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Punchy Sriracha

#bc3a03
Notes

Punchy Sriracha (#BC3A03) is a true orange 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 (18°, 97%, 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 cyan. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#bc3a03
RGB
rgb(188, 58, 3)
HSL
hsl(18, 97%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(18 1% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(53.5% 0.175 37.7)
HSV
hsv(18, 98%, 74%)
LAB
lab(43.84% 50.32 54.56)
LCH
lch(43.84% 74.23 47.32)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 69%, 98%, 26%)

Etymology

Punchy
adjective

A modern adjectival form of punch, to strike sharply. Used as a color word since the early twentieth century for hues that read as highly contrasting and visually loud. Punchy red, punchy yellow: the implication is full saturation combined with optical impact. Sits across the bold and bright buckets, near vivid and striking.

Sriracha
noun

The Thai chili-garlic sauce — named for the coastal town of Si Racha, popularized worldwide by Huy Fong's California-made rooster sauce. The color refers to a fresh-shaken bottle of Sriracha: a saturated, slightly red deep orange with the slight viscosity of vinegar-and-pepper paste. Warmer than tabasco.

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.

#bc3a03
Original
#625500
Protanopia
#817200
Deuteranopia
#d00032
Tritanopia
#525252
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).
AAon White
5.61:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
3.74:1

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