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Defined Burlap

#b8a85a
Notes

Defined Burlap (#B8A85A) is a true amber with a warm character. It leans warm, pulling light toward red, orange, and yellow. Naturally inviting, it suits editorial and hospitality contexts. Its HSL profile (50°, 40%, 54%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. 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
#b8a85a
RGB
rgb(184, 168, 90)
HSL
hsl(50, 40%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(50 35% 28%)
OKLCH
oklch(72.9% 0.101 98.0)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7110 0.6610 0.3953)
HSV
hsv(50, 51%, 72%)
LAB
lab(68.70% -4.63 42.04)
LCH
lch(68.70% 42.30 96.29)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 9%, 51%, 28%)

Etymology

Defined
adjective

Latin dēfīnīre, to set bounds — past-participle of define. As a color modifier, defined implies a clear-and-edge-distinct-and-precise quality where the hue carries the visual register of sharp-bounded-and-clearly-delimited surface. Sits at the crisp-and-clear end of the grid, parallel to crisp and sharp in usage.

Burlap
noun

A coarse fabric woven from jute or hemp fiber — used historically for sacking, packing, and rough farm-clothing. The color refers to undyed natural burlap: a soft, slightly muted warm tan with the textured matte finish of bast-fiber weave. Drier than hemp, warmer than canvas.

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.

#b8a85a
Original
#b5a453
Protanopia
#baaa5d
Deuteranopia
#c49e96
Tritanopia
#a6a6a6
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
2.39:1
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
8.79:1

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
##B8A85A
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7110 0.6610 0.3953)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.101

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.

Related Colors

Canvas