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#891cdf

a balanced, electric violet · cool · closest name: Blue Violet

RGB
137, 28, 223
HSL
274°, 78%, 49%
CMYK
39, 87, 0, 13
Luminance
0.1148

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #891cdf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#891cdf
Hue
274°
violet
Saturation
78%
electric
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
42%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1148
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
6.37:1
Closest name
Blue Violet
ΔE2000 1.8
Where it sits
Hue274° of 360°
Saturation78%
Lightness49%
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.

Every format

HEX#891cdf
RGBrgb(137, 28, 223)
HSLhsl(274, 78%, 49%)
CMYKcmyk(39%, 87%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(40.4 73.3 -76.0)
LCHlch(40.4 105.6 313.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.520 0.258 302.5)
Decimal8985823
Display P3color(display-p3 0.537 0.110 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #891cdf;
background-color: #891cdf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#891cdf] bg-[#891cdf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #891cdf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.537, green: 0.110, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#891cdf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF891CDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 28, 137)

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 #891cdf · 6.37:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 6.37:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.30:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #891cdf as text scores 6.37:1 on white and 3.30:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#891cdf on white: 6.37:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#891cdf on black: 3.30:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #005EE4
deuteranopia · #005EDC
tritanopia · #765985

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #891cdf 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.

#F8F3FC
#F1E6F9
#E0C7F5
#CC9BF2
#B269EC
#9938E6
#891cdf
#6F17B5
#591291
#421169
#290B42
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F3FCDarkest = 950 · #290B42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F3FC;
  --brand-100: #F1E6F9;
  --brand-200: #E0C7F5;
  --brand-300: #CC9BF2;
  --brand-400: #B269EC;
  --brand-500: #9938E6;
  --brand-600: #891cdf;
  --brand-700: #6F17B5;
  --brand-800: #591291;
  --brand-900: #421169;
  --brand-950: #290B42;
  --brand: #891cdf;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #891cdf

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D9C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#774B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#86B913
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#460E71
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3E8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #891cdf

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#72DF1C
Analogous left#271CDF
Analogous right#DF1CD4
Split-complement 1#D4DF1C
Split-complement 2#1CDF27
Triadic 1#DF891C
Triadic 2#1CDF89
Tetradic#DF271C

RGB percentages

Red53.7%
Green11.0%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan38.6%
Magenta87.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Color previews

#891cdf text on a black background

contrast 3.30:1

Card sample

#891cdf text on a white background

contrast 6.37:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #891cdf;
Background color
Panel with #891cdf background
background-color: #891cdf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #891cdf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(137, 28, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(137, 28, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #891cdf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #891cdf, #DF1CB3);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #891cdf

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#891cdf 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

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

#891cdf, answered

What color is #891cdf?

#891cdf is a balanced electric violet, closest to Blue Violet (ΔE2000 1.8). It sits at 274° on the hue wheel with 78% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #891cdf?

rgb(137, 28, 223) — 137 red, 28 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 53.7% / 11% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #891cdf a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1148 and perceived brightness is 42%, so white text on it reaches 6.37:1.

Should I use black or white text on #891cdf?

White. It scores 6.37:1 against #891cdf, versus 3.30:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #891cdf?

#72DF1C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D4DF1C and #1CDF27, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #891cdf?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D9C0ED for borders, #774B9B for secondary text, #86B913 as an accent and #460E71 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #271CDF and #DF1CD4 stays calm, while #72DF1C is the loudest partner.

What is #891cdf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(39%, 87%, 0%, 13%). 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 #891cdf 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 #D01CDF; nudged cooler, #4019E1.

Work with #891cdf in the Color Lab