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Prismatic Tuscan

#aa9f02
Notes

Prismatic Tuscan (#AA9F02) 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 (56°, 98%, 34%) 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
#aa9f02
RGB
rgb(170, 159, 2)
HSL
hsl(56, 98%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(56 1% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.0% 0.146 104.6)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6593 0.6250 0.1981)
HSV
hsv(56, 99%, 67%)
LAB
lab(64.44% -10.17 67.23)
LCH
lch(64.44% 67.99 98.60)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 6%, 99%, 33%)

Etymology

Prismatic
adjective

Greek prísma, prism — adjectival suffix -ic. As a color modifier, prismatic implies a saturated-and-multi-spectrum-decomposed quality, the bright color of crystal-prism and cut-glass-chandelier light-refraction-spectrum decomposition. Sits at the bright-and-shifting end of the grid, parallel to iridescent and spectral in usage.

Tuscan
noun

Of Toscana, the central Italian region whose pale ochre stucco and warm terracotta roofs define a regional palette. The color Tuscan yellow refers to the limewash of Florentine and Sienese palazzo facades — a soft, slightly muted gold that's warmer than cream and lighter than honey. The pigment is the same iron-rich earth that gives sienna its name; mixed with lime, it ages to the patina of half a millennium.

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.

#aa9f02
Original
#af9900
Protanopia
#b29f1b
Deuteranopia
#b89387
Tritanopia
#969696
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
2.74:1
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
7.67:1

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
##AA9F02
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6593 0.6250 0.1981)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.146

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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