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Aflame Primrose

#a9b20f
Notes

Aflame Primrose (#A9B20F) 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 (63°, 84%, 38%) 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 blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a9b20f
RGB
rgb(169, 178, 15)
HSL
hsl(63, 84%, 38%)
HWB
hwb(63 6% 30%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.2% 0.161 113.4)
HSV
hsv(63, 92%, 70%)
LAB
lab(69.69% -20.18 69.47)
LCH
lch(69.69% 72.34 106.20)
CMYK
cmyk(5%, 0%, 92%, 30%)

Etymology

Aflame
adjective

Old English on-flamme, on-fire. As a color modifier, aflame implies a saturated-and-burning-bright quality, the bright color of autumn-Maple-and-Oak peak-color deciduous-foliage and Bonfire-Night large-flame fire emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to flaming and blazing in usage.

Primrose
noun

Primula vulgaris, the European primrose whose pale yellow flowers appear in early spring — prima rosa (first rose) for its early bloom. The color refers to a fresh primrose in March: a soft, slightly cool pale yellow with the satin finish of five-petaled flower with darker yellow center. Cooler than cowslip.

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.

#a9b20f
Original
#c0a900
Protanopia
#c0ac26
Deuteranopia
#b5a797
Tritanopia
#a4a4a4
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
2.32:1
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
9.06:1

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