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blue · cool

#552bde

a balanced, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Blue

Token name suggestion: Signal Sapphire

RGB
85, 43, 222
HSL
254°, 73%, 52%
CMYK
62, 81, 0, 13
Luminance
0.0893

#552bde is a balanced vivid blue, 254° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (7.54:1). As text it scores 7.54:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Blue, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(254 73% 52%)rgb(85 43 222)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #552bde is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#552bde
Hue
254°
blue
Saturation
73%
vivid
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
37%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0893
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
7.54:1
Closest name
Blue
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
104.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.475
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 14.9
Web-safe
#6633CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue254° of 360°
Saturation73%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #552bde.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red22%
Green19%
Blue59%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#552bde
HEX (8-digit)#552bdeff
RGBrgb(85, 43, 222)
RGBArgba(85, 43, 222, 1)
HSLhsl(254, 73%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(254, 81%, 87%)
HWBhwb(254 17% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(62%, 81%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(35.9 62.5 -83.1)
LCHlch(35.9 104.0 306.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.475 0.246 282.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(17.79, 8.93, 69.88)
Decimal5581790
Display P3color(display-p3 0.333 0.169 0.871)
Web-safe#6633CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #552bde;
background-color: #552bde;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #552bde;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#552bde] bg-[#552bde]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #552bde;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.333, green: 0.169, blue: 0.871)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.333, green: 0.169, blue: 0.871, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#552BDE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF552BDE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF552BDE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(222, 43, 85)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(85, 43, 222)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(85, 43, 222)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 85, 43, 222)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3333f, 0.1686f, 0.8706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{85,43,222}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #552bde 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #552bde 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#27116E, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #552bde h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F3FC;
  --brand-100: #EBE7F8;
  --brand-200: #D3C9F3;
  --brand-300: #B19EF0;
  --brand-400: #8A6DE8;
  --brand-500: #552bde;
  --brand-600: #4B21D4;
  --brand-700: #3E1BB1;
  --brand-800: #32168D;
  --brand-900: #271466;
  --brand-950: #190D40;
  --brand: #552bde;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CAC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #461FC7;
  --brand-pressed: #3B1AA8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F3FC',
        100: '#EBE7F8',
        200: '#D3C9F3',
        300: '#B19EF0',
        400: '#8A6DE8',
        500: '#552bde',
        600: '#4B21D4',
        700: '#3E1BB1',
        800: '#32168D',
        900: '#271466',
        950: '#190D40',
        DEFAULT: '#552bde',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F3FC,
  '100': #EBE7F8,
  '200': #D3C9F3,
  '300': #B19EF0,
  '400': #8A6DE8,
  '500': #552bde,
  '600': #4B21D4,
  '700': #3E1BB1,
  '800': #32168D,
  '900': #271466,
  '950': #190D40,
);
$brand-base: #552bde;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBE7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D3C9F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B19EF0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8A6DE8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#552bde", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4B21D4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3E1BB1", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#32168D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#271466", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#190D40", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

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 #552bde · 7.54:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 7.54:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.79:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #552bde as text scores 7.54:1 on white and 2.79:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EDE9FC at 6.34:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#552bde · 7.54:1
AA on whitealready passes
#552bde
The quick fox
#552bde · 7.54:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#552bde
The quick fox
#7C5CE6 · 4.53:1
AA on black+11% L
#7C5CE6
The quick fox
#9F88EC · 7.21:1
AAA on black+21% L
#9F88EC

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #552BDE is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#552bde on white: 7.54:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#552bde on black: 2.79:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #552bde as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #552bde.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White7.54:1AaAa
Slate 507.20:1AaAa
Slate 1006.88:1AaAa
Slate 2006.11:1AaAa
Slate 3005.08:1AaAa
Slate 4002.94:1AaAa
Slate 5001.58:1AaAa
Slate 6001.01:1AaAa
Slate 7001.37:1AaAa
Slate 8001.94:1AaAa
Slate 9002.37:1AaAa
Black2.79:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #005AE3
deuteranopia · #004EDB
tritanopia · #006286

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #552bde is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F3FC
#EBE7F8
#D3C9F3
#B19EF0
#8A6DE8
#552bde
#4B21D4
#3E1BB1
#32168D
#271466
#190D40
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F3FCDarkest = 950 · #190D40Text step on white = 500
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.061 282.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.098 282.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.147 282.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.192 282.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.226 282.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.246 282.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.246 282.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.231 282.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.206 282.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.172 282.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.135 282.5);
}

Colors that work with #552bde

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#CAC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5D4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B5B217
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#27116E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDE9FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#461FC7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#3B1AA8
Two steps down
Disabled#B5AECB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#5D32EC
Offset from the fill so it reads
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

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #552bde

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight48/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

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#B4DE2B
Analogous left#2B5BDE
Analogous right#AF2BDE
Split-complement 1#DEAF2B
Split-complement 2#5BDE2B
Triadic 1#DE552B
Triadic 2#2BDE55
Tetradic#DE2B5B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°254°

#552bde sits at 254°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red33.3%
Green16.9%
Blue87.1%
R · 0–255
85
0x55
G · 0–255
43
0x2b
B · 0–255
222
0xde

CMYK percentages

Cyan61.7%
Magenta80.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.9%

Total ink coverage is 155%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#552bde text on a black background

contrast 2.79:1

Card sample

#552bde text on a white background

contrast 7.54:1

Card sample

#552bde on grey

6.88:1

#552bde on its own surface

6.90:1

#552bde on its dark surface

2.39:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #552bde;
Background color
Panel with #552bde background
background-color: #552bde;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #552bde;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(85, 43, 222, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(85, 43, 222, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #552bde;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #552bde, #CC2BDE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #552bde, #DE2BC3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #552bde;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #552bde;
caret-color: #552bde;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #552bde;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDE9FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #552bde;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#552bde 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #552bde over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(85, 43, 222, 0.5)
rgb(85 43 222 / 50%)
#552bde80
hsl(254 73% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #552bde 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#552bde1a#EEEAFC
20%#552bde33#DDD5F8
40%#552bde66#BBAAF2
60%#552bde99#9980EB
80%#552bdecc#7755E5

Gradients from #552bde

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8060E6, #552bde 45%, #27116E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #552bde, #C820CB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #552bde, #B4DE2B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #957BEA 0%, #552bde 45%, #27116E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #5789E5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C646E2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #27116E 0%, transparent 65%), #552bde;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #552bde

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

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.

#552bde in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 2.79:1 — lift it to #7C5CE6 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#552bde, answered

What color is #552bde?

#552bde is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Blue (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 254° on the hue wheel with 73% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #552bde?

rgb(85, 43, 222) — 85 red, 43 green and 222 blue out of 255, or 33.3% / 16.9% / 87.1% by channel.

What is #552bde in HSL and HSV?

hsl(254, 73%, 52%) and hsv(254, 81%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #552bde a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0893 and perceived brightness is 37%, so white text on it reaches 7.54:1.

Should I use black or white text on #552bde?

White. It scores 7.54:1 against #552bde, versus 2.79:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #552bde accessible on a white background?

#552bde on white scores 7.54:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #552bde?

#B4DE2B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DEAF2B and #5BDE2B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #552bde?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CAC0ED for borders, #5D4B9B for secondary text, #B5B217 as an accent and #27116E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2B5BDE and #AF2BDE stays calm, while #B4DE2B is the loudest partner.

What is #552bde in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(62%, 81%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #552bde 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 #972BDE; nudged cooler, #2941E1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #552bde?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 14.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #552bde as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #552bde in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#552bde] or text-[#552bde], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #552bde with 50% opacity?

rgba(85, 43, 222, 0.5), or #552bde80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #AA95EF; over black, #2B166F.

Is #552bde a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6633CC, ΔE2000 3.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #552bde mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #552bde?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #8060E6, #552bde 45%, #27116E). For more colour, a short hue run to #C820CB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #552bde in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #552bde at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.