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Striking Etrusca

#bc9c22
Notes

Striking Etrusca (#BC9C22) is a true amber with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (48°, 69%, 44%) 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
#bc9c22
RGB
rgb(188, 156, 34)
HSL
hsl(48, 69%, 44%)
HWB
hwb(48 13% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(70.2% 0.135 92.9)
HSV
hsv(48, 82%, 74%)
LAB
lab(65.42% 0.16 62.40)
LCH
lch(65.42% 62.40 89.85)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 17%, 82%, 26%)

Etymology

Striking
adjective

The progressive participle of strike, to hit. Used as a color word since the seventeenth century for hues that command immediate attention. Striking red, striking blue: the implication is saturation combined with visual impact. Sits at the bright-bucket center alongside bold and punchy.

Etrusca
noun

Of the Etruscans — the pre-Roman civilization of central Italy whose tomb paintings and bucchero pottery established a Mediterranean ochre-and-black color palette. Etrusca refers to a Tarquinian tomb painting's earth-pigment: a soft, slightly muted warm tan with the matte finish of iron-oxide pigment in lime plaster.

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.

#bc9c22
Original
#ae9900
Protanopia
#b6a32b
Deuteranopia
#cc8e86
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
2.65:1
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
7.92:1

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