Skip to content
violet · cool

#78498b

a dark, soft violet · cool · closest name: Rebecca Purple

Token name suggestion: Slate Amethyst

RGB
120, 73, 139
HSL
283°, 31%, 42%
CMYK
14, 48, 0, 46
Luminance
0.1062

#78498b is a dark soft violet, 283° on the wheel and 59/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (6.72:1). As text it scores 6.72:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Rebecca Purple, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(283 31% 42%)rgb(120 73 139)Base step 700AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #78498b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#78498b
Hue
283°
violet
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
55%
HSV value
Perceived
38%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1062
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
59/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
6.72:1
Closest name
Rebecca Purple
ΔE2000 8.6
Chroma
43.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.487
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 18.4
Web-safe
#663399
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue283° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness42%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #78498b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool59% 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
Red38%
Green45%
Blue18%

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

Every format

HEX#78498b
HEX (8-digit)#78498bff
RGBrgb(120, 73, 139)
RGBArgba(120, 73, 139, 1)
HSLhsl(283, 31%, 42%)
HSV / HSBhsv(283, 47%, 55%)
HWBhwb(283 29% 45%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 48%, 0%, 46%)
LABlab(38.9 32.1 -28.9)
LCHlch(38.9 43.2 318.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.487 0.114 315.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(14.79, 10.62, 25.69)
Decimal7883147
Display P3color(display-p3 0.471 0.286 0.545)
Web-safe#663399

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #78498b;
background-color: #78498b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #78498b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#78498b] bg-[#78498b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #78498b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.471, green: 0.286, blue: 0.545)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.471, green: 0.286, blue: 0.545, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#78498B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF78498B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF78498B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(139, 73, 120)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(120, 73, 139)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(120, 73, 139)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 120, 73, 139)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4706f, 0.2863f, 0.5451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{120,73,139}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #78498b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #78498b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#482C54, #E4D7EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #78498b 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: #F8F5F9;
  --brand-100: #F1ECF3;
  --brand-200: #E2D5E7;
  --brand-300: #CEB5D8;
  --brand-400: #B691C5;
  --brand-500: #9E6CB2;
  --brand-600: #8B54A0;
  --brand-700: #78498b;
  --brand-800: #5C386B;
  --brand-900: #452C4F;
  --brand-950: #2B1B31;
  --brand: #78498b;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-border: #DCCAE3;
  --brand-hover: #643D74;
  --brand-pressed: #50305C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D7EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5F9',
        100: '#F1ECF3',
        200: '#E2D5E7',
        300: '#CEB5D8',
        400: '#B691C5',
        500: '#9E6CB2',
        600: '#8B54A0',
        700: '#78498b',
        800: '#5C386B',
        900: '#452C4F',
        950: '#2B1B31',
        DEFAULT: '#78498b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5F9,
  '100': #F1ECF3,
  '200': #E2D5E7,
  '300': #CEB5D8,
  '400': #B691C5,
  '500': #9E6CB2,
  '600': #8B54A0,
  '700': #78498b,
  '800': #5C386B,
  '900': #452C4F,
  '950': #2B1B31,
);
$brand-base: #78498b;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1ECF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2D5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CEB5D8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B691C5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9E6CB2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8B54A0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#78498b", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5C386B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#452C4F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B1B31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #78498b · 6.72:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 6.72:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.12:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #78498b as text scores 6.72:1 on white and 3.12:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F4EEF6 at 5.89:1.

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
#78498b · 6.72:1
AA on whitealready passes
#78498b
The quick fox
#724684 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−2% L
#724684
The quick fox
#9661AC · 4.60:1
AA on black+11% L
#9661AC
The quick fox
#B189C1 · 7.22:1
AAA on black+23% L
#B189C1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #78498B 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
#78498b on white: 6.72:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#78498b on black: 3.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #78498b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #78498b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White6.72:1AaAa
Slate 506.42:1AaAa
Slate 1006.14:1AaAa
Slate 2005.45:1AaAa
Slate 3004.53:1AaAa
Slate 4002.62:1AaAa
Slate 5001.41:1AaAa
Slate 6001.13:1AaAa
Slate 7001.54:1AaAa
Slate 8002.18:1AaAa
Slate 9002.66:1AaAa
Black3.12:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3C598D
deuteranopia · #495D89
tritanopia · #775263

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. #78498b 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.

#F8F5F9
#F1ECF3
#E2D5E7
#CEB5D8
#B691C5
#9E6CB2
#8B54A0
#78498b
#5C386B
#452C4F
#2B1B31
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F8F5F9Darkest = 950 · #2B1B31Text step on white = 600
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 0.029 315.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 315.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 315.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 315.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.105 315.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.114 315.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.114 315.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.108 315.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.096 315.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.080 315.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.063 315.6);
}

Colors that work with #78498b

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#F8F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#DCCAE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#824F96
Captions on the surface
Accent#6D8F45
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#482C54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#643D74
One step down in lightness
Pressed#50305C
Two steps down
Disabled#AB8EB7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8944A4
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 #78498b

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Black text placed on it
  • 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.

creativepremiummodernimaginative

Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight58/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#5C8B49
Analogous left#57498B
Analogous right#8B497D
Split-complement 1#7D8B49
Split-complement 2#498B57
Triadic 1#8B7849
Triadic 2#498B78
Tetradic#8B5749
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°283°

#78498b sits at 283°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red47.1%
Green28.6%
Blue54.5%
R · 0–255
120
0x78
G · 0–255
73
0x49
B · 0–255
139
0x8b

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.7%
Magenta47.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)45.5%

Total ink coverage is 107%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#78498b text on a black background

contrast 3.12:1

Card sample

#78498b text on a white background

contrast 6.72:1

Card sample

#78498b on grey

6.14:1

#78498b on its own surface

6.22:1

#78498b on its dark surface

2.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #78498b;
Background color
Panel with #78498b background
background-color: #78498b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #78498b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(120, 73, 139, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(120, 73, 139, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #78498b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #78498b, #8B4972);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78498b, #8B4962);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #78498b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #78498b;
caret-color: #78498b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #78498b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #78498b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#78498b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #78498b 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(120, 73, 139, 0.5)
rgb(120 73 139 / 50%)
#78498b80
hsl(283 31% 42% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #78498b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#78498b1a#F2EDF3
20%#78498b33#E4DBE8
40%#78498b66#C9B6D1
60%#78498b99#AE92B9
80%#78498bcc#936DA2

Gradients from #78498b

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, #9864AD, #78498b 45%, #482C54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #78498b, #773F5D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78498b, #5C8B49);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #A678B8 0%, #78498b 45%, #482C54 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #675DAA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9F5489 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #482C54 0%, transparent 65%), #78498b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #78498b

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.

#78498b 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

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 3.12:1 — lift it to #9661AC 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.

#78498b, answered

What color is #78498b?

#78498b is a dark soft violet, closest to Rebecca Purple (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 283° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #78498b?

rgb(120, 73, 139) — 120 red, 73 green and 139 blue out of 255, or 47.1% / 28.6% / 54.5% by channel.

What is #78498b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(283, 31%, 42%) and hsv(283, 47%, 55%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #78498b a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1062 and perceived brightness is 38%, so white text on it reaches 6.72:1.

Should I use black or white text on #78498b?

White. It scores 6.72:1 against #78498b, versus 3.12:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #78498b accessible on a white background?

#78498b on white scores 6.72:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #78498b?

#5C8B49 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7D8B49 and #498B57, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #78498b?

For interface work: #F8F5FA as the surface, #DCCAE3 for borders, #824F96 for secondary text, #6D8F45 as an accent and #482C54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #57498B and #8B497D stays calm, while #5C8B49 is the loudest partner.

What is #78498b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 48%, 0%, 46%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #78498b warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 59 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8B4986; nudged cooler, #5F478D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #78498b?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 18.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #78498b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #78498b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#78498b] or text-[#78498b], 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 #78498b with 50% opacity?

rgba(120, 73, 139, 0.5), or #78498b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BCA4C5; over black, #3C2546.

Is #78498b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #663399, ΔE2000 8.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #78498b mean?

As a violet, it reads creative, premium, modern. Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #78498b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #9864AD, #78498b 45%, #482C54). For more colour, a short hue run to #773F5D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #78498b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #78498b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.