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violet · cool

#855dab

a balanced, soft violet · cool · closest name: Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Atlas Amethyst

RGB
133, 93, 171
HSL
271°, 32%, 52%
CMYK
22, 46, 0, 33
Luminance
0.1576

#855dab is a balanced soft violet, 271° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.06:1). As text it scores 5.06:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(271 32% 52%)rgb(133 93 171)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #855dab is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#855dab
Hue
271°
violet
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
46%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1576
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.06:1
Closest name
Slate Blue
ΔE2000 9.4
Chroma
47.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.553
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 12
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue271° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #855dab.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool65% 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
Red32%
Green50%
Blue19%

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

Every format

HEX#855dab
HEX (8-digit)#855dabff
RGBrgb(133, 93, 171)
RGBArgba(133, 93, 171, 1)
HSLhsl(271, 32%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(271, 46%, 67%)
HWBhwb(271 36% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 46%, 0%, 33%)
LABlab(46.6 31.9 -35.8)
LCHlch(46.6 47.9 311.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.553 0.124 306.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.94, 15.76, 40.46)
Decimal8740267
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.365 0.671)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #855dab;
background-color: #855dab;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #855dab;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#855dab] bg-[#855dab]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #855dab;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.365, blue: 0.671)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.365, blue: 0.671, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#855DAB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF855DAB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF855DAB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(171, 93, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 93, 171)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 93, 171)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 93, 171)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.3647f, 0.6706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,93,171}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #855dab 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #855dab 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#402C54, #E1D7EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #855dab 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: #F7F5F9;
  --brand-100: #F0ECF3;
  --brand-200: #DED5E7;
  --brand-300: #C7B5D9;
  --brand-400: #AC90C6;
  --brand-500: #906BB2;
  --brand-600: #855dab;
  --brand-700: #674686;
  --brand-800: #52386B;
  --brand-900: #3E2B4F;
  --brand-950: #271B31;
  --brand: #855dab;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F7F5FA;
  --brand-border: #D7C9E3;
  --brand-hover: #734E96;
  --brand-pressed: #61427F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1C1424;
    --brand-ink: #E1D7EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F5F9',
        100: '#F0ECF3',
        200: '#DED5E7',
        300: '#C7B5D9',
        400: '#AC90C6',
        500: '#906BB2',
        600: '#855dab',
        700: '#674686',
        800: '#52386B',
        900: '#3E2B4F',
        950: '#271B31',
        DEFAULT: '#855dab',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F5F9,
  '100': #F0ECF3,
  '200': #DED5E7,
  '300': #C7B5D9,
  '400': #AC90C6,
  '500': #906BB2,
  '600': #855dab,
  '700': #674686,
  '800': #52386B,
  '900': #3E2B4F,
  '950': #271B31,
);
$brand-base: #855dab;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0ECF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DED5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C7B5D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AC90C6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#906BB2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#855dab", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#674686", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#52386B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3E2B4F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#271B31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #855dab · 5.06:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.06:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.15:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #855dab as text scores 5.06:1 on white and 4.15:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F2EEF6 at 4.42:1.

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
#855dab · 5.06:1
AA on whitealready passes
#855dab
The quick fox
#6B498C · 7.10:1
AAA on white−10% L
#6B498C
The quick fox
#8A64AF · 4.52:1
AA on black+2% L
#8A64AF
The quick fox
#A98CC3 · 7.23:1
AAA on black+14% L
#A98CC3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #855DAB 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
#855dab on white: 5.06:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#855dab on black: 4.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #855dab as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #855dab.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.06:1AaAa
Slate 504.84:1AaAa
Slate 1004.62:1AaAa
Slate 2004.10:1AaAa
Slate 3003.41:1AaAa
Slate 4001.97:1AaAa
Slate 5001.06:1AaAa
Slate 6001.50:1AaAa
Slate 7002.05:1AaAa
Slate 8002.89:1AaAa
Slate 9003.53:1AaAa
Black4.15:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #496DAE
deuteranopia · #536FA9
tritanopia · #7F6A7C

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. #855dab 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.

#F7F5F9
#F0ECF3
#DED5E7
#C7B5D9
#AC90C6
#906BB2
#855dab
#674686
#52386B
#3E2B4F
#271B31
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F7F5F9Darkest = 950 · #271B31Text 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 0.031 306.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 306.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.074 306.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.097 306.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.114 306.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.124 306.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.124 306.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.117 306.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.104 306.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.087 306.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 306.4);
}

Colors that work with #855dab

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#F7F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#D7C9E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#744E97
Captions on the surface
Accent#778B41
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#402C54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1C1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#734E96
One step down in lightness
Pressed#61427F
Two steps down
Disabled#BDADCB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#905FBD
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 #855dab

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
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#83AB5D
Analogous left#5E5DAB
Analogous right#AB5DAA
Split-complement 1#AAAB5D
Split-complement 2#5DAB5E
Triadic 1#AB855D
Triadic 2#5DAB85
Tetradic#AB5E5D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°271°

#855dab sits at 271°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green36.5%
Blue67.1%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
93
0x5d
B · 0–255
171
0xab

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.2%
Magenta45.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)32.9%

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

Color previews

#855dab text on a black background

contrast 4.15:1

Card sample

#855dab text on a white background

contrast 5.06:1

Card sample

#855dab on grey

4.62:1

#855dab on its own surface

4.67:1

#855dab on its dark surface

3.53:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #855dab;
Background color
Panel with #855dab background
background-color: #855dab;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #855dab;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 93, 171, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 93, 171, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #855dab;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #855dab, #AB5D9D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855dab, #AB5D8A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #855dab;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #855dab;
caret-color: #855dab;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #855dab;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #855dab;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#855dab 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #855dab 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, 93, 171, 0.5)
rgb(133 93 171 / 50%)
#855dab80
hsl(271 32% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #855dab 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#855dab1a#F3EFF7
20%#855dab33#E7DFEE
40%#855dab66#CEBEDD
60%#855dab99#B69ECD
80%#855dabcc#9D7DBC

Gradients from #855dab

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, #A385C0, #855dab 45%, #402C54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #855dab, #9A5086);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855dab, #83AB5D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B39ACA 0%, #855dab 45%, #402C54 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #7F83BC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B671AF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #402C54 0%, transparent 65%), #855dab;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #855dab

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.

#855dab 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 4.15:1 — lift it to #8A64AF 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.

#855dab, answered

What color is #855dab?

#855dab is a balanced soft violet, closest to Slate Blue (ΔE2000 9.4). It sits at 271° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #855dab?

rgb(133, 93, 171) — 133 red, 93 green and 171 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 36.5% / 67.1% by channel.

What is #855dab in HSL and HSV?

hsl(271, 32%, 52%) and hsv(271, 46%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #855dab a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1576 and perceived brightness is 46%, so white text on it reaches 5.06:1.

Should I use black or white text on #855dab?

White. It scores 5.06:1 against #855dab, versus 4.15:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #855dab accessible on a white background?

#855dab on white scores 5.06:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #855dab?

#83AB5D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AAAB5D and #5DAB5E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #855dab?

For interface work: #F7F5FA as the surface, #D7C9E3 for borders, #744E97 for secondary text, #778B41 as an accent and #402C54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5E5DAB and #AB5DAA stays calm, while #83AB5D is the loudest partner.

What is #855dab in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 46%, 0%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #855dab warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 65 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A25DAB; nudged cooler, #675BAE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #855dab?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 12 away. That is a visible difference, so define #855dab as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #855dab in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#855dab] or text-[#855dab], 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 #855dab with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 93, 171, 0.5), or #855dab80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2AED5; over black, #432F56.

Is #855dab 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 #855dab 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 #855dab?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A385C0, #855dab 45%, #402C54). For more colour, a short hue run to #9A5086 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #855dab in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #855dab at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.