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Phosphoric Saint Goldenrod

#c3e469
Notes

Phosphoric Saint Goldenrod (#C3E469) is a true lime with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (76°, 69%, 65%) 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 indigo. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#c3e469
RGB
rgb(195, 228, 105)
HSL
hsl(76, 69%, 65%)
HWB
hwb(76 41% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(87.0% 0.154 122.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7897 0.8902 0.4779)
HSV
hsv(76, 54%, 89%)
LAB
lab(86.06% -28.89 55.61)
LCH
lch(86.06% 62.67 117.45)
CMYK
cmyk(14%, 0%, 54%, 11%)

Etymology

Phosphoric
adjective

Greek phōsphóros, light-bringer — adjectival suffix -ic. As a color modifier, phosphoric implies a saturated-and-cool-glow quality, the bright color of match-tip-strike and firefly phosphorus-emission luminescence. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to phosphorescent and fluorescent in usage.

Saint
modifier

Latin sanctus, holy. As a color modifier, saint implies a hagiographic-and-relic quality, the visual register of Greek-Orthodox-and-Roman-Catholic-Saint hand-painted icon-and-relic-and-halo-and-iconostasis hagiographic surfaces under Greek-Orthodox-and-Roman-Catholic hand-painted icon-and-iconostasis hagiographic-tradition candlelight. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to monk and friar 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.

#c3e469
Original
#f0d85d
Protanopia
#ecd771
Deuteranopia
#cbdac9
Tritanopia
#d4d4d4
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
1.44:1
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
14.62:1

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
##C3E469
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7897 0.8902 0.4779)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.154

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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