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Pulsating Ambra

#ddb12e
Notes

Pulsating Ambra (#DDB12E) 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%, 52%) 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
#ddb12e
RGB
rgb(221, 177, 46)
HSL
hsl(45, 72%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(45 18% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.9% 0.147 88.8)
HSV
hsv(45, 79%, 87%)
LAB
lab(74.20% 3.87 67.65)
LCH
lch(74.20% 67.76 86.72)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 20%, 79%, 13%)

Etymology

Pulsating
adjective

Latin pulsātio, beating — present-participle of pulsate, sharing root with pellere (to drive). As a color modifier, pulsating implies a saturated-and-beating-and-rhythmic quality, the bright color of rave-and-festival light-show synchronized-pulse rhythmic-emission. Sits at the bright-and-active end of the grid, parallel to throbbing and strobing in usage.

Ambra
noun

The Italian word for amber — likewise borrowed via Arabic. Ambra in Italian fashion vocabulary names a slightly warmer, deeper gold-orange than its Spanish cousin. The color refers to Sicilian amber on display in Catania: a warm, slightly translucent deep gold-orange with the optical depth of fossil resin.

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

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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.

#ddb12e
Original
#c6af0f
Protanopia
#d1bb36
Deuteranopia
#f0a198
Tritanopia
#b1b1b1
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
2.02:1
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
10.40:1

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