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Kindled Deneb Goldenrod

#ecb22e
Notes

Kindled Deneb Goldenrod (#ECB22E) 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°, 83%, 55%) 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
#ecb22e
RGB
rgb(236, 178, 46)
HSL
hsl(42, 83%, 55%)
HWB
hwb(42 18% 7%)
OKLCH
oklch(79.7% 0.152 82.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8906 0.7072 0.2963)
HSV
hsv(42, 81%, 93%)
LAB
lab(75.99% 9.81 69.83)
LCH
lch(75.99% 70.51 82.01)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 25%, 81%, 7%)

Etymology

Kindled
adjective

Old Norse kynda, to set on fire — past-participle of kindle. As a color modifier, kindled implies a saturated-and-newly-lit quality, the bright color of autumn-bonfire-and-stove-fire initial-combustion emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to ignited and aflame in usage.

Deneb
modifier

Arabic dhanab-al-dajājah, tail-of-the-hen. As a color modifier, deneb implies a Cygnus-tail-and-summer-triangle quality, the visual register of Cygnus-Swan-and-Summer-Triangle-Deneb hand-Cygnus-tail-and-summer-triangle Cygnus-Swan-and-Summer-Triangle-and-Bortle-1-sky deneb-and-Cygnus-tail-and-summer-triangle surfaces under Cygnus-Swan-and-Summer-Triangle-and-Bortle-1-sky July-and-August-summer-vista white-supergiant-stellar-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to vega and altair 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.

#ecb22e
Original
#cab30d
Protanopia
#d8c135
Deuteranopia
#ffa099
Tritanopia
#b5b5b5
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
1.91:1
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
10.97:1

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
##ECB22E
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8906 0.7072 0.2963)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.152

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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