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Alit Frock Goldenrod

#e5ac2c
Notes

Alit Frock Goldenrod (#E5AC2C) 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%, 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
#e5ac2c
RGB
rgb(229, 172, 44)
HSL
hsl(42, 78%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(42 17% 10%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.8% 0.148 82.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8638 0.6835 0.2853)
HSV
hsv(42, 81%, 90%)
LAB
lab(73.77% 9.91 68.22)
LCH
lch(73.77% 68.94 81.74)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 25%, 81%, 10%)

Etymology

Alit
adjective

Old English ā-lihtan, to alight — past-participle of alight. As a color modifier, alit implies a saturated-and-just-illuminated quality, the bright color of evening-streetlamp and Christmas-tree-light freshly-switched-on emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to aflame and aglow in usage.

Frock
modifier

Old French froc, monk's-habit-or-loose-garment. As a color modifier, frock implies a monk's-habit-and-pinafore-and-day-frock quality, the visual register of Benedictine-monk's-frock-and-Edwardian-day-frock hand-monk's-habit-and-pinafore-and-day-frock Benedictine-monk's-frock-and-Edwardian-day-frock-and-pinafore frock-and-monk's-habit-and-pinafore surfaces under Benedictine-monk's-frock-and-Edwardian-day-frock-and-pinafore Cluny-Abbey-and-Edwardian-tea-room habit-and-day-dress-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to gown and cope 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.

#e5ac2c
Original
#c3ad0c
Protanopia
#d1bb33
Deuteranopia
#f99b94
Tritanopia
#afafaf
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
2.04:1
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
10.27:1

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
##E5AC2C
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8638 0.6835 0.2853)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.148

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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