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Lambent Brioche

#df9e04
Notes

Lambent Brioche (#DF9E04) 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 (42°, 96%, 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
#df9e04
RGB
rgb(223, 158, 4)
HSL
hsl(42, 96%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(42 2% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(74.3% 0.154 79.0)
HSV
hsv(42, 98%, 87%)
LAB
lab(69.58% 14.02 73.10)
LCH
lch(69.58% 74.43 79.14)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 29%, 98%, 13%)

Etymology

Lambent
adjective

Latin lambēns, licking-lightly — present-participle of lambere (to lick). As a color modifier, lambent implies a saturated-and-soft-flickering quality, the bright color of candle-flame-and-firefly gentle-flickering light-emission against the surrounding darkness. Sits at the bright-and-soft end of the grid, parallel to glimmering and flickering in usage.

Brioche
noun

The French enriched bread — egg- and butter-rich dough that produces a soft, golden, slightly sweet loaf used in brioche à tête, pain au lait, and kouign-amann. The color refers to the inside of a freshly baked brioche: a soft, slightly warm pale yellow with the matte finish of egg-rich crumb.

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.

#df9e04
Original
#b7a000
Protanopia
#c6b014
Deuteranopia
#f38c86
Tritanopia
#a1a1a1
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
2.33:1
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
9.03:1

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