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Blazing Iowa

#8cb30a
Notes

Blazing Iowa (#8CB30A) is a true 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 (74°, 89%, 37%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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 indigo. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#8cb30a
RGB
rgb(140, 179, 10)
HSL
hsl(74, 89%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(74 4% 30%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.2% 0.175 123.9)
HSV
hsv(74, 94%, 70%)
LAB
lab(67.90% -32.99 67.84)
LCH
lch(67.90% 75.44 115.94)
CMYK
cmyk(22%, 0%, 94%, 30%)

Etymology

Blazing
adjective

Old English blǣse, flame — present-participle of blaze. As a color modifier, blazing implies a saturated-and-bright-flaming quality, the bright color of Yule-log and Bonfire-Night large-flame fire-emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to flaming and scorching in usage.

Iowa
noun

The American corn-belt state — and the saturated yellow of Iowa cornfields at peak harvest, Iowa State athletic uniforms, and the Iowa Hawkeyes gold-and-black branding. Iowa refers to Iowa dent corn at harvest: a saturated, slightly red yellow with the matte finish of cured grain. Warmer than maize.

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.

#8cb30a
Original
#bea700
Protanopia
#b9a526
Deuteranopia
#94aa98
Tritanopia
#9f9f9f
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).
Failon White
2.45:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
8.57:1

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