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Searing Torrent Goldenrod

#da9c23
Notes

Searing Torrent Goldenrod (#DA9C23) 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 (40°, 72%, 50%) 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
#da9c23
RGB
rgb(218, 156, 35)
HSL
hsl(40, 72%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(40 14% 15%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.4% 0.144 78.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8185 0.6219 0.2512)
HSV
hsv(40, 84%, 85%)
LAB
lab(68.61% 13.42 66.09)
LCH
lch(68.61% 67.43 78.52)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 28%, 84%, 15%)

Etymology

Searing
adjective

Old English sēarian, to wither — present-participle of sear. As a color modifier, searing implies a saturated-and-burning-touch-hot quality, the bright color of cast-iron-griddle high-heat surface-emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to scorching and blazing in usage.

Torrent
modifier

Latin torrens, rushing-or-burning-stream. As a color modifier, torrent implies a rushing-and-deluge-and-flash-flood quality, the visual register of Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent hand-rushing-and-deluge-and-flash-flood Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent-and-monsoon-deluge torrent-and-rushing-and-deluge surfaces under Alpine-and-Pyrenean-torrent-and-monsoon-deluge Alpine-Dolomites-and-Pyrenean-cirque deluge-rushing-water-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to rain and thaw 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.

#da9c23
Original
#b39e00
Protanopia
#c2ae29
Deuteranopia
#ee8b86
Tritanopia
#a0a0a0
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
2.40:1
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
8.76:1

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
##DA9C23
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8185 0.6219 0.2512)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.144

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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