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Scorching Ambra

#f8bd2e
Notes

Scorching Ambra (#F8BD2E) 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 (42°, 94%, 58%) 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
#f8bd2e
RGB
rgb(248, 189, 46)
HSL
hsl(42, 94%, 58%)
HWB
hwb(42 18% 3%)
OKLCH
oklch(83.0% 0.159 83.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.9369 0.7504 0.3090)
HSV
hsv(42, 81%, 97%)
LAB
lab(79.93% 9.16 73.75)
LCH
lch(79.93% 74.31 82.92)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 24%, 81%, 3%)

Etymology

Scorching
adjective

Old English scorcnian, to dry up — present-participle of scorch. As a color modifier, scorching implies a saturated-and-burning-hot quality, the bright color of Mojave-Desert-and-Death-Valley mid-afternoon high-temperature surface-emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to searing and sizzling in usage.

Ambra
noun

The Italian word for amber — likewise borrowed via Arabic. Ambra in Italian fashion vocabulary names a slightly warmer, deeper gold-orange than its Spanish cousin. The color refers to Sicilian amber on display in Catania: a warm, slightly translucent deep gold-orange with the optical depth of fossil resin.

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.

#f8bd2e
Original
#d6bd02
Protanopia
#e4cc36
Deuteranopia
#ffaaa3
Tritanopia
#bfbfbf
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
1.71:1
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
12.31:1

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
##F8BD2E
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.9369 0.7504 0.3090)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.159

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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