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Spangled Ochre

#b88b09
Notes

Spangled Ochre (#B88B09) 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 (45°, 91%, 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
#b88b09
RGB
rgb(184, 139, 9)
HSL
hsl(45, 91%, 38%)
HWB
hwb(45 4% 28%)
OKLCH
oklch(66.2% 0.134 85.1)
HSV
hsv(45, 95%, 72%)
LAB
lab(60.50% 7.08 63.97)
LCH
lch(60.50% 64.36 83.68)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 24%, 95%, 28%)

Etymology

Spangled
adjective

Middle Dutch spange, clasp / metal-disc — past-participle of spangle. As a color modifier, spangled implies a saturated-and-multi-point-reflective quality, the bright color of American-flag-stars and sequined-fabric metallic-disc-and-jewel-decoration. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to glittering and sequined in usage.

Ochre
noun

Iron-rich earth pigment — humanity's oldest known coloring material, used in burial ornament 100,000 years ago. Yellow ochre is the unfired earth (limonite); red ochre is the same mineral fired or weathered to hematite. The color refers to yellow ochre as ground for Renaissance fresco: a warm, slightly muted earth-yellow with the matte chalk finish of mineral pigment. Cave paintings in Lascaux and Altamira; the unbroken thread of Western image-making.

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.

#b88b09
Original
#9e8b00
Protanopia
#a99716
Deuteranopia
#c97c76
Tritanopia
#8b8b8b
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).
AA Largeon White
3.12:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.74:1

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