Sovereign Aspen
Sovereign Aspen (#8A990E) is a deep yellow 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 (66°, 83%, 33%) 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.
Etymology
Old French soverain, supreme — derived from Latin super (above). As a color modifier, sovereign implies a saturated-and-royal-supremacy quality where the hue carries imperial-ruling-class register. Sits at the bold-and-imperial end of the grid, parallel to regal and imperial in tone.
Populus tremuloides, the North American quaking aspen whose leaves turn gold-yellow in autumn — the unifying fall color of Rocky Mountain landscapes. The color refers to an aspen grove at peak fall color: a saturated, slightly cool gold-yellow with the satin finish of carotenoid-rich autumn leaves. Cooler than ginkgo.
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 exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
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.
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.