Skip to content
violet · cool

#855da2

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Amethyst

RGB
133, 93, 162
HSL
275°, 27%, 50%
CMYK
18, 43, 0, 37
Luminance
0.1542

#855da2 is a balanced soft violet, 275° on the wheel and 61/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.14:1). As text it scores 5.14:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(275 27% 50%)rgb(133 93 162)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #855da2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#855da2
Hue
275°
violet
Saturation
27%
soft
Lightness
50%
balanced
Brightness
64%
HSV value
Perceived
45%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1542
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
61/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.14:1
Closest name
Slate Blue
ΔE2000 11.1
Chroma
43.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.548
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 13.9
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue275° of 360°
Saturation27%
Lightness50%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #855da2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool61% 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%
Green51%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#855da2
HEX (8-digit)#855da2ff
RGBrgb(133, 93, 162)
RGBArgba(133, 93, 162, 1)
HSLhsl(275, 27%, 50%)
HSV / HSBhsv(275, 43%, 64%)
HWBhwb(275 36% 36%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 43%, 0%, 37%)
LABlab(46.2 29.8 -31.2)
LCHlch(46.2 43.1 313.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.548 0.113 309.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.11, 15.42, 36.09)
Decimal8740258
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.365 0.635)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #855da2;
background-color: #855da2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #855da2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#855da2] bg-[#855da2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #855da2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.365, blue: 0.635)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.365, blue: 0.635, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#855DA2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF855DA2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF855DA2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(162, 93, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 93, 162)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 93, 162)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 93, 162)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.3647f, 0.6353f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,93,162}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #855da2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #855da2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#432E51, #E2D8E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #855da2 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: #F0ECF3;
  --brand-200: #DFD6E6;
  --brand-300: #C9B8D6;
  --brand-400: #AE94C2;
  --brand-500: #9470AD;
  --brand-600: #855da2;
  --brand-700: #6A4A82;
  --brand-800: #553B68;
  --brand-900: #402E4C;
  --brand-950: #281D30;
  --brand: #855da2;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5F9;
  --brand-border: #D8CBE1;
  --brand-hover: #72508B;
  --brand-pressed: #604375;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E2D8E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F9',
        100: '#F0ECF3',
        200: '#DFD6E6',
        300: '#C9B8D6',
        400: '#AE94C2',
        500: '#9470AD',
        600: '#855da2',
        700: '#6A4A82',
        800: '#553B68',
        900: '#402E4C',
        950: '#281D30',
        DEFAULT: '#855da2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F9,
  '100': #F0ECF3,
  '200': #DFD6E6,
  '300': #C9B8D6,
  '400': #AE94C2,
  '500': #9470AD,
  '600': #855da2,
  '700': #6A4A82,
  '800': #553B68,
  '900': #402E4C,
  '950': #281D30,
);
$brand-base: #855da2;
$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": "#F0ECF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFD6E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9B8D6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AE94C2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9470AD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#855da2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6A4A82", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#553B68", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#402E4C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#281D30", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #855da2 · 5.14:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.08:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #855da2 as text scores 5.14:1 on white and 4.08:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F3EFF6 at 4.53:1.

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
#855da2 · 5.14:1
AA on whitealready passes
#855da2
The quick fox
#6A4A82 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−10% L
#6A4A82
The quick fox
#8C67A8 · 4.62:1
AA on black+3% L
#8C67A8
The quick fox
#A78ABC · 7.00:1
AAA on black+14% L
#A78ABC

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #855DA2 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
#855da2 on white: 5.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#855da2 on black: 4.08:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #855da2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #855da2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.14:1AaAa
Slate 504.91:1AaAa
Slate 1004.69:1AaAa
Slate 2004.17:1AaAa
Slate 3003.46:1AaAa
Slate 4002.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.08:1AaAa
Slate 6001.47:1AaAa
Slate 7002.01:1AaAa
Slate 8002.85:1AaAa
Slate 9003.47:1AaAa
Black4.08:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #4E6CA5
deuteranopia · #586EA0
tritanopia · #826778

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. #855da2 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
#F0ECF3
#DFD6E6
#C9B8D6
#AE94C2
#9470AD
#855da2
#6A4A82
#553B68
#402E4C
#281D30
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F9Darkest = 950 · #281D30Text 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 0.028 309.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 309.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.068 309.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.088 309.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.104 309.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.113 309.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.113 309.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.106 309.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.095 309.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.079 309.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 309.8);
}

Colors that work with #855da2

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#F8F5F9
Tinted page background
Border#D8CBE1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#785492
Captions on the surface
Accent#718646
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#432E51
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EFF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#72508B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#604375
Two steps down
Disabled#BAA8C7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#915EB5
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 #855da2

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
  • Weight50/100
  • 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#7AA25D
Analogous left#625DA2
Analogous right#A25D9D
Split-complement 1#9DA25D
Split-complement 2#5DA262
Triadic 1#A2855D
Triadic 2#5DA285
Tetradic#A2625D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°275°

#855da2 sits at 275°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green36.5%
Blue63.5%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
93
0x5d
B · 0–255
162
0xa2

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.9%
Magenta42.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)36.5%

Total ink coverage is 97%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#855da2 text on a black background

contrast 4.08:1

Card sample

#855da2 text on a white background

contrast 5.14:1

Card sample

#855da2 on grey

4.69:1

#855da2 on its own surface

4.75:1

#855da2 on its dark surface

3.47:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #855da2;
Background color
Panel with #855da2 background
background-color: #855da2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #855da2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 93, 162, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 93, 162, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #855da2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #855da2, #A25D91);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855da2, #A25D80);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #855da2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #855da2;
caret-color: #855da2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #855da2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EFF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #855da2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#855da2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #855da2 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, 162, 0.5)
rgb(133 93 162 / 50%)
#855da280
hsl(275 27% 50% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #855da2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#855da21a#F3EFF6
20%#855da233#E7DFEC
40%#855da266#CEBEDA
60%#855da299#B69EC7
80%#855da2cc#9D7DB5

Gradients from #855da2

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, #A284B8, #855da2 45%, #432E51);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #855da2, #8F527B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855da2, #7AA25D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B197C4 0%, #855da2 45%, #432E51 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F5F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #7D7EB5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AD70A3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #432E51 0%, transparent 65%), #855da2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #855da2

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.

#855da2 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 4.08:1 — lift it to #8C67A8 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.

#855da2, answered

What color is #855da2?

#855da2 is a balanced soft violet, closest to Slate Blue (ΔE2000 11.1). It sits at 275° on the hue wheel with 27% saturation and 50% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #855da2?

rgb(133, 93, 162) — 133 red, 93 green and 162 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 36.5% / 63.5% by channel.

What is #855da2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(275, 27%, 50%) and hsv(275, 43%, 64%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #855da2 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1542 and perceived brightness is 45%, so white text on it reaches 5.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #855da2?

White. It scores 5.14:1 against #855da2, versus 4.08:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #855da2 accessible on a white background?

#855da2 on white scores 5.14:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #855da2?

#7AA25D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9DA25D and #5DA262, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #855da2?

For interface work: #F8F5F9 as the surface, #D8CBE1 for borders, #785492 for secondary text, #718646 as an accent and #432E51 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #625DA2 and #A25D9D stays calm, while #7AA25D is the loudest partner.

What is #855da2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 43%, 0%, 37%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #855da2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 61 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9E5DA2; nudged cooler, #6A5AA5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #855da2?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 13.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #855da2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #855da2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#855da2] or text-[#855da2], 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 #855da2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 93, 162, 0.5), or #855da280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2AED1; over black, #432F51.

Is #855da2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996699, ΔE2000 7.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #855da2 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 #855da2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A284B8, #855da2 45%, #432E51). For more colour, a short hue run to #8F527B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #855da2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #855da2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.