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blue · cool

#837acd

a balanced, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Studio Denim

RGB
131, 122, 205
HSL
247°, 45%, 64%
CMYK
36, 41, 0, 20
Luminance
0.2315

#837acd is a balanced vivid blue, 247° on the wheel and 80/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.63:1). As text it scores 3.73:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is indigo.

hsl(247 45% 64%)rgb(131 122 205)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #837acd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#837acd
Hue
247°
blue
Saturation
45%
vivid
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
54%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2315
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
80/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.63:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
47.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.623
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
indigo
500 · ΔE 9.8
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue247° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #837acd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool80% 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
Red21%
Green60%
Blue19%

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

Every format

HEX#837acd
HEX (8-digit)#837acdff
RGBrgb(131, 122, 205)
RGBArgba(131, 122, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(247, 45%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(247, 40%, 80%)
HWBhwb(247 48% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(36%, 41%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(55.2 23.0 -41.9)
LCHlch(55.2 47.8 298.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.623 0.123 287.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.34, 23.15, 60.77)
Decimal8616653
Display P3color(display-p3 0.514 0.478 0.804)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #837acd;
background-color: #837acd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #837acd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#837acd] bg-[#837acd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #837acd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.514, green: 0.478, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.514, green: 0.478, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#837ACD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF837ACD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF837ACD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 122, 131)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(131, 122, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(131, 122, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 131, 122, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5137f, 0.4784f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{131,122,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #837acd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #837acd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#29235D, #D6D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #837acd 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: #F5F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EBEAF5;
  --brand-200: #D3D1EB;
  --brand-300: #B3ADE0;
  --brand-400: #837acd;
  --brand-500: #675CC2;
  --brand-600: #4F43B2;
  --brand-700: #423894;
  --brand-800: #352D77;
  --brand-900: #292457;
  --brand-950: #1A1636;
  --brand: #837acd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C8C4E9;
  --brand-hover: #6B60C3;
  --brand-pressed: #5346BA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #151424;
    --brand-ink: #D6D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F5FA',
        100: '#EBEAF5',
        200: '#D3D1EB',
        300: '#B3ADE0',
        400: '#837acd',
        500: '#675CC2',
        600: '#4F43B2',
        700: '#423894',
        800: '#352D77',
        900: '#292457',
        950: '#1A1636',
        DEFAULT: '#837acd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F5FA,
  '100': #EBEAF5,
  '200': #D3D1EB,
  '300': #B3ADE0,
  '400': #837acd,
  '500': #675CC2,
  '600': #4F43B2,
  '700': #423894,
  '800': #352D77,
  '900': #292457,
  '950': #1A1636,
);
$brand-base: #837acd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBEAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D3D1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B3ADE0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#837acd", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#675CC2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4F43B2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#423894", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#352D77", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#292457", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A1636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #837acd · 5.63:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.73:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.63:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #837acd as text scores 3.73:1 on white and 5.63:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #29235D at 3.77:1.

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
#7267C6 · 4.70:1
AA on white−5% L
#7267C6
The quick fox
#5346BA · 7.11:1
AAA on white−14% L
#5346BA
The quick fox
#837acd · 5.63:1
AA on blackalready passes
#837acd
The quick fox
#9890D5 · 7.29:1
AAA on black+6% L
#9890D5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #837ACD 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
#837acd on white: 3.73:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#837acd on black: 5.63:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #837acd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #837acd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.73:1AaAa
Slate 503.56:1AaAa
Slate 1003.40:1AaAa
Slate 2003.03:1AaAa
Slate 3002.51:1AaAa
Slate 4001.45:1AaAa
Slate 5001.28:1AaAa
Slate 6002.03:1AaAa
Slate 7002.78:1AaAa
Slate 8003.92:1AaAa
Slate 9004.79:1AaAa
Black5.63:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5F86D0
deuteranopia · #5E82CB
tritanopia · #708A9A

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. #837acd 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.

#F5F5FA
#EBEAF5
#D3D1EB
#B3ADE0
#837acd
#675CC2
#4F43B2
#423894
#352D77
#292457
#1A1636
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F5FADarkest = 950 · #1A1636Text 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 0.031 287.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 287.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.074 287.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.096 287.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.113 287.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.123 287.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.123 287.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.116 287.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.103 287.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.086 287.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 287.2);
}

Colors that work with #837acd

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#C8C4E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#534B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#998A33
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#29235D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEECF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151424
Dark-mode background
Hover#6B60C3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5346BA
Two steps down
Disabled#D5D4E3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8A81DB
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 #837acd

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #29235D
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
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#C4CD7A
Analogous left#7A9ACD
Analogous right#AC7ACD
Split-complement 1#CDAC7A
Split-complement 2#9ACD7A
Triadic 1#CD837A
Triadic 2#7ACD83
Tetradic#CD7A9A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°247°

#837acd sits at 247°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red51.4%
Green47.8%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
131
0x83
G · 0–255
122
0x7a
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan36.1%
Magenta40.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 96%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#837acd text on a black background

contrast 5.63:1

Card sample

#837acd text on a white background

contrast 3.73:1

Card sample

#837acd on grey

3.40:1

#837acd on its own surface

3.41:1

#837acd on its dark surface

4.86:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #837acd;
Background color
Panel with #837acd background
background-color: #837acd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #837acd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(131, 122, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(131, 122, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #837acd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #837acd, #BA7ACD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #837acd, #CD7ACB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #837acd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #837acd;
caret-color: #837acd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #837acd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEECF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #837acd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#837acd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #837acd 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(131, 122, 205, 0.5)
rgb(131 122 205 / 50%)
#837acd80
hsl(247 45% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #837acd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#837acd1a#F3F2FA
20%#837acd33#E6E4F5
40%#837acd66#CDCAEB
60%#837acd99#B5AFE1
80%#837acdcc#9C95D7

Gradients from #837acd

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, #ACA6DE, #837acd 45%, #29235D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #837acd, #B764C5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #837acd, #C4CD7A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C1BDE6 0%, #837acd 45%, #29235D 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%, #9FBBDB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C090D5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #29235D 0%, transparent 65%), #837acd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #837acd

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.

#837acd 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.63:1.

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.

#837acd, answered

What color is #837acd?

#837acd is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 247° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #837acd?

rgb(131, 122, 205) — 131 red, 122 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 51.4% / 47.8% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #837acd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(247, 45%, 64%) and hsv(247, 40%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #837acd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2315 and perceived brightness is 54%, so black text on it reaches 5.63:1.

Should I use black or white text on #837acd?

Black. It scores 5.63:1 against #837acd, versus 3.73:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #837acd accessible on a white background?

#837acd on white scores 3.73:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #7267C6 to reach 4.5:1, or #5346BA for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #837acd?

#C4CD7A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDAC7A and #9ACD7A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #837acd?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C8C4E9 for borders, #534B9B for secondary text, #998A33 as an accent and #29235D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7A9ACD and #AC7ACD stays calm, while #C4CD7A is the loudest partner.

What is #837acd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(36%, 41%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #837acd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 80 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A17ACD; nudged cooler, #788ECF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #837acd?

The indigo family — its 500 step is #6366f1, ΔE2000 9.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #837acd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #837acd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#837acd] or text-[#837acd], 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 #837acd with 50% opacity?

rgba(131, 122, 205, 0.5), or #837acd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C1BDE6; over black, #423D67.

Is #837acd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 8.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #837acd 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 #837acd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ACA6DE, #837acd 45%, #29235D). For more colour, a short hue run to #B764C5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #837acd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #837acd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.