colors
Back to gallery

Glowing Jīnhuáng

#cac54b
Notes

Glowing Jīnhuáng (#CAC54B) 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 (58°, 55%, 54%) 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
#cac54b
RGB
rgb(202, 197, 75)
HSL
hsl(58, 55%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(58 29% 21%)
OKLCH
oklch(80.5% 0.142 106.9)
HSV
hsv(58, 63%, 79%)
LAB
lab(77.87% -13.22 59.76)
LCH
lch(77.87% 61.20 102.48)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 2%, 63%, 21%)

Etymology

Glowing
adjective

The progressive participle of glow, to emit light — used as a color word since the medieval period for hues that read as if they were luminous from within. Glowing amber, glowing rose: the implication is moderate saturation combined with the optical impression of internal light. Sits in the bright-bucket alongside radiant.

Jīnhuáng
noun

Chinese for gold-yellow — combining jīn (gold) and huáng (yellow). Used in the imperial-yellow silks of late Qing dynasty court robes and the gilt-and-yellow lacquer of Buddhist altarpieces. The color refers to jīnhuáng-glazed Yongzheng-period porcelain: a saturated, slightly cool deep gold-yellow with the high gloss of fired glaze.

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.

#cac54b
Original
#d5be3c
Protanopia
#d7c352
Deuteranopia
#d8b9ac
Tritanopia
#bdbdbd
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
1.81:1
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
11.60:1

Related Colors

Canvas