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Bubbly Vireo

#cac938
Notes

Bubbly Vireo (#CAC938) 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 (60°, 58%, 51%) 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
#cac938
RGB
rgb(202, 201, 56)
HSL
hsl(60, 58%, 51%)
HWB
hwb(60 22% 21%)
OKLCH
oklch(81.2% 0.159 109.1)
HSV
hsv(60, 72%, 79%)
LAB
lab(78.82% -16.26 67.96)
LCH
lch(78.82% 69.88 103.45)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 0%, 72%, 21%)

Etymology

Bubbly
adjective

Imitative-onomatopoeic origin — adjectival suffix -y, evoking the sound of bubbles. As a color modifier, bubbly implies a saturated-and-effervescent-and-cheerful quality, the bright color of Champagne-and-Prosecco effervescent-wine carbonation-bubble-light reflection. Sits at the bright-and-effervescent end of the grid, parallel to fizzy and effervescent in usage.

Vireo
noun

The genus Vireo — small North American songbirds with yellow-tinted plumage. Particularly V. flavifrons (yellow-throated vireo) whose males have bright yellow throats and breasts. The color refers to a yellow-throated vireo's breast: a soft, slightly cool yellow with the matte finish of feather pigment.

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.

#cac938
Original
#d9c11b
Protanopia
#dbc543
Deuteranopia
#d8bcad
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
1.76:1
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
11.92:1

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