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blue · cool

#816ddf

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Medium Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
129, 109, 223
HSL
251°, 64%, 65%
CMYK
42, 51, 0, 13
Luminance
0.2093

#816ddf is a light vivid blue, 251° on the wheel and 78/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.19:1). As text it scores 4.05:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(251 64% 65%)rgb(129 109 223)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #816ddf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#816ddf
Hue
251°
blue
Saturation
64%
vivid
Lightness
65%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
52%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2093
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
78/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.19:1
Closest name
Medium Slate Blue
ΔE2000 2.8
Chroma
66.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.608
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 5.6
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue251° of 360°
Saturation64%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #816ddf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool78% 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%
Green52%
Blue25%

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

Every format

HEX#816ddf
HEX (8-digit)#816ddfff
RGBrgb(129, 109, 223)
RGBArgba(129, 109, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(251, 64%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(251, 51%, 87%)
HWBhwb(251 43% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(42%, 51%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(52.9 35.2 -55.8)
LCHlch(52.9 66.0 302.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.608 0.167 288.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.84, 20.93, 72.37)
Decimal8482271
Display P3color(display-p3 0.506 0.427 0.875)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #816ddf;
background-color: #816ddf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #816ddf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#816ddf] bg-[#816ddf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #816ddf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.506, green: 0.427, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.506, green: 0.427, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#816DDF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF816DDF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF816DDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 109, 129)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(129, 109, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(129, 109, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 129, 109, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5059f, 0.4275f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{129,109,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #816ddf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #816ddf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#251769, #D7D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #816ddf 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: #F5F4FB;
  --brand-100: #EBE8F7;
  --brand-200: #D2CBF1;
  --brand-300: #B0A3EB;
  --brand-400: #816ddf;
  --brand-500: #6047D7;
  --brand-600: #472CC9;
  --brand-700: #3C25A7;
  --brand-800: #301D86;
  --brand-900: #261961;
  --brand-950: #18103D;
  --brand: #816ddf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C8C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #6850D9;
  --brand-pressed: #4E33D2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D7D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F4FB',
        100: '#EBE8F7',
        200: '#D2CBF1',
        300: '#B0A3EB',
        400: '#816ddf',
        500: '#6047D7',
        600: '#472CC9',
        700: '#3C25A7',
        800: '#301D86',
        900: '#261961',
        950: '#18103D',
        DEFAULT: '#816ddf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F4FB,
  '100': #EBE8F7,
  '200': #D2CBF1,
  '300': #B0A3EB,
  '400': #816ddf,
  '500': #6047D7,
  '600': #472CC9,
  '700': #3C25A7,
  '800': #301D86,
  '900': #261961,
  '950': #18103D,
);
$brand-base: #816ddf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBE8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D2CBF1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B0A3EB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#816ddf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6047D7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#472CC9", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3C25A7", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#301D86", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#261961", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#18103D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #816ddf · 5.19:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.05:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.19:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #816ddf as text scores 4.05:1 on white and 5.19:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #251769 at 3.69:1.

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
#7661DC · 4.65:1
AA on white−3% L
#7661DC
The quick fox
#563BD4 · 7.07:1
AAA on white−12% L
#563BD4
The quick fox
#816ddf · 5.19:1
AA on blackalready passes
#816ddf
The quick fox
#9A8AE5 · 7.14:1
AAA on black+7% L
#9A8AE5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #816DDF 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
#816ddf on white: 4.05:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#816ddf on black: 5.19:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #816ddf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #816ddf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.05:1AaAa
Slate 503.87:1AaAa
Slate 1003.70:1AaAa
Slate 2003.28:1AaAa
Slate 3002.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5001.18:1AaAa
Slate 6001.87:1AaAa
Slate 7002.56:1AaAa
Slate 8003.61:1AaAa
Slate 9004.41:1AaAa
Black5.19:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3B81E3
deuteranopia · #3B7BDC
tritanopia · #66859C

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. #816ddf is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F4FB
#EBE8F7
#D2CBF1
#B0A3EB
#816ddf
#6047D7
#472CC9
#3C25A7
#301D86
#261961
#18103D
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F4FBDarkest = 950 · #18103DText 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 0.042 288.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 288.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.100 288.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.130 288.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.154 288.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.167 288.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.167 288.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.157 288.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.140 288.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.117 288.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.092 288.5);
}

Colors that work with #816ddf

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

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C8C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#594B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#ACA020
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#251769
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDEAFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#6850D9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#4E33D2
Two steps down
Disabled#D9D7E5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8A76EB
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 #816ddf

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #251769
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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

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
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#CBDF6D
Analogous left#6D92DF
Analogous right#BA6DDF
Split-complement 1#DFBA6D
Split-complement 2#92DF6D
Triadic 1#DF816D
Triadic 2#6DDF81
Tetradic#DF6D92
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°251°

#816ddf sits at 251°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red50.6%
Green42.7%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
129
0x81
G · 0–255
109
0x6d
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan42.2%
Magenta51.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 106%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#816ddf text on a black background

contrast 5.19:1

Card sample

#816ddf text on a white background

contrast 4.05:1

Card sample

#816ddf on grey

3.70:1

#816ddf on its own surface

3.70:1

#816ddf on its dark surface

4.46:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #816ddf;
Background color
Panel with #816ddf background
background-color: #816ddf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #816ddf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(129, 109, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(129, 109, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #816ddf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #816ddf, #CD6DDF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #816ddf, #DF6DD5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #816ddf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #816ddf;
caret-color: #816ddf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #816ddf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDEAFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #816ddf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#816ddf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #816ddf 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(129, 109, 223, 0.5)
rgb(129 109 223 / 50%)
#816ddf80
hsl(251 64% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #816ddf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#816ddf1a#F2F0FC
20%#816ddf33#E6E2F9
40%#816ddf66#CDC5F2
60%#816ddf99#B3A7EC
80%#816ddfcc#9A8AE5

Gradients from #816ddf

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, #AC9FEA, #816ddf 45%, #251769);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #816ddf, #CF54D9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #816ddf, #CBDF6D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C2B8EF 0%, #816ddf 45%, #251769 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #97B8E8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CE86E4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #251769 0%, transparent 65%), #816ddf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #816ddf

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.

#816ddf 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.19:1.

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.

#816ddf, answered

What color is #816ddf?

#816ddf is a light vivid blue, closest to Medium Slate Blue (ΔE2000 2.8). It sits at 251° on the hue wheel with 64% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #816ddf?

rgb(129, 109, 223) — 129 red, 109 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 50.6% / 42.7% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #816ddf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(251, 64%, 65%) and hsv(251, 51%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #816ddf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2093 and perceived brightness is 52%, so black text on it reaches 5.19:1.

Should I use black or white text on #816ddf?

Black. It scores 5.19:1 against #816ddf, versus 4.05:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #816ddf accessible on a white background?

#816ddf on white scores 4.05:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #7661DC to reach 4.5:1, or #563BD4 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #816ddf?

#CBDF6D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFBA6D and #92DF6D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #816ddf?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C8C0ED for borders, #594B9B for secondary text, #ACA020 as an accent and #251769 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6D92DF and #BA6DDF stays calm, while #CBDF6D is the loudest partner.

What is #816ddf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(42%, 51%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #816ddf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 78 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AB6DDF; nudged cooler, #6B82E1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #816ddf?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 5.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #816ddf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #816ddf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#816ddf] or text-[#816ddf], 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 #816ddf with 50% opacity?

rgba(129, 109, 223, 0.5), or #816ddf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C0B6EF; over black, #413770.

Is #816ddf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #816ddf 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 #816ddf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #AC9FEA, #816ddf 45%, #251769). For more colour, a short hue run to #CF54D9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #816ddf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #816ddf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.