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Burning Snapdragon

#ac9d13
Notes

Burning Snapdragon (#AC9D13) is a true 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 (54°, 80%, 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 blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#ac9d13
RGB
rgb(172, 157, 19)
HSL
hsl(54, 80%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(54 7% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(68.8% 0.140 102.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6646 0.6178 0.2133)
HSV
hsv(54, 89%, 67%)
LAB
lab(64.11% -7.95 64.47)
LCH
lch(64.11% 64.96 97.03)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 9%, 89%, 33%)

Etymology

Burning
adjective

The progressive participle of burn — used as a color modifier for hues that read as actively luminous, as if combustion is in progress. Burning red, burning orange: the implication is high saturation combined with thermal heat. Sits in the bright-and-warm corner alongside hot and flame. Slightly more active than smoldering.

Snapdragon
noun

The genus Antirrhinum — particularly A. majus, the cottage-garden biennial whose tall flower spikes feature snapping dragon-mouth blooms in pinks, oranges, and yellows. The color refers to a yellow snapdragon bloom: a saturated, slightly red-shifted bright yellow with the matte finish of bee-pollinated flower stack.

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.

#ac9d13
Original
#ad9800
Protanopia
#b19e22
Deuteranopia
#ba9186
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
2.77:1
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
7.59:1

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
##AC9D13
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6646 0.6178 0.2133)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.140

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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