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Sure Vireo

#856f0b
Notes

Sure Vireo (#856F0B) is a deep amber with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (49°, 85%, 28%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#856f0b
RGB
rgb(133, 111, 11)
HSL
hsl(49, 85%, 28%)
HWB
hwb(49 4% 48%)
OKLCH
oklch(54.7% 0.109 94.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.5076 0.4385 0.1454)
HSV
hsv(49, 92%, 52%)
LAB
lab(47.47% -0.88 51.35)
LCH
lch(47.47% 51.36 90.99)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 17%, 92%, 48%)

Etymology

Sure
adjective

Old French seur, certain — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as confident and stable. Sure red, sure blue: moderate saturation combined with optical commitment. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside steady and true.

Vireo
noun

The genus Vireo — small North American songbirds with yellow-tinted plumage. Particularly V. flavifrons (yellow-throated vireo) whose males have bright yellow throats and breasts. The color refers to a yellow-throated vireo's breast: a soft, slightly cool yellow with the matte finish of feather pigment.

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

Click any swatch to explore

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.

#856f0b
Original
#7c6d00
Protanopia
#827315
Deuteranopia
#91655e
Tritanopia
#6c6c6c
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).
AAon White
4.91:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
4.28:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##856F0B
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.5076 0.4385 0.1454)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.109

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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