dusky Madder Violet.

Showa era

Pale Lemon Yellow & Dark Tyrian Blue

Plate 60 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Lemon Yellow, Dark Tyrian Blue.

Showa era

Light Green Yellow & Cotinga Purple

Plate 61 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Green Yellow, Cotinga Purple.

Showa era

Yellow & Black

Plate 62 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow, Black.

Showa era

Sulphine Yellow & Calamine BLue

Plate 65 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulphine Yellow, Calamine BLue.

Showa era

Olive Ocher & Olive Green

Plate 66 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Ocher, Olive Green.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Pale King's Blue

Plate 72 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Pale King's Blue.

Showa era

Pale Lemon Yellow & Warm Gray

Plate 76 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Lemon Yellow, Warm Gray.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Light Mauve

Plate 80 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Light Mauve.

Showa era

Olive Buff & Violet Blue

Plate 83 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Buff, Violet Blue.

Showa era

Yellow Orange & Violet Blue

Plate 89 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Orange, Violet Blue.

Showa era

Citrine & Light Glaucous Blue

Plate 93 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Citrine, Light Glaucous Blue.

Showa era

Ivory Buff & Dusky Green

Plate 94 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Dusky Green.

Showa era

Yellow Ocher & Olive

Plate 96 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Ocher, Olive.

Showa era

Pale Lemon Yellow & Cerulian Blue

Plate 99 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Lemon Yellow, Cerulian Blue.

Showa era

Buffy Citrine & Dull Blue Violet

Plate 100 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Buffy Citrine, Dull Blue Violet.

Showa era

Ivory Buff & Orange Rufous

Plate 102 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Orange Rufous.

Showa era

Apricot Yellow & Light Grayish Olive

Plate 107 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Apricot Yellow, Light Grayish Olive.

Showa era

Pale Lemon Yellow & Blackish Olive

Plate 109 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Lemon Yellow, Blackish Olive.

Showa era

Pale Lemon Yellow & Yellow Green

Plate 111 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Lemon Yellow, Yellow Green.

Showa era

Orange Yellow & Antwarp Blue

Plate 114 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Orange Yellow, Antwarp Blue.

Showa era

Naples Yellow & Peach Red

Plate 115 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Naples Yellow, Peach Red.

Showa era

Yellow Ocher & Vandyke Brown

Plate 118 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Ocher, Vandyke Brown.

Showa era

Ivory Buff & Yellow Ocher +1

Plate 126 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Yellow Ocher, Deep Lyons Blue.

Showa era

Apricot Yellow & Khaki +1

Plate 129 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Apricot Yellow, Khaki, Salvia Blue.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Golden Yellow +1

Plate 132 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Golden Yellow, Citrine.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Cossack Green +1

Plate 135 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Cossack Green, Salvia Blue.

Showa era

Khaki & Deep Grayish Olive +1

Plate 146 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Khaki, Deep Grayish Olive, Diamine Green.

Showa era

Olive Ocher & Orange Yellow +1

Plate 148 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Ocher, Orange Yellow, Cerulian Blue.

Showa era

Olive Ocher & Orange +1

Plate 149 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Ocher, Orange, Deep Slate Green.

Showa era

Sulpher Yellow & Yellow Orange +1

Plate 151 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sulpher Yellow, Yellow Orange, Vandar Poel's Blue.

Showa era

Olive Ocher & Cobalt Green +1

Plate 156 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Ocher, Cobalt Green, Violet.

See all 91 yellow combinations →

From the archive

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
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Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues

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Library

Colour books worth owning

Colour theory, history and the references designers keep close — recommended on Amazon.

Sean Adams

The Designer's Dictionary of Color

Abrams, 2017.

A practical, example-filled guide to thirty key colors and the way they behave together. Working-designer companion to Wada's historical archive.

View on Amazon
Leatrice Eiseman & Keith Recker

Pantone: The Twentieth Century in Color

Chronicle Books, 2011.

A decade-by-decade visual history of color in design, advertising, and culture from 1900 to 2000. The modern complement to Wada's pre-war record.

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Jim Krause

Color Index XL

Watson-Guptill, 2017.

1,100+ ready-to-apply palettes with CMYK + RGB formulas. The shelf-reference designers reach for on deadline.

View on Amazon

Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Yellow Color Combinations.

Colours that go with Yellow

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split-complementary

How to use Yellow

Grass Yellow & Rikyū Grey— 刈安と利休鼠

Kerria Gold & Chestnut— 山吹と栗

Valerian Yellow & Pale Blue— 女郎花と浅葱

Turmeric & Indigo— 鬱金と藍

Yellow Orange & Dark Tyrian Blue

Isabella Color & Red Violet

Ivory Buff & Mineral Gray

Isabella Color & Green Blue

Yellow & Deep Lyons Blue

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Krongbergs Green & Salvia Blue

Sulphine Yellow & Turquoise Green

Dark Citrine & Calamine BLue

Yellow Ocher & Violet

Ivory Buff & Dusky Madder Violet

Sulpher Yellow & Black

Yellow Orange & Dusky Madder Violet

Pale Lemon Yellow & Dark Tyrian Blue

Light Green Yellow & Cotinga Purple

Yellow & Black

Sulphine Yellow & Calamine BLue

Olive Ocher & Olive Green

Sulpher Yellow & Pale King's Blue

Pale Lemon Yellow & Warm Gray

Sulpher Yellow & Light Mauve

Olive Buff & Violet Blue

Yellow Orange & Violet Blue

Citrine & Light Glaucous Blue

Ivory Buff & Dusky Green

Yellow Ocher & Olive

Pale Lemon Yellow & Cerulian Blue

Buffy Citrine & Dull Blue Violet

Ivory Buff & Orange Rufous

Apricot Yellow & Light Grayish Olive

Pale Lemon Yellow & Blackish Olive

Pale Lemon Yellow & Yellow Green

Orange Yellow & Antwarp Blue

Naples Yellow & Peach Red

Yellow Ocher & Vandyke Brown

Ivory Buff & Yellow Ocher +1

Apricot Yellow & Khaki +1

Sulpher Yellow & Golden Yellow +1

Sulpher Yellow & Cossack Green +1

Khaki & Deep Grayish Olive +1

Olive Ocher & Orange Yellow +1

Olive Ocher & Orange +1

Sulpher Yellow & Yellow Orange +1

Olive Ocher & Cobalt Green +1

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

The Designer's Dictionary of Color

Pantone: The Twentieth Century in Color

Color Index XL

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