Lemon yellow: Color codes, color palettes and uses

Lemon yellow isn’t here to play subtle — it’s sharp, zesty, and impossible to ignore. Just like the fruit it’s named after, this vibrant hue packs a citrusy punch, landing firmly on the cooler side of the yellow spectrum, with just a hint of blue undertone.

To use it in digital design projects, you’ll need the hex code #FAFA33 — bright, bold, and buzzing with energy. Need a warmer swap? Try cadmium yellow (#FFF600), though it leans a touch warmer, so think of the sun rather than sour.

Let’s break down what makes lemon yellow pop, and how to use it without overwhelming your palette. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Lemon yellow is an assertive color you can use to make calm or bold statements, depending on your project. Check out these lemon yellow palettes for ideas on how to use lemon yellow in your designs.

A monochromatic lemon yellow palette is made up of variations of the hue. You can create such a palette in a few ways. You can mix lemon yellow with white to create tints, mix it with grey to create tones, or mix it with black to create shades. In our example, we’ve added small percentages of white to create a cohesive color scheme with a delicate and airy feel.

Lemon yellow hex, CMYK, and RGB codes for this palette are:

Here, we’ve created a citrusy analogous lemon yellow palette using warm tones of yellow and orange. This zesty color palette gives your projects a refreshing and energized feeling.

Want to know more about color theory? Then this video is a great place to begin.

Complementary colors are located opposite each other on the color wheel. When placed next to each other, they offer strong contrast and enhance each other’s intensity. Here, we’ve paired lemon yellow with a bright violet and added shades of the violet hue to reduce visual overwhelm and create balance and harmony.

When looking for a vibrant and joyous palette, you can’t go wrong with a triadic lemon yellow color palette. Created by choosing three colors equally spaced on the color wheel, this color palette offers high contrast and dynamism. It will benefit from using neutrals, tints, tones, or shades that will act as a bridge between contrasting colors. Here we’ve added a shade of blue for that very purpose.

When you work with tetradic colors, you can go a step further in creating a dynamic color scheme. Tetradic color palettes are made up of two pairs of complementary colors that offer contrast and vibrance. To keep your design tasteful, include neutrals, tints, tones, and/or shades of your triadic colors in your palette.

You can create a tetradic scheme for lemon yellow by placing a square on the color wheel with one corner on lemon yellow, and the other corners of the square will lie on the three other colors that will make up your tetradic color scheme.

Lemon yellow is one of the brightest yellows, amplifying its association with optimism and happiness. In addition, lemon yellow is often considered refreshing because of its association with fruit.

In color psychology, yellow is helpful in stimulating mental activity, enhancing clarity of thought, and inspiring creativity.

Learn more about color psychology when you watch the video.

Historically, lemon yellow was commonly used for any cool yellow achieved from different pigments. Lead tin yellow, created as a by-product of the glass-making industry, was the first lemon yellow pigment used in European art. It was so popular among Renaissance and Baroque artists that it became known as the ‘yellow of the Old Masters.’

In the 19th century, Impressionists used chrome yellow and barium chromate as their version of lemon yellow. Due to their high toxicity levels, all these pigments have fallen out of use over time and have been replaced by modern synthetic alternatives that effectively reproduce the lemon yellow color we know and love.

Lemon yellow is ever-popular in art, fashion, and design because it is associated with renewal and freshness.

In the famous Weeping Woman (1937), Picasso uses lemon yellow and other vibrant colors like lime green, blues, purples, and reds to create intense complementary opposites. He also plays with warm combinations like browns and yellow ochre in the background to contrast with the cooler colors in the portrait, creating a disconnect between the woman and space.

In his iconic painting Nighthawks (1942), Edward Hopper uses lemon yellow for the interior walls of the soda bar to give the scene a cold feel. We can’t see the light source in the bar, but the lemon-yellow walls intensify it to an almost blinding degree. In contrast, all the other colors in the painting are muted, with the window behind the customers painted in complementary shades of blue and purple.

Lemon yellow, with all its tints and shades, is a prominent color trend in fashion for spring/summer 2025. It’s been spotted on Givenchy runways and worn by A-listers at various red carpet events.

Snapchat’s ghost logo on a brilliant yellow background communicates playfulness and spontaneity. It’s the perfect branding for the company’s target market of young and creative users.

Post-it sticky notes come in many colors, but yellow is central to the Post-it logo. Bright yellow communicates the brand message of creativity and organization and ensures that the brand and the notes stand out in any setting.

A: Lemon yellow is a brilliant clear yellow color with undertones of blue, putting it in the cool family of yellows.

A: Digital artists can select the lemon yellow color code #FAFA33 in their preferred software. As one of the primary colors, artists do not create yellow in the studio — they buy it, and they have two choices when they do so. They can purchase lemon yellow paints like Hansa Yellow Light, created through a chemical synthesis involving monoazo arylamide, or cadmium lemon yellow, created by combining cadmium yellow pigment with zinc sulphide.

A: All yellows fall on the warm side of the cool/warm divide. Every color falls on a spectrum of warm to cool. Lemon yellow in the family of yellows is a cool yellow.

A: Lemon is yellow, but it has blue undertones, which put it closer to the yellow-green than yellow-orange on the color wheel.

A: Lemon yellow is a bright yellow hue, often associated with the color of lemons.

A: Depending on the project, lemon yellow can be combined with various colors. To create a bold and vibrant look, use it in a triadic or tetradic scheme. For a calm, relaxed look, use the pure hue with tints, tones, shades, or neutrals.

Whether creating a new branding palette or updating your logo design, lemon yellow is a great choice to include. A pop of lemon yellow is all you need to catch your intended audience’s eye and communicate the zeitgeist of your company.

Create amazing projects with help from these terrific lemon-yellow creative assets from Envato. If you want to explore trending colors, branding trends, or any other hot trends for this year, check out our articles on the 70s revival and graphic design trends.