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Reinforced Bluestem

#3c9849
Notes

Reinforced Bluestem (#3C9849) is a true green with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (128°, 43%, 42%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary violet. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3c9849
RGB
rgb(60, 152, 73)
HSL
hsl(128, 43%, 42%)
HWB
hwb(128 24% 40%)
OKLCH
oklch(60.6% 0.145 146.1)
HSV
hsv(128, 61%, 60%)
LAB
lab(55.98% -44.39 33.39)
LCH
lch(55.98% 55.55 143.05)
CMYK
cmyk(61%, 0%, 52%, 40%)

Etymology

Reinforced
adjective

Latin re- plus inforce — past-participle of reinforce. As a color modifier, reinforced implies a saturated-and-doubled-up-and-strengthened quality where the hue carries layered pigmentation for maximum visual presence. Sits at the bold-and-fortified end of the grid, parallel to fortified and buttressed.

Bluestem
noun

The genera Andropogon and Schizachyrium — North American native prairie grasses whose stems shift from green to blue-purple in autumn. The color refers to S. scoparium (little bluestem) in midsummer: a soft, slightly cool blue-green-gray with the matte finish of upright prairie grass.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

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Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#3c9849
Original
#9a8b42
Protanopia
#8e834f
Deuteranopia
#279586
Tritanopia
#7f7f7f
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon White
3.63:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
5.78:1

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