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violet · cool

#85539d

a balanced, soft violet · cool · closest name: Dark Orchid

Token name suggestion: Studio Plum

RGB
133, 83, 157
HSL
281°, 31%, 47%
CMYK
15, 47, 0, 38
Luminance
0.1361

#85539d is a balanced soft violet, 281° on the wheel and 60/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.64:1). As text it scores 5.64:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(281 31% 47%)rgb(133 83 157)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #85539d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#85539d
Hue
281°
violet
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
47%
balanced
Brightness
62%
HSV value
Perceived
43%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1361
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
60/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.64:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 10.2
Chroma
47.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.528
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 14.9
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue281° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness47%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #85539d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool60% 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
Red37%
Green45%
Blue18%

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

Every format

HEX#85539d
HEX (8-digit)#85539dff
RGBrgb(133, 83, 157)
RGBArgba(133, 83, 157, 1)
HSLhsl(281, 31%, 47%)
HSV / HSBhsv(281, 47%, 62%)
HWBhwb(281 33% 38%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 47%, 0%, 38%)
LABlab(43.7 34.4 -32.2)
LCHlch(43.7 47.1 316.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.528 0.124 314.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(18.85, 13.61, 33.53)
Decimal8737693
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.325 0.616)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #85539d;
background-color: #85539d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #85539d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#85539d] bg-[#85539d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #85539d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.325, blue: 0.616)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.325, blue: 0.616, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#85539D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF85539D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF85539D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(157, 83, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 83, 157)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 83, 157)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 83, 157)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.3255f, 0.6157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,83,157}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #85539d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #85539d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#472C53, #E4D7EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #85539d 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: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-100: #F1ECF3;
  --brand-200: #E1D5E7;
  --brand-300: #CDB6D8;
  --brand-400: #B491C5;
  --brand-500: #9B6CB1;
  --brand-600: #85539d;
  --brand-700: #714785;
  --brand-800: #5A386B;
  --brand-900: #432C4F;
  --brand-950: #2A1B31;
  --brand: #85539d;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-border: #DBCAE3;
  --brand-hover: #714786;
  --brand-pressed: #5E3A6E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D7EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F9',
        100: '#F1ECF3',
        200: '#E1D5E7',
        300: '#CDB6D8',
        400: '#B491C5',
        500: '#9B6CB1',
        600: '#85539d',
        700: '#714785',
        800: '#5A386B',
        900: '#432C4F',
        950: '#2A1B31',
        DEFAULT: '#85539d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F9,
  '100': #F1ECF3,
  '200': #E1D5E7,
  '300': #CDB6D8,
  '400': #B491C5,
  '500': #9B6CB1,
  '600': #85539d,
  '700': #714785,
  '800': #5A386B,
  '900': #432C4F,
  '950': #2A1B31,
);
$brand-base: #85539d;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1ECF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1D5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CDB6D8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B491C5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9B6CB1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#85539d", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#714785", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5A386B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#432C4F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A1B31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #85539d · 5.64:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.64:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.72:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #85539d as text scores 5.64:1 on white and 3.72:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F4EEF6 at 4.95:1.

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
#85539d · 5.64:1
AA on whitealready passes
#85539d
The quick fox
#714786 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−7% L
#714786
The quick fox
#9463AC · 4.64:1
AA on black+6% L
#9463AC
The quick fox
#AD87C0 · 7.00:1
AAA on black+17% L
#AD87C0

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #85539D 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
#85539d on white: 5.64:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#85539d on black: 3.72:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #85539d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #85539d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.64:1AaAa
Slate 505.39:1AaAa
Slate 1005.15:1AaAa
Slate 2004.58:1AaAa
Slate 3003.80:1AaAa
Slate 4002.20:1AaAa
Slate 5001.19:1AaAa
Slate 6001.34:1AaAa
Slate 7001.83:1AaAa
Slate 8002.59:1AaAa
Slate 9003.16:1AaAa
Black3.72:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #4464A0
deuteranopia · #52699B
tritanopia · #835E70

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. #85539d is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F6F9
#F1ECF3
#E1D5E7
#CDB6D8
#B491C5
#9B6CB1
#85539d
#714785
#5A386B
#432C4F
#2A1B31
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F9Darkest = 950 · #2A1B31Text 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 0.031 314.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 314.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.074 314.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.097 314.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.114 314.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.124 314.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.124 314.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.117 314.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.104 314.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.087 314.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 314.0);
}

Colors that work with #85539d

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#DBCAE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7F4F96
Captions on the surface
Accent#6B8A42
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#472C53
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#714786
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5E3A6E
Two steps down
Disabled#B69FC2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#944FB5
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 #85539d

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • 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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight53/100
  • 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#6B9D53
Analogous left#60539D
Analogous right#9D5390
Split-complement 1#909D53
Split-complement 2#539D60
Triadic 1#9D8553
Triadic 2#539D85
Tetradic#9D6053
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°281°

#85539d sits at 281°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green32.5%
Blue61.6%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
83
0x53
B · 0–255
157
0x9d

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.3%
Magenta47.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)38.4%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#85539d text on a black background

contrast 3.72:1

Card sample

#85539d text on a white background

contrast 5.64:1

Card sample

#85539d on grey

5.15:1

#85539d on its own surface

5.22:1

#85539d on its dark surface

3.14:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #85539d;
Background color
Panel with #85539d background
background-color: #85539d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #85539d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 83, 157, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 83, 157, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #85539d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #85539d, #9D5384);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #85539d, #9D5371);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #85539d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #85539d;
caret-color: #85539d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #85539d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #85539d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#85539d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #85539d 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(133, 83, 157, 0.5)
rgb(133 83 157 / 50%)
#85539d80
hsl(281 31% 47% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #85539d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#85539d1a#F3EEF5
20%#85539d33#E7DDEB
40%#85539d66#CEBAD8
60%#85539d99#B698C4
80%#85539dcc#9D75B1

Gradients from #85539d

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, #A277B7, #85539d 45%, #472C53);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #85539d, #89496E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #85539d, #6B9D53);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B08BC1 0%, #85539d 45%, #472C53 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%, #7670B3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AC6399 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #472C53 0%, transparent 65%), #85539d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #85539d

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.

#85539d 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 3.72:1 — lift it to #9463AC 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.

#85539d, answered

What color is #85539d?

#85539d is a balanced soft violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 10.2). It sits at 281° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 47% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #85539d?

rgb(133, 83, 157) — 133 red, 83 green and 157 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 32.5% / 61.6% by channel.

What is #85539d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(281, 31%, 47%) and hsv(281, 47%, 62%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #85539d a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1361 and perceived brightness is 43%, so white text on it reaches 5.64:1.

Should I use black or white text on #85539d?

White. It scores 5.64:1 against #85539d, versus 3.72:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #85539d accessible on a white background?

#85539d on white scores 5.64:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #85539d?

#6B9D53 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #909D53 and #539D60, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #85539d?

For interface work: #F8F5FA as the surface, #DBCAE3 for borders, #7F4F96 for secondary text, #6B8A42 as an accent and #472C53 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #60539D and #9D5390 stays calm, while #6B9D53 is the loudest partner.

What is #85539d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 47%, 0%, 38%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #85539d warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 60 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9D539A; nudged cooler, #69519F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #85539d?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 14.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #85539d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #85539d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#85539d] or text-[#85539d], 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 #85539d with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 83, 157, 0.5), or #85539d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2A9CE; over black, #432A4F.

Is #85539d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996699, ΔE2000 8.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #85539d 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 #85539d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A277B7, #85539d 45%, #472C53). For more colour, a short hue run to #89496E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #85539d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #85539d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.