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#3c09cf

a dark, electric violet · cool · closest name: Medium Blue

RGB
60, 9, 207
HSL
256°, 92%, 42%
CMYK
71, 96, 0, 19
Luminance
0.0566

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3c09cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3c09cf
Hue
256°
violet
Saturation
92%
electric
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
30%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0566
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
9.85:1
Closest name
Medium Blue
ΔE2000 3.1
Where it sits
Hue256° of 360°
Saturation92%
Lightness42%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#3c09cf
RGBrgb(60, 9, 207)
HSLhsl(256, 92%, 42%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 96%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(28.5 67.1 -86.7)
LCHlch(28.5 109.6 307.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.415 0.252 277.1)
Decimal3934671
Display P3color(display-p3 0.235 0.035 0.812)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3c09cf;
background-color: #3c09cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3c09cf] bg-[#3c09cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3c09cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.235, green: 0.035, blue: 0.812)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3c09cf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3C09CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 9, 60)

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #3c09cf · 9.85:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 9.85:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.13:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #3c09cf as text scores 9.85:1 on white and 2.13:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3c09cf on white: 9.85:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3c09cf on black: 2.13:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #004AD4
deuteranopia · #003BCC
tritanopia · #005579

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3c09cf is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F2FD
#EAE4FB
#D1C3F9
#AE93FA
#865EF8
#5D28F6
#440AEB
#3c09cf
#2D079C
#240A71
#170647
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F5F2FDDarkest = 950 · #170647
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F2FD;
  --brand-100: #EAE4FB;
  --brand-200: #D1C3F9;
  --brand-300: #AE93FA;
  --brand-400: #865EF8;
  --brand-500: #5D28F6;
  --brand-600: #440AEB;
  --brand-700: #3c09cf;
  --brand-800: #2D079C;
  --brand-900: #240A71;
  --brand-950: #170647;
  --brand: #3c09cf;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #3c09cf

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5F4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C5C705
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#23057A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDE7FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

How to use #3c09cf

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#9CCF09
Analogous left#0939CF
Analogous right#9F09CF
Split-complement 1#CF9F09
Split-complement 2#39CF09
Triadic 1#CF3C09
Triadic 2#09CF3C
Tetradic#CF0939

RGB percentages

Red23.5%
Green3.5%
Blue81.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan71.0%
Magenta95.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Color previews

#3c09cf text on a black background

contrast 2.13:1

Card sample

#3c09cf text on a white background

contrast 9.85:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3c09cf;
Background color
Panel with #3c09cf background
background-color: #3c09cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3c09cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(60, 9, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(60, 9, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3c09cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3c09cf, #C009CF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3c09cf

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#3c09cf in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
Creative toolsFintechBeautyLuxury
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#3c09cf, answered

What color is #3c09cf?

#3c09cf is a dark electric violet, closest to Medium Blue (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 256° on the hue wheel with 92% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3c09cf?

rgb(60, 9, 207) — 60 red, 9 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 23.5% / 3.5% / 81.2% by channel.

Is #3c09cf a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0566 and perceived brightness is 30%, so white text on it reaches 9.85:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3c09cf?

White. It scores 9.85:1 against #3c09cf, versus 2.13:1 for black — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3c09cf?

#9CCF09 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CF9F09 and #39CF09, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3c09cf?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CBC0ED for borders, #5F4B9B for secondary text, #C5C705 as an accent and #23057A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #0939CF and #9F09CF stays calm, while #9CCF09 is the loudest partner.

What is #3c09cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 96%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #3c09cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8509CF; nudged cooler, #071DD1.

Work with #3c09cf in the Color Lab