colors
Back to gallery

Showy Ginkgo

#b8bc4a
Notes

Showy Ginkgo (#B8BC4A) is a true yellow 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 (62°, 46%, 51%) 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
#b8bc4a
RGB
rgb(184, 188, 74)
HSL
hsl(62, 46%, 51%)
HWB
hwb(62 29% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.0% 0.136 111.1)
HSV
hsv(62, 61%, 74%)
LAB
lab(73.97% -16.28 55.56)
LCH
lch(73.97% 57.90 106.33)
CMYK
cmyk(2%, 0%, 61%, 26%)

Etymology

Showy
adjective

Old English scēawian, to look at — adjectival suffix -y. As a color modifier, showy implies a saturated-and-attention-grabbing quality, the bright color of Las-Vegas-and-Broadway neon-and-marquee theatrical-display lighting. Sits at the bright-and-flamboyant end of the grid, parallel to flamboyant and splashy in usage.

Ginkgo
noun

Ginkgo biloba, the Chinese tree species predating dinosaurs — a living fossil whose fan-shaped leaves turn brilliant yellow in autumn. Often called the maidenhair tree. The color refers to a Ginkgo canopy at peak autumn color: a saturated, slightly cool deep yellow with the satin finish of carotenoid-rich autumn leaves.

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.

#b8bc4a
Original
#cab43d
Protanopia
#cab751
Deuteranopia
#c4b1a4
Tritanopia
#b3b3b3
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
2.03:1
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
10.33:1

Related Colors

Canvas