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Frantic Freya Goldenrod

#e4a42d
Notes

Frantic Freya Goldenrod (#E4A42D) 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 (39°, 77%, 54%) 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
#e4a42d
RGB
rgb(228, 164, 45)
HSL
hsl(39, 77%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(39 18% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(76.1% 0.146 77.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8565 0.6536 0.2807)
HSV
hsv(39, 80%, 89%)
LAB
lab(71.72% 13.76 66.03)
LCH
lch(71.72% 67.45 78.23)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 28%, 80%, 11%)

Etymology

Frantic
adjective

Greek phrenitikós, frenzied — adjectival suffix, sharing root with phrenitis (delirium). As a color modifier, frantic implies a saturated-and-rushed-and-overactive quality, the bright color of Memphis-Group 1980s-design over-the-top saturated visual-rhythm. Sits at the bright-and-active end of the grid, parallel to frenetic and manic in usage.

Freya
modifier

Old Norse Freyja, goddess-of-love-and-Vanir. As a color modifier, freya implies a Vanir-goddess-and-feathered-cloak-and-Brísingamen quality, the visual register of Norse-Freya-and-Vanir-goddess hand-Vanir-goddess-and-feathered-cloak-and-Brísingamen Norse-Freya-and-Vanir-goddess-and-Brísingamen-amber-necklace freya-and-Vanir-goddess-and-feathered-cloak surfaces under Norse-Freya-and-Vanir-goddess-and-Brísingamen-amber-necklace Folkvang-and-Sessrúmnir-and-cat-drawn-chariot amber-necklace-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to odin and vala 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.

#e4a42d
Original
#bca613
Protanopia
#cbb632
Deuteranopia
#f8928d
Tritanopia
#a9a9a9
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
2.18:1
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
9.65:1

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
##E4A42D
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8565 0.6536 0.2807)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.146

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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