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Glittering Vela Goldenrod

#e6b136
Notes

Glittering Vela Goldenrod (#E6B136) 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%, 56%) 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
#e6b136
RGB
rgb(230, 177, 54)
HSL
hsl(42, 78%, 56%)
HWB
hwb(42 21% 10%)
OKLCH
oklch(78.9% 0.145 83.9)
HSV
hsv(42, 77%, 90%)
LAB
lab(75.16% 8.04 66.12)
LCH
lch(75.16% 66.61 83.06)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 23%, 77%, 10%)

Etymology

Glittering
adjective

Old Norse glitra, to shine — present-participle of glitter. As a color modifier, glittering implies a saturated-and-multi-point-reflective quality, the bright color of sequined-and-rhinestone fabric-and-gem-decoration surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to sparkling and glistening in usage.

Vela
modifier

Latin vela, sails-of-the-Argo. As a color modifier, vela implies a southern-hemisphere-and-Argo-sail-and-supernova-remnant quality, the visual register of Vela-supernova-remnant-and-Argo-sails hand-southern-hemisphere-and-Argo-sail-and-supernova-remnant Vela-supernova-remnant-and-Argo-sails-and-southern-Milky-Way vela-and-southern-hemisphere-and-Argo-sail surfaces under Vela-supernova-remnant-and-Argo-sails-and-southern-Milky-Way Southern-Cross-and-southern-zenith southern-stellar-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to cygnus and draco 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.

#e6b136
Original
#c8b120
Protanopia
#d4bf3c
Deuteranopia
#faa099
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
1.96:1
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
10.71:1

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