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Buzzing Pīta

#e5b418
Notes

Buzzing Pīta (#E5B418) 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 (46°, 81%, 50%) 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 blue. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#e5b418
RGB
rgb(229, 180, 24)
HSL
hsl(46, 81%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(46 9% 10%)
OKLCH
oklch(79.2% 0.158 88.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8679 0.7134 0.2595)
HSV
hsv(46, 90%, 90%)
LAB
lab(75.68% 5.20 74.93)
LCH
lch(75.68% 75.11 86.03)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 21%, 90%, 10%)

Etymology

Buzzing
adjective

The progressive participle of buzz — borrowed metaphorically as a color word since the late twentieth century for hues that read as visually loud and slightly destabilizing. Buzzing yellow, buzzing magenta: the implication is saturation pushed past comfortable into the realm of optical agitation. Sits at the bright-bucket extreme alongside electric.

Pīta
noun

The Sanskrit word for yellow — used in Vedic texts for the yellow of saffron-dyed monks' robes, the gold of pītāmbara (yellow upper-garment of Krishna), and the saffron of Hindu tilak. The color refers to pīta-dyed silk in a temple offering: a saturated, slightly red-shifted yellow with the matte finish of plant-and-mordant dye.

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.

#e5b418
Original
#cbb300
Protanopia
#d7c026
Deuteranopia
#f9a39a
Tritanopia
#b3b3b3
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
1.93:1
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
10.87:1

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
##E5B418
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8679 0.7134 0.2595)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.158

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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