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Praetorian Linden

#bc7e0d
Notes

Praetorian Linden (#BC7E0D) 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 (39°, 87%, 39%) 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 azure. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#bc7e0d
RGB
rgb(188, 126, 13)
HSL
hsl(39, 87%, 39%)
HWB
hwb(39 5% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.1% 0.133 73.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7019 0.5047 0.1805)
HSV
hsv(39, 93%, 74%)
LAB
lab(57.70% 16.11 61.47)
LCH
lch(57.70% 63.55 75.31)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 33%, 93%, 26%)

Etymology

Praetorian
adjective

Latin praetōriānus, of the praetor — adjectival suffix, referring to the Roman-Imperial elite guard-cohorts. As a color modifier, praetorian implies a saturated-and-elite-and-imperial-guard quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Praetorian-Guard elite-imperial-bodyguard scarlet-tunic-and-bronze-armor military-formation. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and imperial.

Linden
noun

The genus Tilia — the European linden or basswood, whose pale yellow-green flowers perfume European parks in early summer and yield the tilleul tisane of French herbal medicine. The color refers to fresh linden flowers in June: a soft, slightly green-shifted pale yellow with the matte finish of small clustered florets.

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.

#bc7e0d
Original
#948200
Protanopia
#a29114
Deuteranopia
#ce6e6b
Tritanopia
#838383
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
3.43:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.13:1

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
##BC7E0D
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7019 0.5047 0.1805)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.133

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.

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