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Effervescent Rime Goldenrod

#cfa221
Notes

Effervescent Rime Goldenrod (#CFA221) 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 (44°, 73%, 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 azure. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#cfa221
RGB
rgb(207, 162, 33)
HSL
hsl(44, 73%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(44 13% 19%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.4% 0.142 87.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.7842 0.6422 0.2495)
HSV
hsv(44, 84%, 81%)
LAB
lab(68.91% 5.33 66.44)
LCH
lch(68.91% 66.65 85.41)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 22%, 84%, 19%)

Etymology

Effervescent
adjective

Latin effervēscēns, boiling-out — present-participle of effervesce, sharing root with fervere (to boil). As a color modifier, effervescent implies a saturated-and-bubbling-and-active 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 sparkling in usage.

Rime
modifier

Old English hrīm, hoar-frost-on-twigs. As a color modifier, rime implies a feathered-frost-and-fog-deposited quality, the visual register of Scottish-Highland-and-Cairngorm-rime hand-feathered-frost-and-fog-deposited Scottish-Highland-and-Cairngorm-rime-and-Pennine-cap rime-and-feathered-frost-and-fog-deposited surfaces under Scottish-Highland-and-Cairngorm-rime-and-Pennine-cap Cairngorm-Highlands-and-Scottish-Munro-and-Pennine-cap freezing-fog-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to hoar and sleet 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.

#cfa221
Original
#b7a100
Protanopia
#c2ad2a
Deuteranopia
#e1938b
Tritanopia
#a2a2a2
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
8.84:1

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
##CFA221
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.7842 0.6422 0.2495)
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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