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Acid Phase Goldenrod

#e5a625
Notes

Acid Phase Goldenrod (#E5A625) 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 (40°, 79%, 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
#e5a625
RGB
rgb(229, 166, 37)
HSL
hsl(40, 79%, 52%)
HWB
hwb(40 15% 10%)
OKLCH
oklch(76.6% 0.150 79.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8608 0.6612 0.2667)
HSV
hsv(40, 84%, 90%)
LAB
lab(72.27% 12.89 69.07)
LCH
lch(72.27% 70.26 79.43)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 28%, 84%, 10%)

Etymology

Acid
adjective

Latin acidus, sour — sharing root with English acrid and acerbic. As a color modifier, acid implies a saturated-and-citric-and-zingy quality, the bright color of lemon-and-lime citrus-fruit-flesh and acid-yellow fluorescent-pigment surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to acidic and electric in usage.

Phase
modifier

Greek phásis, appearance / phase-of-the-moon. As a color modifier, phase implies a moon-phase-and-cycle-stage quality, the visual register of lunar-and-tidal-cycle moon-phase-and-tidal-rhythm waxing-and-waning lunar-cycle surfaces under waxing-and-waning lunar-cycle light. Sits at the modifier-and-time end of the grid, parallel to cycle and wane 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.

#e5a625
Original
#bea800
Protanopia
#cdb82c
Deuteranopia
#f9948f
Tritanopia
#aaaaaa
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
2.14:1
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
9.81:1

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
##E5A625
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8608 0.6612 0.2667)
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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