199 Colors That Start With Y: Names, HEX and RGB

Looking for colors that start with Y? This atlas gives you 199 alphabetized names with matching HEX values, RGB values, and visible digital swatches. Clear type labels help you separate browser standards and official references from imaginative catalog names.

Y Colors at a Glance

The reviewed color catalog contained 204 Y-initial candidates. This curated atlas contains 199 source-grounded entries. The catalog is broad and human-curated, but it is not a color standard, so most entries below are labeled Creative catalog.

Download the complete color reference sheet (PNG): Four Ways a Y Color Name Can Be Defined (PNG) · Color atlas 1 · Color atlas 2 · Color atlas 3 · Color atlas 4 · Color atlas 5 · Color atlas 6

Only two standardized CSS named-color keywords begin with Y: Yellow at #FFFF00 and YellowGreen at #9ACD32. The table displays the second name as “Yellow Green” for readability, but its browser keyword is yellowgreen, without a space.

Two other entries need special treatment. Yale Blue uses Yale University’s official web value, #00356B. YInMn Blue is a physical pigment, so its #265EF7 swatch is only an approximate digital reference, not a definitive description of every pigment sample.

Colors That Start With Y: Full Atlas

HEX is the controlling digital value in this atlas. Each RGB triplet and swatch corresponds directly to that six-digit code. Names marked Creative catalog are useful descriptive labels, not official or universally recognized colors.

Yacht Blue to Yellow Acorn

Yellow Avarice to Yellow Petal

Yellow Phosphenes to Yves Klein Blue

What the Color Labels Mean

Standardized CSS Names

A CSS named color is a browser-recognized keyword tied to an sRGB value. sRGB is the standard screen color space used for the web values in this atlas. The two Y keywords are yellow and yellowgreen. Spaces matter in code: yellowgreen works as a named color, while yellow green does not.

AI-generated editorial illustration; not a measured color sample.

Other table names may still be used as project labels, design tokens, or search terms. They do not become CSS keywords simply because they have a HEX association. Use their six-digit HEX codes when implementing them on a website.

Institutional and Physical Colors

An institutional identity can control its own digital specification. That is why Yale Blue appears here as #00356B rather than the #0F4D92 association found in the general catalog. Yale also publishes separate guidance for web, spot-color, and process-color applications. Spot color uses a premixed ink, while process color builds colors from combinations of printing inks. Different production methods do not reproduce color with absolute consistency.

A physical pigment requires another distinction. YInMn Blue names a material rather than a single browser color. Its composition is written as YIn_1-xMn_xO₃, and changing the indium-to-manganese ratio can change the intensity of the blue. The table’s HEX code is therefore an approximate screen interpretation.

Creative Catalog Names and Transliterations

Most entries are imaginative associations gathered in a maintained catalog that combines historical, design, web, paint, and community sources. Such names can be useful starting points for palettes, but another catalog may assign the same name a different code.

Rows labeled Creative catalog, transliterated preserve a Latin-script form supplied by the catalog. That label does not make the term standardized English or establish official status. Likewise, the Yves Klein Blue row records a catalog association and should not be mistaken for an authoritative material specification.

How to Use Y-Color HEX Values

Copy the complete six-digit HEX value when building a digital palette. In CSS, either a recognized keyword or a HEX code can set a color:

.yellow-accent {
  background-color: #FFFF00;
}
.green-accent {
  background-color: yellowgreen;
}

Keep the code and its role together in your design system. A label such as “Yellow Warning” may suggest a purpose, but the name alone does not establish safety, accessibility, or a universal meaning.

Check Text Contrast Before Publishing

Many Y colors are pale or highly luminous, so white text can disappear against them. Test the actual foreground and background pair rather than guessing from the name or swatch. WCAG guidance sets a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for ordinary text and 3:1 for large text. Large text means at least 18pt for regular type or 14pt for bold type, and a calculated ratio cannot be rounded up to pass.

Contrast is relational. The same yellow can fail with white lettering yet work with a sufficiently dark foreground. Recheck interactive states, text placed over gradients, and any color that changes between light and dark themes.

Screen Color Is Not a Paint Formula

A HEX value describes a digital sRGB reference, not a physical mixing ratio. Material color can change with pigment composition and substrate, while printed output can change with the printing process and production conditions.

Use the atlas to communicate digital intent or narrow a visual direction. For a physical project, compare real samples and follow the paint, ink, or pigment manufacturer’s instructions. A monitor match cannot guarantee a material match.

Why Y-Color Lists Disagree

Color lists often combine several naming systems without showing which authority applies. A descriptive catalog, a university identity system, a browser standard, and a physical pigment record can all use a Name plus HEX format while making very different kinds of claims.

Yale Blue: Use the Institution’s Web Value

The general catalog associates Yale Blue with #0F4D92, but Yale’s current website identity guidance specifies #00356B. For a project representing Yale’s institutional web color, the university’s own value controls. The atlas therefore uses #00356B and derives its RGB value, 0, 53, 107, from that HEX code.

YInMn Blue: A Pigment, Not One Fixed Screen Color

YInMn Blue was discovered by an Oregon State University-led team in 2009. Because its blue intensity can vary with composition, no single HEX value captures every physical sample. The #265EF7 entry remains useful as an approximate digital reference, but it is not a physical pigment formula.

This authority-first approach also explains why the atlas can include many creative names without presenting them as standards. The name helps you find and discuss a color; the type label tells you how much authority that name-to-value relationship carries.

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