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Effulgent Pecan

#f1ab31
Notes

Effulgent Pecan (#F1AB31) is a true amber with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (38°, 87%, 57%) 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
#f1ab31
RGB
rgb(241, 171, 49)
HSL
hsl(38, 87%, 57%)
HWB
hwb(38 19% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(78.9% 0.151 76.0)
HSV
hsv(38, 80%, 95%)
LAB
lab(74.86% 15.72 68.03)
LCH
lch(74.86% 69.82 76.99)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 29%, 80%, 5%)

Etymology

Effulgent
adjective

Latin effulgēns, shining-out — present-participle of effulgere, sharing root with fulgor (lightning). As a color modifier, effulgent implies a saturated-and-radiating-light-out quality, the bright color of Renaissance-Madonna halo-and-aureole gold-leaf-and-pigment emission. Sits at the bright-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to resplendent and radiant in usage.

Pecan
noun

Carya illinoinensis, a North American hickory whose nut was a staple of pre-Columbian diet across the Mississippi watershed. The English name traces to the Algonquian pakani. The color refers to the meat of a shelled pecan: a warm, slightly red-toned tan with the matte finish of dried plant tissue. Warmer than almond, more saturated than walnut, with the autumn-orchard sweetness implied by the word.

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.

#f1ab31
Original
#c5ae18
Protanopia
#d5bf36
Deuteranopia
#ff9894
Tritanopia
#b1b1b1
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
1.98:1
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
10.61:1

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