What Color Does Purple and Yellow Make?
Purple and yellow mixed make brown or olive. A 50/50 mix gives #808000.
Color 1
#800080
Color 2
#FFFF00
Mixed Result
HEX: #BAA359
RGB: 186, 163, 89
Closest name: Gray
Purple + Yellow = Gray
Want more mixes? Explore the full Color Mixing Simulator.
Quick answer
Purple + Yellow = Brown/Olive (#808000)
Swatch shows the headline mix color—compare with the ratio table and adjust live in the simulator.
Why this mix looks the way it does
Purple and yellow sit opposite on the color wheel, so mixing them desaturates quickly into olive, moss, and brown families rather than a vivid secondary. Painters use this pair to mute landscapes and shadows; on screens, linear RGB blends between #800080 and #FFFF00 land near web olive (#808000) at equal parts. Dominating with purple keeps the mix drab-violet; dominating with yellow pushes chartreuse-olive. Document your anchor hex in tokens so teams do not confuse this muddy mix with intentional brand green.
Five mix ratios (hex previews)
Ratios describe how much of each primary contributes to the blend; hex values are reference stops for design tokens and mood boards.
| Mix | Name | Swatch | Hex | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% purple + 20% yellow | Deep olive | #996633 | ||
| 60% purple + 40% yellow | Moss brown | #8F7333 | ||
| 50% purple + 50% yellow | True olive | #808000 | ||
| 40% purple + 60% yellow | Yellow olive | #738C00 | ||
| 20% purple + 80% yellow | Chartreuse olive | #669900 |
Using this combination in UI and brand design
Olive and brown-olive mixes work for earthy dashboards, outdoor brands, and photography overlays—avoid using them for small error text on saturated green. Pair olive accents with cream or charcoal neutrals. After choosing an anchor, branch tints in the palette generator and validate every text pair with the contrast checker.
Build harmonious ramps and harmonies from any swatch above in the palette generator, then validate text, links, and buttons with the contrast checker.