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Shimmering Daffodil

#f3d166
Notes

Shimmering Daffodil (#F3D166) is a true amber with a warm character. It leans warm, pulling light toward red, orange, and yellow. Naturally inviting, it suits editorial and hospitality contexts. Its HSL profile (46°, 85%, 68%) 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
#f3d166
RGB
rgb(243, 209, 102)
HSL
hsl(46, 85%, 68%)
HWB
hwb(46 40% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(86.9% 0.131 91.9)
HSV
hsv(46, 58%, 95%)
LAB
lab(84.80% -0.48 56.51)
LCH
lch(84.80% 56.51 90.48)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 14%, 58%, 5%)

Etymology

Shimmering
adjective

Old English scimerian, to glisten — present-participle of shimmer, sharing root with shine. As a color modifier, shimmering implies a saturated-and-soft-flicker-reflective quality, the bright color of moonlit-water-and-silken-fabric surface-reflection. Sits at the bright-and-reflective end of the grid, parallel to glistening and glimmering in usage.

Daffodil
noun

Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the wild daffodil of British and European woodland. The color is the trumpet-shaped corona of a fully open daffodil at peak spring: a saturated, slightly orange-shifted yellow with the satiny finish of waxy petal tissue. Warmer than lemon, brighter than buttercup, with the seasonal weight of a flower that arrives before the trees have leaves.

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.

#f3d166
Original
#e5ce5b
Protanopia
#edd86a
Deuteranopia
#ffc3b9
Tritanopia
#d1d1d1
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
1.49:1
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
14.12:1

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