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violet · cool

#876ace

a balanced, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Signal Thistle

RGB
135, 106, 206
HSL
257°, 51%, 61%
CMYK
35, 49, 0, 19
Luminance
0.1992

#876ace is a balanced vivid violet, 257° on the wheel and 74/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.98:1). As text it scores 4.21:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(257 51% 61%)rgb(135 106 206)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #876ace is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#876ace
Hue
257°
violet
Saturation
51%
vivid
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1992
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
74/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
4.98:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 3.3
Chroma
58.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.598
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 6.7
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue257° of 360°
Saturation51%
Lightness61%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #876ace.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool74% 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
Red26%
Green52%
Blue22%

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

Every format

HEX#876ace
HEX (8-digit)#876aceff
RGBrgb(135, 106, 206)
RGBArgba(135, 106, 206, 1)
HSLhsl(257, 51%, 61%)
HSV / HSBhsv(257, 49%, 81%)
HWBhwb(257 42% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(35%, 49%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(51.7 33.8 -47.9)
LCHlch(51.7 58.6 305.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.598 0.149 294.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.28, 19.91, 60.84)
Decimal8874702
Display P3color(display-p3 0.529 0.416 0.808)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #876ace;
background-color: #876ace;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #876ace;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#876ace] bg-[#876ace]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #876ace;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.529, green: 0.416, blue: 0.808)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.529, green: 0.416, blue: 0.808, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#876ACE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF876ACE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF876ACE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 106, 135)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(135, 106, 206)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(135, 106, 206)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 135, 106, 206)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5294f, 0.4157f, 0.8078f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{135,106,206}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #876ace 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #876ace 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#322060, #DBD3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #876ace 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: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-100: #EDEAF6;
  --brand-200: #D8CFED;
  --brand-300: #BBABE3;
  --brand-400: #9980D5;
  --brand-500: #876ace;
  --brand-600: #603DB8;
  --brand-700: #50329A;
  --brand-800: #40287B;
  --brand-900: #31215A;
  --brand-950: #1F1438;
  --brand: #876ace;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CEC2EB;
  --brand-hover: #714FC5;
  --brand-pressed: #5F3CB5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191424;
    --brand-ink: #DBD3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F4FA',
        100: '#EDEAF6',
        200: '#D8CFED',
        300: '#BBABE3',
        400: '#9980D5',
        500: '#876ace',
        600: '#603DB8',
        700: '#50329A',
        800: '#40287B',
        900: '#31215A',
        950: '#1F1438',
        DEFAULT: '#876ace',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F4FA,
  '100': #EDEAF6,
  '200': #D8CFED,
  '300': #BBABE3,
  '400': #9980D5,
  '500': #876ace,
  '600': #603DB8,
  '700': #50329A,
  '800': #40287B,
  '900': #31215A,
  '950': #1F1438,
);
$brand-base: #876ace;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F4FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEAF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8CFED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BBABE3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9980D5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#876ace", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#603DB8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#50329A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#40287B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#31215A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F1438", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #876ace · 4.98:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.21:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.98:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #876ace as text scores 4.21:1 on white and 4.98:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #322060 at 3.30:1.

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
#8162CC · 4.61:1
AA on white−2% L
#8162CC
The quick fox
#633EBD · 7.11:1
AAA on white−12% L
#633EBD
The quick fox
#876ace · 4.98:1
AA on blackalready passes
#876ace
The quick fox
#A089D8 · 7.06:1
AAA on black+8% L
#A089D8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #876ACE 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
#876ace on white: 4.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#876ace on black: 4.98:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #876ace as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #876ace.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.21:1AaAa
Slate 504.03:1AaAa
Slate 1003.85:1AaAa
Slate 2003.42:1AaAa
Slate 3002.84:1AaAa
Slate 4001.64:1AaAa
Slate 5001.13:1AaAa
Slate 6001.80:1AaAa
Slate 7002.46:1AaAa
Slate 8003.47:1AaAa
Slate 9004.24:1AaAa
Black4.98:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #477CD2
deuteranopia · #4C7ACC
tritanopia · #767D92

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. #876ace is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F4FA
#EDEAF6
#D8CFED
#BBABE3
#9980D5
#876ace
#603DB8
#50329A
#40287B
#31215A
#1F1438
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F4FADarkest = 950 · #1F1438Text 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 0.037 294.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.060 294.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.089 294.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.116 294.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.137 294.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.149 294.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.149 294.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.140 294.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.125 294.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.104 294.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.082 294.9);
}

Colors that work with #876ace

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#CEC2EB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#624B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9A9E2E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#322060
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0ECF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191424
Dark-mode background
Hover#714FC5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5F3CB5
Two steps down
Disabled#D0CBDE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9071DC
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 #876ace

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #322060
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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight39/100
  • 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#B1CE6A
Analogous left#6A7FCE
Analogous right#B96ACE
Split-complement 1#CEB96A
Split-complement 2#7FCE6A
Triadic 1#CE876A
Triadic 2#6ACE87
Tetradic#CE6A7F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°257°

#876ace sits at 257°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.9%
Green41.6%
Blue80.8%
R · 0–255
135
0x87
G · 0–255
106
0x6a
B · 0–255
206
0xce

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.5%
Magenta48.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 102%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#876ace text on a black background

contrast 4.98:1

Card sample

#876ace text on a white background

contrast 4.21:1

Card sample

#876ace on grey

3.85:1

#876ace on its own surface

3.86:1

#876ace on its dark surface

4.27:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #876ace;
Background color
Panel with #876ace background
background-color: #876ace;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #876ace;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(135, 106, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(135, 106, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #876ace;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #876ace, #CA6ACE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #876ace, #CE6AB9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #876ace;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #876ace;
caret-color: #876ace;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #876ace;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0ECF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #876ace;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#876ace 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #876ace 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(135, 106, 206, 0.5)
rgb(135 106 206 / 50%)
#876ace80
hsl(257 51% 61% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #876ace 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#876ace1a#F3F0FA
20%#876ace33#E7E1F5
40%#876ace66#CFC3EB
60%#876ace99#B7A6E2
80%#876acecc#9F88D8

Gradients from #876ace

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, #AC98DD, #876ace 45%, #322060);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #876ace, #C653C2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #876ace, #B1CE6A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #BFAFE5 0%, #876ace 45%, #322060 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%, #90A6DB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CB81D6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #322060 0%, transparent 65%), #876ace;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #876ace

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.

#876ace 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 4.98:1.

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.

#876ace, answered

What color is #876ace?

#876ace is a balanced vivid violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 3.3). It sits at 257° on the hue wheel with 51% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #876ace?

rgb(135, 106, 206) — 135 red, 106 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 52.9% / 41.6% / 80.8% by channel.

What is #876ace in HSL and HSV?

hsl(257, 51%, 61%) and hsv(257, 49%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #876ace a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1992 and perceived brightness is 51%, so black text on it reaches 4.98:1.

Should I use black or white text on #876ace?

Black. It scores 4.98:1 against #876ace, versus 4.21:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #876ace accessible on a white background?

#876ace on white scores 4.21:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #8162CC to reach 4.5:1, or #633EBD for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #876ace?

#B1CE6A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CEB96A and #7FCE6A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #876ace?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CEC2EB for borders, #624B9B for secondary text, #9A9E2E as an accent and #322060 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6A7FCE and #B96ACE stays calm, while #B1CE6A is the loudest partner.

What is #876ace in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(35%, 49%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #876ace warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 74 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AC6ACE; nudged cooler, #6870D0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #876ace?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 6.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #876ace as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #876ace in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#876ace] or text-[#876ace], 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 #876ace with 50% opacity?

rgba(135, 106, 206, 0.5), or #876ace80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C3B5E7; over black, #443567.

Is #876ace a web-safe color?

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

What does the color #876ace 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 #876ace?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #AC98DD, #876ace 45%, #322060). For more colour, a short hue run to #C653C2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #876ace in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #876ace at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.