Nearest-color comparison

Brass vs Old Gold

Brass and Old Gold are different yellow colors with HEX values #B5A642 and #CFB53B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 30.8, their contrast ratio is 1.22:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Brass and Old Gold are visually related colors. Old Gold is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.22:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Brass#B5A642

Old Gold#CFB53B

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Brass and Old Gold across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance30.8

Pair contrast1.22:1

Luminance delta0.0914

Hue delta3 deg

Lighter colorOld Gold

More saturatedOld Gold

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

yellow color

Brass

Brass is #B5A642, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Old Gold, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#B5A642 RGB181, 166, 66 HSL52, 47, 48 CMYK0, 8, 64, 29 Luminance0.3749 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

yellow color

Old Gold

Old Gold is #CFB53B, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Brass, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#CFB53B RGB207, 181, 59 HSL49, 61, 52 CMYK0, 13, 71, 19 Luminance0.4663 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Brass or Old Gold

Choose BrassBrass is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B5A642.

Choose Old GoldOld Gold is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #CFB53B.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyBrassOld Gold

HEX#B5A642#CFB53B

RGB181, 166, 66207, 181, 59

HSL52, 47, 4849, 61, 52

CMYK0, 8, 64, 290, 13, 71, 19

FamilyYellowYellow

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneEarth ToneEarth Tone

Luminance0.37490.4663

Black contrast8.5:110.33:1

White contrast2.47:12.03:1

Shared tonesEarth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Brassblack text - 8.5:1

Old Goldblack text - 10.33:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Brushed Brass#B5A642

Old Gold#CFB53B

#D1C680#D1C680

#E1D084#E1D084

#4150B4#4150B4

#3A55CF#3A55CF

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "brass",
    "name": "Brass",
    "hex": "#B5A642",
    "rgb": [
      181,
      166,
      66
    ],
    "hsl": [
      52,
      47,
      48
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      8,
      64,
      29
    ],
    "family": "yellow",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.3749,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 8.5,
      "white": 2.47
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.5
    },
    "description": "Brass is #B5A642, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Old Gold, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/brass/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/brass.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "old-gold",
    "name": "Old Gold",
    "hex": "#CFB53B",
    "rgb": [
      207,
      181,
      59
    ],
    "hsl": [
      49,
      61,
      52
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      13,
      71,
      19
    ],
    "family": "yellow",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.4663,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 10.33,
      "white": 2.03
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 10.33
    },
    "description": "Old Gold is #CFB53B, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Brass, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/old-gold/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/old-gold.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 30.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.22,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 3,
    "saturation": 14,
    "lightness": 4
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0914,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Old Gold",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Old Gold"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.22,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Brass",
      "background": "#B5A642",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.5
    },
    {
      "color": "Old Gold",
      "background": "#CFB53B",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 10.33
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Brass is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B5A642.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Old Gold is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #CFB53B.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/brass-vs-old-gold.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/brass.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/old-gold.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "brass-vs-old-gold",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Brass vs Old Gold",
  "verdict": "Brass and Old Gold are visually related colors. Old Gold is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.22:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Brass and Old Gold are different yellow colors with HEX values #B5A642 and #CFB53B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 30.8, their contrast ratio is 1.22:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 30.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.22,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "brass",
      "name": "Brass",
      "hex": "#B5A642",
      "rgb": [
        181,
        166,
        66
      ],
      "hsl": [
        52,
        47,
        48
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        8,
        64,
        29
      ],
      "family": "yellow",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.3749,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 8.5,
        "white": 2.47
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.5
      },
      "description": "Brass is #B5A642, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Old Gold, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/brass/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/brass.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "old-gold",
      "name": "Old Gold",
      "hex": "#CFB53B",
      "rgb": [
        207,
        181,
        59
      ],
      "hsl": [
        49,
        61,
        52
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        13,
        71,
        19
      ],
      "family": "yellow",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.4663,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 10.33,
        "white": 2.03
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 10.33
      },
      "description": "Old Gold is #CFB53B, a warm yellow color with earth tone character. Compared with Brass, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/old-gold/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/old-gold.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 30.8,
    "contrastRatio": 1.22,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 3,
      "saturation": 14,
      "lightness": 4
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0914,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Old Gold",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Old Gold"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.22,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Brass",
        "background": "#B5A642",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.5
      },
      {
        "color": "Old Gold",
        "background": "#CFB53B",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 10.33
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Brass is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B5A642.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Old Gold is better when the design needs earth tone yellow character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #CFB53B.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/brass-vs-old-gold.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/brass.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/old-gold.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/brass-vs-old-gold/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/brass-vs-old-gold.json"
}