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Saffron Core Faint
Color detail

Saffron Core Faint

Yellow · Hue 45
Hex
#87816E
RGB
rgb(135, 129, 110)
HSL
hsl(45, 10%, 48%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 4%, 19%, 47%)
Metrics
S 10% · L 48%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
3.9:1AA Large
on black
5.4:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Saffron Core Faint (#87816E) belongs to the yellow family — hue 45°, 10% saturation, 48% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-saffron-core-faint: #87816E;
  --colorarchive-saffron-core-faint-hsl: hsl(45, 10%, 48%);
  --colorarchive-saffron-core-faint-rgb: rgb(135, 129, 110);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

OptimisticAttention-GrabbingEnergizing
Common in

Delivery Services · Construction · Education

Pairs well with

Black for maximum visibility, deep purple for creative tension, navy for trust

Design tip

Use for highlight elements, badges, and warning states. Yellow draws the eye instantly — perfect for notifications and wayfinding.

Cultural context ▶

Yellow is the most visible color in daylight. It signals caution (traffic signs) and joy (smiley faces) across cultures.

Color Origins

Yellow family

The color of attention, sunlight, and contradiction.

Heritage

Yellow ochre is, with red ochre, one of the two pigments humans have used continuously for the longest time. Indian Yellow — historically made from the urine of cows fed only mango leaves — reached its peak in 17th–18th century Mughal painting before falling out of use. Cadmium yellow, introduced in the 1840s, gave Van Gogh his sunflowers; chrome yellow gave him the wheat fields he died in. Modern PY83 (a hansa yellow) is the durable workhorse of contemporary printing.

Across cultures

In Imperial China yellow was the emperor's color, off-limits to commoners. In medieval Europe yellow was simultaneously sacred (gold halos) and stigmatized (forced-yellow garments imposed on Jews and 'heretics' — the precedent the Nazis revived). In Japan yellow is courage; in Egypt it was the color of mourning. Few colors carry such contradictory meanings across regions.

In the wild

McDonald's golden arches were calibrated for highway visibility — the M is yellow because yellow is the most-recognized color at distance. The Yellow Pages, the New York taxi, the school bus, and the Post-it note are all the same engineered yellow (PMS 116) for the same reason: maximum legibility at minimum cost. Coldplay's 'Yellow' put the color into the cultural mood vocabulary in 2000. IKEA pairs yellow with blue in a deliberate echo of the Swedish flag.

How it reads

Yellow demands attention more aggressively than any other color — the eye's L-cones and M-cones both peak nearby, so yellow appears bright at lower luminance than other hues. It works as an accent, a warning, or a child-friendly primary; it almost never works as a body-text color (contrast against white is too low). At low saturation yellow becomes cream, butter, parchment — quiet and warm; at high saturation it becomes a hazard sign or a sport drink.

This particular tone

A grounded mid-tone — sober, considered, well-suited to body text accents, editorial layouts, or any context where restraint reads as quality.

Lightness band: At mid-lightness the hue carries its full character. This is the band where most identity colors live: bright enough to be distinctive at small sizes, deep enough to sit cleanly on a white canvas.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #87816E.

  • Notionneutral
    Notion Gray · #787774
    →
  • Microsoftneutral
    Slate Gray · #737373
    →
  • GitHubaccent
    Attention Yellow · #9A6700
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #87816E.

  • AustraliaBush Khaki
    #8E895C · Outback grassland in dry season
    →
  • France (Paris)Seine Steel
    #7E8A93 · River reflectivity in winter
    →
  • IrelandPasture Green
    #7C9A4C · Limestone-base pastureland, the West
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Saffron Radiant Faint
#95907E · hsl(45, 10%, 54%)
Darker companion
Saffron Velvet Faint
#767060 · hsl(45, 10%, 42%)
Complementary counterpoint
Cobalt Core Faint
#6E7687 · hsl(220, 10%, 48%)
Analogous lead
Honey Core Faint
#83876E · hsl(70, 10%, 48%)
Analogous echo
Ember Core Faint
#87766E · hsl(20, 10%, 48%)
Triadic +120°
Teal Core Faint
#6E877E · hsl(160, 10%, 48%)
Triadic +240°
Mulberry Core Faint
#7E6E87 · hsl(280, 10%, 48%)
Split-comp +150°
Cerulean Core Faint
#6E8387 · hsl(190, 10%, 48%)
Split-comp +210°
Violet Core Faint
#726E87 · hsl(250, 10%, 48%)
Export preview
Base: Saffron Core Faint #87816E
Lighter companion: Saffron Radiant Faint #95907E
Darker companion: Saffron Velvet Faint #767060
Complementary counterpoint: Cobalt Core Faint #6E7687
Analogous lead: Honey Core Faint #83876E
Analogous echo: Ember Core Faint #87766E
Triadic +120°: Teal Core Faint #6E877E
Triadic +240°: Mulberry Core Faint #7E6E87
Split-comp +150°: Cerulean Core Faint #6E8387
Split-comp +210°: Violet Core Faint #726E87

Compare

See how Saffron Core Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsSaffron Radiant FaintvsSaffron Velvet FaintvsCobalt Core FaintvsHoney Core FaintvsEmber Core FaintvsTeal Core Faint

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Saffron Core Muted
#908564 · hsl(45, 18%, 48%)
Nearby match
Saffron Velvet Faint
#767060 · hsl(45, 10%, 42%)
Nearby match
Saffron Radiant Faint
#95907E · hsl(45, 10%, 54%)
Nearby match
Apricot Core Faint
#877E6E · hsl(40, 10%, 48%)
Nearby match
Amber Core Faint
#87836E · hsl(50, 10%, 48%)
Nearby match
Saffron Core Dust
#9A8A5B · hsl(45, 26%, 48%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AA4.5:1
Indigo Ink Clear
#101737
AA4.6:1
Indigo Ink Vivid
#09123E
AA4.6:1
Indigo Ink Bright
#061042
AA4.7:1
Indigo Ink Pure
#030E45
AA4.5:1
Iris Nocturne Bright
#08085E
AA4.5:1
Iris Nocturne Pure
#040462

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#858574
Protanopia
#848473
Tritanopia
#877777
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Saffron Core Faint#87816E · hsl(45, 10%, 48%)Saffron Ink Faint#272520 · hsl(45, 10%, 14%)Saffron Nocturne Faint#38362E · hsl(45, 10%, 20%)Saffron Shadow Faint#4F4B40 · hsl(45, 10%, 28%)Saffron Dusk Faint#5F5B4E · hsl(45, 10%, 34%)Saffron Velvet Faint#767060 · hsl(45, 10%, 42%)Saffron Radiant Faint#95907E · hsl(45, 10%, 54%)Saffron Tone Faint#A39E8F · hsl(45, 10%, 60%)