Colonial Yellow (SW 0030)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Colonial Yellow (SW 0030) is a medium, warm yellow from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 59, so it reflects about 59 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Colonial Yellow
Four Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Colonial Yellow by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper yellow, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Sherwin-Williams did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Colonial Yellow, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Amber Waves | 2159-40 | 54.2 | 1.5 | very close |
| Behr | Pollen Grains | PMD-30 | 60.2 | 0.3 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Golden Chime | 3006-5C | 59 | 1.0 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Gold Buff | 1208-4 | 59 | 2.1 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams yellow colors nearest to Colonial Yellow (LRV 59) by LRV.
Lighter than Colonial Yellow
Darker than Colonial Yellow
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 0030 |
| Hex | #EFC488 |
| RGB | 239, 196, 136 |
| HSL | 35°, 76%, 74% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 59 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 81.6, 7.6, 35.8 |
| Undertone | Warm Yellow-Red |
| Temperature | warm |
| Color family | Yellow |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Colonial Yellow (SW 0030), published as #EFC488
#DFBA87
#FFCE87
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Colonial Yellow (SW 0030)?
- Colonial Yellow has an LRV of 59. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Colonial Yellow is a medium color.
- What is the closest match to Colonial Yellow in another brand?
- Pollen Grains (Behr PMD-30) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.3 (indistinguishable).
- Is Colonial Yellow warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Colonial Yellow as warm, with a Warm Yellow-Red undertone. Its Lab b* value is 35.8; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.