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Electric Haldi

#bd9c2a
Notes

Electric Haldi (#BD9C2A) 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 (47°, 64%, 45%) 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
#bd9c2a
RGB
rgb(189, 156, 42)
HSL
hsl(47, 64%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(47 16% 26%)
OKLCH
oklch(70.4% 0.131 91.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7204 0.6166 0.2573)
HSV
hsv(47, 78%, 74%)
LAB
lab(65.57% 0.89 59.95)
LCH
lch(65.57% 59.96 89.15)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 17%, 78%, 26%)

Etymology

Electric
adjective

From the Greek elektron, amber — the substance whose static-electric properties were observed by Thales of Miletus. Used as a color modifier since the late nineteenth century after electric light made certain saturated colors feel attention-demanding. Electric blue, electric pink: the implication is hot luminance combined with optical impact. Sits at the bright-bucket extreme.

Haldi
noun

The Hindi word for turmeric — the South Asian spice and ceremonial pigment used in Hindu haldi pre-wedding rituals and in gor-haldi (turmeric milk). The color refers to fresh haldi paste applied to skin in a wedding ritual: a saturated, slightly red-shifted yellow with the dusty finish of fresh-ground rhizome. Warmer than turmeric.

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.

#bd9c2a
Original
#ae9a13
Protanopia
#b6a331
Deuteranopia
#cd8f86
Tritanopia
#9b9b9b
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
2.64:1
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
7.95:1

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
##BD9C2A
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7204 0.6166 0.2573)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.131

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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