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Flaming Goldenrod

#e4ac25
Notes

Flaming Goldenrod (#E4AC25) 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 (42°, 78%, 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
#e4ac25
RGB
rgb(228, 172, 37)
HSL
hsl(42, 78%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(42 15% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.6% 0.151 83.3)
HSV
hsv(42, 84%, 89%)
LAB
lab(73.63% 9.27 70.17)
LCH
lch(73.63% 70.78 82.47)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 25%, 84%, 11%)

Etymology

Flaming
adjective

Old French flamme, flame — present-participle of flame. As a color modifier, flaming implies a saturated-and-fire-and-bright-color quality, the bright color of autumn-Maple-and-Oak deciduous-foliage fall-color and Yule-log fire emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to fiery and blazing 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

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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.

#e4ac25
Original
#c3ac00
Protanopia
#d1bb2d
Deuteranopia
#f89b94
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
2.05:1
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
10.23:1

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