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Spectral Sicily

#bcb412
Notes

Spectral Sicily (#BCB412) is a true yellow with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (57°, 83%, 40%) 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 blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#bcb412
RGB
rgb(188, 180, 18)
HSL
hsl(57, 83%, 40%)
HWB
hwb(57 7% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(75.3% 0.158 106.3)
HSV
hsv(57, 90%, 74%)
LAB
lab(71.81% -12.85 71.33)
LCH
lch(71.81% 72.48 100.21)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 4%, 90%, 26%)

Etymology

Spectral
adjective

Latin spectrum, appearance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, spectral implies a saturated-and-rainbow-decomposed-and-pure quality, the bright color of Newton-prism sunlight-decomposed seven-color spectrum band. Sits at the bright-and-pure end of the grid, parallel to prismatic and pure in usage.

Sicily
noun

The Italian island — and the saturated lemon-yellow of Sicilian limoncello, granita al limone, and the lemon orchards of the Conca d'Oro. Sicily as a color refers to the inside of a Sicilian Femminello lemon cut against a market-stall backdrop: a saturated, slightly cool deep yellow with the optical brightness of high-water-content citrus.

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.

#bcb412
Original
#c5ad00
Protanopia
#c8b326
Deuteranopia
#cba799
Tritanopia
#aaaaaa
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
2.17:1
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
9.68:1

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