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Pulsating Kogane

#de9911
Notes

Pulsating Kogane (#DE9911) 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 (40°, 86%, 47%) 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
#de9911
RGB
rgb(222, 153, 17)
HSL
hsl(40, 86%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(40 7% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(73.3% 0.151 75.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8308 0.6116 0.2228)
HSV
hsv(40, 92%, 87%)
LAB
lab(68.28% 16.40 70.31)
LCH
lch(68.28% 72.20 76.87)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 31%, 92%, 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.

Kogane
noun

The Japanese word for gold — used since the Heian period for the gilt highlights in Buddhist sculpture, the gold leaf of byōbu folding screens, and the kintsugi repair of broken ceramics. The color refers to fresh gold leaf on lacquer: a saturated, slightly cool deep gold-yellow with the metallic finish of beaten gold. Cooler than honey, deeper than yamabuki.

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.

#de9911
Original
#b29c00
Protanopia
#c2ad1a
Deuteranopia
#f28683
Tritanopia
#9e9e9e
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
2.42:1
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
8.67:1

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
##DE9911
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8308 0.6116 0.2228)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.151

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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