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Pulsating Indochina

#acac04
Notes

Pulsating Indochina (#ACAC04) 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 (60°, 95%, 35%) 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
#acac04
RGB
rgb(172, 172, 4)
HSL
hsl(60, 95%, 35%)
HWB
hwb(60 2% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(72.1% 0.156 109.8)
HSV
hsv(60, 98%, 67%)
LAB
lab(68.23% -15.99 69.84)
LCH
lch(68.23% 71.65 102.90)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 0%, 98%, 33%)

Etymology

Pulsating
adjective

Latin pulsātio, beating — present-participle of pulsate, sharing root with pellere (to drive). As a color modifier, pulsating implies a saturated-and-beating-and-rhythmic quality, the bright color of rave-and-festival light-show synchronized-pulse rhythmic-emission. Sits at the bright-and-active end of the grid, parallel to throbbing and strobing in usage.

Indochina
noun

The historical name for mainland Southeast Asia — Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. Indochina as a color refers to the warm yellow of Cambodian and Vietnamese rice paddies in late autumn: a saturated, slightly red-shifted gold-yellow with the matte finish of ripening grain across an entire landscape.

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.

#acac04
Original
#bba400
Protanopia
#bda81f
Deuteranopia
#b9a092
Tritanopia
#a0a0a0
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
2.43:1
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
8.66:1

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