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Kindled Goldenrod

#dca520
Notes

Kindled Goldenrod (#DCA520) 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 (42°, 75%, 49%) 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
#dca520
RGB
rgb(220, 165, 32)
HSL
hsl(42, 75%, 49%)
HWB
hwb(42 13% 14%)
OKLCH
oklch(75.4% 0.148 83.1)
HSV
hsv(42, 85%, 86%)
LAB
lab(71.03% 9.40 69.02)
LCH
lch(71.03% 69.66 82.25)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 25%, 85%, 14%)

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.

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.

#dca520
Original
#bca600
Protanopia
#c9b428
Deuteranopia
#ef948d
Tritanopia
#a7a7a7
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
2.22:1
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
9.45:1

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