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Lambent Shawl Goldenrod

#f8c339
Notes

Lambent Shawl Goldenrod (#F8C339) 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 (43°, 93%, 60%) 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
#f8c339
RGB
rgb(248, 195, 57)
HSL
hsl(43, 93%, 60%)
HWB
hwb(43 22% 3%)
OKLCH
oklch(84.2% 0.156 86.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.9400 0.7728 0.3368)
HSV
hsv(43, 77%, 97%)
LAB
lab(81.45% 6.41 71.58)
LCH
lch(81.45% 71.86 84.88)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 21%, 77%, 3%)

Etymology

Lambent
adjective

Latin lambēns, licking-lightly — present-participle of lambere (to lick). As a color modifier, lambent implies a saturated-and-soft-flickering quality, the bright color of candle-flame-and-firefly gentle-flickering light-emission against the surrounding darkness. Sits at the bright-and-soft end of the grid, parallel to glimmering and flickering in usage.

Shawl
modifier

Persian shāl, long-folded-wrap. As a color modifier, shawl implies a Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-folded-wrap quality, the visual register of Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-shawl hand-Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-folded-wrap Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-shawl-and-Norwich-and-Paisley-loom shawl-and-Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-folded-wrap surfaces under Persian-Kashmiri-and-paisley-shawl-and-Norwich-and-Paisley-loom Mughal-Kashmir-and-Norwich-and-Paisley-loom paisley-shawl-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to stole and sash 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.

#f8c339
Original
#dbc21e
Protanopia
#e8d040
Deuteranopia
#ffb1a9
Tritanopia
#c4c4c4
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
1.63:1
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
12.86:1

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
##F8C339
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.9400 0.7728 0.3368)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.156

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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