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violet · cool

#855ff4

a light, electric violet · cool · closest name: Medium Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Morning Plum

RGB
133, 95, 244
HSL
255°, 87%, 67%
CMYK
46, 61, 0, 4
Luminance
0.1970

#855ff4 is a light electric violet, 255° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.94:1). As text it scores 4.25:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(255 87% 67%)rgb(133 95 244)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #855ff4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#855ff4
Hue
255°
violet
Saturation
87%
electric
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
52%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1970
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
4.94:1
Closest name
Medium Slate Blue
ΔE2000 3.1
Chroma
85.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.603
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 1.2
Web-safe
#9966FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue255° of 360°
Saturation87%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #855ff4.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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
Red25%
Green42%
Blue33%

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

Every format

HEX#855ff4
HEX (8-digit)#855ff4ff
RGBrgb(133, 95, 244)
RGBArgba(133, 95, 244, 1)
HSLhsl(255, 87%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(255, 61%, 96%)
HWBhwb(255 37% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(46%, 61%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(51.5 49.8 -69.8)
LCHlch(51.5 85.7 305.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.603 0.213 290.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.09, 19.70, 87.79)
Decimal8740852
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.373 0.957)
Web-safe#9966FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #855ff4;
background-color: #855ff4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #855ff4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#855ff4] bg-[#855ff4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #855ff4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.373, blue: 0.957)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.373, blue: 0.957, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#855FF4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF855FF4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF855FF4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(244, 95, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 95, 244)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 95, 244)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 95, 244)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.3725f, 0.9569f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,95,244}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #855ff4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #855ff4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#250877, #DAD3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #855ff4 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: #F5F2FD;
  --brand-100: #EBE5FA;
  --brand-200: #D1C4F7;
  --brand-300: #AF96F8;
  --brand-400: #855ff4;
  --brand-500: #5F2DF1;
  --brand-600: #4610E5;
  --brand-700: #3A0DBF;
  --brand-800: #2F0B99;
  --brand-900: #250C6E;
  --brand-950: #170845;
  --brand: #855ff4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CBC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #6C3EF2;
  --brand-pressed: #521CEF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #DAD3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F2FD',
        100: '#EBE5FA',
        200: '#D1C4F7',
        300: '#AF96F8',
        400: '#855ff4',
        500: '#5F2DF1',
        600: '#4610E5',
        700: '#3A0DBF',
        800: '#2F0B99',
        900: '#250C6E',
        950: '#170845',
        DEFAULT: '#855ff4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F2FD,
  '100': #EBE5FA,
  '200': #D1C4F7,
  '300': #AF96F8,
  '400': #855ff4,
  '500': #5F2DF1,
  '600': #4610E5,
  '700': #3A0DBF,
  '800': #2F0B99,
  '900': #250C6E,
  '950': #170845,
);
$brand-base: #855ff4;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F2FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBE5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1C4F7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AF96F8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#855ff4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5F2DF1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4610E5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3A0DBF", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2F0B99", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#250C6E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#170845", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #855ff4 · 4.94:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.25:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.94:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #855ff4 as text scores 4.25:1 on white and 4.94:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #250877 at 3.58:1.

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
#7E56F3 · 4.65:1
AA on white−2% L
#7E56F3
The quick fox
#5926F0 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−12% L
#5926F0
The quick fox
#855ff4 · 4.94:1
AA on blackalready passes
#855ff4
The quick fox
#A285F7 · 7.23:1
AAA on black+8% L
#A285F7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #855FF4 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
#855ff4 on white: 4.25:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#855ff4 on black: 4.94:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #855ff4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #855ff4.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.25:1AaAa
Slate 504.06:1AaAa
Slate 1003.88:1AaAa
Slate 2003.45:1AaAa
Slate 3002.86:1AaAa
Slate 4001.66:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.78:1AaAa
Slate 7002.44:1AaAa
Slate 8003.44:1AaAa
Slate 9004.20:1AaAa
Black4.94:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #007DF9
deuteranopia · #0077F1
tritanopia · #6382A1

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. #855ff4 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.

#F5F2FD
#EBE5FA
#D1C4F7
#AF96F8
#855ff4
#5F2DF1
#4610E5
#3A0DBF
#2F0B99
#250C6E
#170845
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F2FDDarkest = 950 · #170845Text 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 0.053 290.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.085 290.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.128 290.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.166 290.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.196 290.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.213 290.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.213 290.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.200 290.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.179 290.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.149 290.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.117 290.3);
}

Colors that work with #855ff4

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5F4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C2C20A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#250877
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDE7FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#6C3EF2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#521CEF
Two steps down
Disabled#DFDBE8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#906BFD
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 #855ff4

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 #250877
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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#CEF45F
Analogous left#5F84F4
Analogous right#D05FF4
Split-complement 1#F4D05F
Split-complement 2#84F45F
Triadic 1#F4855F
Triadic 2#5FF485
Tetradic#F45F84
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°255°

#855ff4 sits at 255°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green37.3%
Blue95.7%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
95
0x5f
B · 0–255
244
0xf4

CMYK percentages

Cyan45.5%
Magenta61.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.3%

Total ink coverage is 111%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#855ff4 text on a black background

contrast 4.94:1

Card sample

#855ff4 text on a white background

contrast 4.25:1

Card sample

#855ff4 on grey

3.88:1

#855ff4 on its own surface

3.89:1

#855ff4 on its dark surface

4.24:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #855ff4;
Background color
Panel with #855ff4 background
background-color: #855ff4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #855ff4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 95, 244, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 95, 244, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #855ff4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #855ff4, #E85FF4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855ff4, #F45FDA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #855ff4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #855ff4;
caret-color: #855ff4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #855ff4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDE7FD;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #855ff4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#855ff4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #855ff4 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, 95, 244, 0.5)
rgb(133 95 244 / 50%)
#855ff480
hsl(255 87% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #855ff4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#855ff41a#F3EFFE
20%#855ff433#E7DFFD
40%#855ff466#CEBFFB
60%#855ff499#B69FF8
80%#855ff4cc#9D7FF6

Gradients from #855ff4

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, #B198F8, #855ff4 45%, #250877);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #855ff4, #F243F1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #855ff4, #CEF45F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C7B5FA 0%, #855ff4 45%, #250877 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8FB1F7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E27CF6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #250877 0%, transparent 65%), #855ff4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #855ff4

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.

#855ff4 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 4.94:1.

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.

#855ff4, answered

What color is #855ff4?

#855ff4 is a light electric violet, closest to Medium Slate Blue (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 255° on the hue wheel with 87% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #855ff4?

rgb(133, 95, 244) — 133 red, 95 green and 244 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 37.3% / 95.7% by channel.

What is #855ff4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(255, 87%, 67%) and hsv(255, 61%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #855ff4 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1970 and perceived brightness is 52%, so black text on it reaches 4.94:1.

Should I use black or white text on #855ff4?

Black. It scores 4.94:1 against #855ff4, versus 4.25:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #855ff4 accessible on a white background?

#855ff4 on white scores 4.25:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #7E56F3 to reach 4.5:1, or #5926F0 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #855ff4?

#CEF45F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F4D05F and #84F45F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #855ff4?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CBC0ED for borders, #5F4B9B for secondary text, #C2C20A as an accent and #250877 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5F84F4 and #D05FF4 stays calm, while #CEF45F is the loudest partner.

What is #855ff4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(46%, 61%, 0%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #855ff4 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC5FF4; nudged cooler, #5D6EF6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #855ff4?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 1.2 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #855ff4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#855ff4] or text-[#855ff4], 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 #855ff4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 95, 244, 0.5), or #855ff480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2AFFA; over black, #43307A.

Is #855ff4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966FF, ΔE2000 4.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #855ff4 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #855ff4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B198F8, #855ff4 45%, #250877). For more colour, a short hue run to #F243F1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #855ff4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #855ff4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.