Kamakura era
Ultramarine & Chalk White— 群青と胡粉
The deep ultramarine of Buddhist mineral pigment against temple chalk white.
#C5AC6B
brown · 5 palettes
Kogane
黄金
Gold leaf
About Kogane
Kogane (黄金) is a mid-tone, muted brown tone. Its hex value is #C5AC6B — that is
RGB 197, 172, 107, or HSL 43°, 44%, 60%.
Gold leaf.
It holds 9.5:1 contrast against dark, so Kogane works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 2.2:1; on black 9.5:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Kogane appears in 5 combinations — most often paired with Kogane, Gofun and Gunjō.
Colours that go with Kogane
From a standard colour wheel, Kogane anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#C5AC6B #6B84C5
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#C5AC6B #C57F6B #B1C56B
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#C5AC6B #6BC5AC #AC6BC5
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#C5AC6B #6BB1C5 #7F6BC5
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Kogane
Kogane is a mid-tone, muted tone (HSL 43°, 44%, 60%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (9.5:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#6B84C5) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#C57F6B and #B1C56B) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Kogane
Kogane appears in 5 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
See what's inside
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