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Showy Sparta Goldenrod

#d79911
Notes

Showy Sparta Goldenrod (#D79911) is a true amber with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (41°, 85%, 45%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. 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
#d79911
RGB
rgb(215, 153, 17)
HSL
hsl(41, 85%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(41 7% 16%)
OKLCH
oklch(72.5% 0.147 78.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8068 0.6102 0.2203)
HSV
hsv(41, 92%, 84%)
LAB
lab(67.48% 13.35 69.37)
LCH
lch(67.48% 70.64 79.10)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 29%, 92%, 16%)

Etymology

Showy
adjective

Old English scēawian, to look at — adjectival suffix -y. As a color modifier, showy implies a saturated-and-attention-grabbing quality, the bright color of Las-Vegas-and-Broadway neon-and-marquee theatrical-display lighting. Sits at the bright-and-flamboyant end of the grid, parallel to flamboyant and splashy in usage.

Sparta
modifier

Greek Σπάρτη, Sparta. As a color modifier, sparta implies a Lacedaemonian-and-warrior-city-state quality, the visual register of Spartan-Lacedaemonian-City-State hand-built bronze-armor-and-crimson-tunic-and-stone-temple Doric-warrior-state surfaces under Lacedaemonian-Sparta-and-Eurotas-Valley Doric-warrior-state Greek-Peloponnese light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to athens and roman 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.

#d79911
Original
#b19b00
Protanopia
#bfab1b
Deuteranopia
#eb8783
Tritanopia
#9c9c9c
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
2.48:1
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
8.45:1

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
##D79911
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8068 0.6102 0.2203)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.147

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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