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Refulgent Atlas Goldenrod

#e3ac26
Notes

Refulgent Atlas Goldenrod (#E3AC26) 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 (43°, 77%, 52%) 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
#e3ac26
RGB
rgb(227, 172, 38)
HSL
hsl(43, 77%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(43 15% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.5% 0.150 83.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8570 0.6831 0.2731)
HSV
hsv(43, 83%, 89%)
LAB
lab(73.53% 8.87 69.75)
LCH
lch(73.53% 70.32 82.76)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 24%, 83%, 11%)

Etymology

Refulgent
adjective

Latin refulgēns, shining-back — present-participle of refulgere, sharing root with fulgor (lightning). As a color modifier, refulgent implies a saturated-and-reflective-shining quality, the bright color of polished-bronze-and-armor reflective-surface mid-day-sun reflection. Sits at the bright-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to effulgent and resplendent in usage.

Atlas
modifier

Greek Ἄτλας, Titan-bearing-the-heavens. As a color modifier, atlas implies a Titan-bearing-heaven-and-globe-bearer quality, the visual register of Farnese-Atlas-and-Titanomachy-Atlas hand-Titan-bearing-heaven-and-globe-bearer Farnese-Atlas-and-Titanomachy-Atlas-and-Hellenistic-marble atlas-and-Titan-bearing-heaven surfaces under Farnese-Atlas-and-Titanomachy-Atlas-and-Hellenistic-marble Naples-museum-and-celestial-globe globe-bearer-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to titan and zeus 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.

#e3ac26
Original
#c3ac00
Protanopia
#d0ba2e
Deuteranopia
#f79b94
Tritanopia
#aeaeae
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
2.06:1
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
10.20:1

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
##E3AC26
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8570 0.6831 0.2731)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.150

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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