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magenta / pink · neutral

#856178

a balanced, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Dim Gray

Token name suggestion: True Blossom

RGB
133, 97, 120
HSL
322°, 16%, 45%
CMYK
0, 27, 10, 48
Luminance
0.1489

#856178 is a balanced soft magenta / pink, 322° on the wheel and 45/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.28:1). As text it scores 5.28:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dim Gray, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(322 16% 45%)rgb(133 97 120)Base step 600AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #856178 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#856178
Hue
322°
magenta / pink
Saturation
16%
soft
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
52%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1489
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
45/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.28:1
Closest name
Dim Gray
ΔE2000 17.3
Chroma
19.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.537
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 15
Web-safe
#996666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue322° of 360°
Saturation16%
Lightness45%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #856178.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool45% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red33%
Green57%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#856178
HEX (8-digit)#856178ff
RGBrgb(133, 97, 120)
RGBArgba(133, 97, 120, 1)
HSLhsl(322, 16%, 45%)
HSV / HSBhsv(322, 27%, 52%)
HWBhwb(322 38% 48%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 10%, 48%)
LABlab(45.5 18.5 -7.2)
LCHlch(45.5 19.9 338.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.537 0.057 340.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(17.34, 14.89, 19.73)
Decimal8741240
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.380 0.471)
Web-safe#996666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #856178;
background-color: #856178;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #856178;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#856178] bg-[#856178]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #856178;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.380, blue: 0.471)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.380, blue: 0.471, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#856178</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF856178)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF856178)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(120, 97, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 97, 120)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 97, 120)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 97, 120)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.3804f, 0.4706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,97,120}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #856178 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #856178 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4A3643, #E5DCE2);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #856178 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: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F2EEF0;
  --brand-200: #E2D9DF;
  --brand-300: #D0BEC9;
  --brand-400: #B89EAF;
  --brand-500: #A07D94;
  --brand-600: #856178;
  --brand-700: #76566A;
  --brand-800: #5E4555;
  --brand-900: #463440;
  --brand-950: #2C2128;
  --brand: #856178;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F8;
  --brand-border: #DDD0D8;
  --brand-hover: #705265;
  --brand-pressed: #5C4353;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #20181D;
    --brand-ink: #E5DCE2;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F8',
        100: '#F2EEF0',
        200: '#E2D9DF',
        300: '#D0BEC9',
        400: '#B89EAF',
        500: '#A07D94',
        600: '#856178',
        700: '#76566A',
        800: '#5E4555',
        900: '#463440',
        950: '#2C2128',
        DEFAULT: '#856178',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F8,
  '100': #F2EEF0,
  '200': #E2D9DF,
  '300': #D0BEC9,
  '400': #B89EAF,
  '500': #A07D94,
  '600': #856178,
  '700': #76566A,
  '800': #5E4555,
  '900': #463440,
  '950': #2C2128,
);
$brand-base: #856178;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EEF0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2D9DF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D0BEC9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B89EAF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A07D94", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#856178", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#76566A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5E4555", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#463440", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C2128", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #856178 · 5.28:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.28:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.98:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #856178 as text scores 5.28:1 on white and 3.98:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F4F0F3 at 4.68:1.

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
#856178 · 5.28:1
AA on whitealready passes
#856178
The quick fox
#6D5063 · 7.05:1
AAA on white−8% L
#6D5063
The quick fox
#916A83 · 4.59:1
AA on black+4% L
#916A83
The quick fox
#AE8FA3 · 7.26:1
AAA on black+17% L
#AE8FA3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #856178 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
#856178 on white: 5.28:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#856178 on black: 3.98:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #856178 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #856178.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.28:1AaAa
Slate 505.05:1AaAa
Slate 1004.82:1AaAa
Slate 2004.28:1AaAa
Slate 3003.56:1AaAa
Slate 4002.06:1AaAa
Slate 5001.11:1AaAa
Slate 6001.44:1AaAa
Slate 7001.96:1AaAa
Slate 8002.77:1AaAa
Slate 9003.38:1AaAa
Black3.98:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #626879
deuteranopia · #6B6E77
tritanopia · #896169

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. #856178 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.

#F8F6F8
#F2EEF0
#E2D9DF
#D0BEC9
#B89EAF
#A07D94
#856178
#76566A
#5E4555
#463440
#2C2128
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F8Darkest = 950 · #2C2128Text 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 0.014 340.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 340.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 340.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 340.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 340.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.057 340.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.057 340.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.054 340.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.048 340.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.040 340.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 340.6);
}

Colors that work with #856178

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#F9F6F8
Tinted page background
Border#DDD0D8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#856178
Captions on the surface
Accent#5C8A61
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4A3643
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F0F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#20181D
Dark-mode background
Hover#705265
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5C4353
Two steps down
Disabled#B89EAF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9D5D86
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 #856178

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.

expressiveyouthfulwarmconfident

Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands.

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

Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight55/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityHigh

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#61856E
Analogous left#806185
Analogous right#856166
Split-complement 1#668561
Split-complement 2#618580
Triadic 1#788561
Triadic 2#617885
Tetradic#858061
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°322°

#856178 sits at 322°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green38.0%
Blue47.1%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
97
0x61
B · 0–255
120
0x78

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta27.1%
Yellow9.8%
Key (black)47.8%

Total ink coverage is 85%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#856178 text on a black background

contrast 3.98:1

Card sample

#856178 text on a white background

contrast 5.28:1

Card sample

#856178 on grey

4.82:1

#856178 on its own surface

4.92:1

#856178 on its dark surface

3.29:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #856178;
Background color
Panel with #856178 background
background-color: #856178;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #856178;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 97, 120, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 97, 120, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #856178;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #856178, #856261);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #856178, #856B61);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #856178;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #856178;
caret-color: #856178;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #856178;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F0F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #856178;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#856178 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #856178 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, 97, 120, 0.5)
rgb(133 97 120 / 50%)
#85617880
hsl(322 16% 45% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #856178 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8561781a#F3EFF2
20%#85617833#E7DFE4
40%#85617866#CEC0C9
60%#85617899#B6A0AE
80%#856178cc#9D8193

Gradients from #856178

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, #A38096, #856178 45%, #4A3643);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #856178, #735854);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #856178, #61856E);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B092A5 0%, #856178 45%, #4A3643 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F6F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #977B9E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #966F71 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4A3643 0%, transparent 65%), #856178;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #856178

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.

#856178 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
BeautyFashionLifestyleYouth brands
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 3.98:1 — lift it to #916A83 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.

#856178, answered

What color is #856178?

#856178 is a balanced soft magenta / pink, closest to Dim Gray (ΔE2000 17.3). It sits at 322° on the hue wheel with 16% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #856178?

rgb(133, 97, 120) — 133 red, 97 green and 120 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 38% / 47.1% by channel.

What is #856178 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(322, 16%, 45%) and hsv(322, 27%, 52%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #856178 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1489 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.28:1.

Should I use black or white text on #856178?

White. It scores 5.28:1 against #856178, versus 3.98:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #856178 accessible on a white background?

#856178 on white scores 5.28:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #856178?

#61856E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #668561 and #618580, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #856178?

For interface work: #F9F6F8 as the surface, #DDD0D8 for borders, #856178 for secondary text, #5C8A61 as an accent and #4A3643 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #806185 and #856166 stays calm, while #61856E is the loudest partner.

What is #856178 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 10%, 48%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #856178 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 45 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #85616B; nudged cooler, #875F87.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #856178?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 15 away. That is a visible difference, so define #856178 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #856178 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#856178] or text-[#856178], 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 #856178 with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 97, 120, 0.5), or #85617880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2B0BC; over black, #43313C.

Is #856178 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996666, ΔE2000 10.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #856178 mean?

As a magenta / pink, it reads expressive, youthful, warm. Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #856178?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A38096, #856178 45%, #4A3643). For more colour, a short hue run to #735854 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #856178 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #856178 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.