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Crisp Jīn

#bc9a33
Notes

Crisp Jīn (#BC9A33) 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 (45°, 57%, 47%) 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
#bc9a33
RGB
rgb(188, 154, 51)
HSL
hsl(45, 57%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(45 20% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.9% 0.124 90.0)
HSV
hsv(45, 73%, 74%)
LAB
lab(65.00% 1.92 55.99)
LCH
lch(65.00% 56.02 88.04)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 18%, 73%, 26%)

Etymology

Crisp
adjective

Latin crispus, curled — drifted in English from the curled hair sense to fresh and clean. As a color modifier, crisp implies saturation combined with optical clarity, with no haze or film between the eye and the surface. Used across the bright and crisp buckets where the hue is fresh-looking. Slightly less assertive than vivid.

Jīn
noun

The Chinese word for gold — both the metal and the color. Used in the gilt decoration of Buddhist statuary, the gold-thread embroidery of imperial robes, and the calligraphy of Imperial decrees. The color refers to fresh gold leaf on a Tang-dynasty Buddha: a saturated, slightly cool deep gold with the metallic finish of beaten gold. The Chinese cousin of kogane.

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

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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.

#bc9a33
Original
#ac9824
Protanopia
#b4a238
Deuteranopia
#cc8d85
Tritanopia
#9a9a9a
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
2.69:1
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
7.81:1

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