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Kindled Nun Goldenrod

#cda321
Notes

Kindled Nun Goldenrod (#CDA321) is a true amber with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (45°, 72%, 47%) 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
#cda321
RGB
rgb(205, 163, 33)
HSL
hsl(45, 72%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(45 13% 20%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.4% 0.142 88.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7780 0.6456 0.2498)
HSV
hsv(45, 84%, 80%)
LAB
lab(68.96% 3.92 66.39)
LCH
lch(68.96% 66.51 86.62)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 20%, 84%, 20%)

Etymology

Kindled
adjective

Old Norse kynda, to set on fire — past-participle of kindle. As a color modifier, kindled implies a saturated-and-newly-lit quality, the bright color of autumn-bonfire-and-stove-fire initial-combustion emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to ignited and aflame in usage.

Nun
modifier

Latin nonna, mother / nun. As a color modifier, nun implies a Carmelite-and-Benedictine-religious-sister quality, the visual register of Carmelite-and-Benedictine-Nun hand-spun robe-and-veil-and-wimple Carmelite-and-Benedictine-religious-sister surfaces under Carmelite-and-Benedictine-Religious-Sister hand-spun-robe-and-wimple convent-cloister light. 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.

#cda321
Original
#b7a200
Protanopia
#c1ad2a
Deuteranopia
#df948c
Tritanopia
#a3a3a3
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
2.37:1
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
8.86:1

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
##CDA321
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7780 0.6456 0.2498)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.142

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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