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Phosphorescent Dome Goldenrod

#c0cb42
Notes

Phosphorescent Dome Goldenrod (#C0CB42) is a true yellow 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 (65°, 57%, 53%) 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
#c0cb42
RGB
rgb(192, 203, 66)
HSL
hsl(65, 57%, 53%)
HWB
hwb(65 26% 20%)
OKLCH
oklch(80.9% 0.157 113.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7608 0.7947 0.3523)
HSV
hsv(65, 67%, 80%)
LAB
lab(78.64% -20.93 63.91)
LCH
lch(78.64% 67.25 108.13)
CMYK
cmyk(5%, 0%, 67%, 20%)

Etymology

Phosphorescent
adjective

Greek phōsphóros, light-bringer — adjectival suffix -escent. As a color modifier, phosphorescent implies a saturated-and-cool-glow-after-stimulation quality, the bright cool-green-blue color of Cu-doped-ZnS glow-in-the-dark photoluminescent surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to fluorescent and luminous in usage.

Dome
modifier

Latin domus, house. As a color modifier, dome implies a hemispherical-vaulted-roof quality, the visual register of Roman-Pantheon-and-Hagia-Sophia-and-Taj-Mahal hand-built hemispherical-roof dome-and-cupola architectural surfaces under monumental-dome interior-and-exterior architectural light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to cupola and arch in usage.

Goldenrod
noun

Solidago, the late-summer wildflower of North American meadows whose tall sprays of small yellow flowers signal the end of the growing season. The color refers to the flower head at full bloom: a warm, slightly muted yellow-orange with the matte finish of small clustered florets. Cooler than mustard, deeper than dandelion. The state flower of Kentucky and Nebraska, a pollinator magnet, and the original native dye for early American homespun.

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.

#c0cb42
Original
#dac12d
Protanopia
#d9c44c
Deuteranopia
#ccbfb0
Tritanopia
#bfbfbf
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
1.77:1
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
11.86:1

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
##C0CB42
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7608 0.7947 0.3523)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.157

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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