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violet · cool

#8f4eb4

a balanced, soft violet · cool · closest name: Dark Orchid

Token name suggestion: True Thistle

RGB
143, 78, 180
HSL
278°, 41%, 51%
CMYK
21, 57, 0, 29
Luminance
0.1458

#8f4eb4 is a balanced soft violet, 278° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.36:1). As text it scores 5.36:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(278 41% 51%)rgb(143 78 180)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8f4eb4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8f4eb4
Hue
278°
violet
Saturation
41%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
45%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1458
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.36:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 6.1
Chroma
62.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.545
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 11.1
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue278° of 360°
Saturation41%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8f4eb4.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% 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
Red40%
Green37%
Blue23%

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

Every format

HEX#8f4eb4
HEX (8-digit)#8f4eb4ff
RGBrgb(143, 78, 180)
RGBArgba(143, 78, 180, 1)
HSLhsl(278, 41%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(278, 57%, 71%)
HWBhwb(278 31% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 57%, 0%, 29%)
LABlab(45.1 45.1 -43.5)
LCHlch(45.1 62.7 316.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.545 0.163 311.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.29, 14.58, 44.81)
Decimal9391796
Display P3color(display-p3 0.561 0.306 0.706)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8f4eb4;
background-color: #8f4eb4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8f4eb4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8f4eb4] bg-[#8f4eb4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8f4eb4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.561, green: 0.306, blue: 0.706)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.561, green: 0.306, blue: 0.706, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8F4EB4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8F4EB4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8F4EB4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(180, 78, 143)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(143, 78, 180)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(143, 78, 180)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 143, 78, 180)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5608f, 0.3059f, 0.7059f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{143,78,180}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8f4eb4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8f4eb4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#47265A, #E4D4ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8f4eb4 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: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F1EBF5;
  --brand-200: #E1D2EA;
  --brand-300: #CDB0DE;
  --brand-400: #B489CD;
  --brand-500: #9B61BC;
  --brand-600: #8f4eb4;
  --brand-700: #713D8F;
  --brand-800: #5B3173;
  --brand-900: #432654;
  --brand-950: #2A1835;
  --brand: #8f4eb4;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DBC6E7;
  --brand-hover: #7B429C;
  --brand-pressed: #683883;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D4ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F1EBF5',
        200: '#E1D2EA',
        300: '#CDB0DE',
        400: '#B489CD',
        500: '#9B61BC',
        600: '#8f4eb4',
        700: '#713D8F',
        800: '#5B3173',
        900: '#432654',
        950: '#2A1835',
        DEFAULT: '#8f4eb4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F1EBF5,
  '200': #E1D2EA,
  '300': #CDB0DE,
  '400': #B489CD,
  '500': #9B61BC,
  '600': #8f4eb4,
  '700': #713D8F,
  '800': #5B3173,
  '900': #432654,
  '950': #2A1835,
);
$brand-base: #8f4eb4;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EBF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1D2EA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CDB0DE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B489CD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9B61BC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8f4eb4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#713D8F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5B3173", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#432654", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A1835", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #8f4eb4 · 5.36:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.92:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8f4eb4 as text scores 5.36:1 on white and 3.92:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F4EDF7 at 4.67:1.

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
#8f4eb4 · 5.36:1
AA on whitealready passes
#8f4eb4
The quick fox
#763F95 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−9% L
#763F95
The quick fox
#985CBA · 4.57:1
AA on black+4% L
#985CBA
The quick fox
#B184CB · 7.03:1
AAA on black+15% L
#B184CB

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8F4EB4 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
#8f4eb4 on white: 5.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8f4eb4 on black: 3.92:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8f4eb4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8f4eb4.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.36:1AaAa
Slate 505.12:1AaAa
Slate 1004.89:1AaAa
Slate 2004.35:1AaAa
Slate 3003.61:1AaAa
Slate 4002.09:1AaAa
Slate 5001.13:1AaAa
Slate 6001.41:1AaAa
Slate 7001.93:1AaAa
Slate 8002.73:1AaAa
Slate 9003.33:1AaAa
Black3.92:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #2F67B7
deuteranopia · #476CB1
tritanopia · #8B6079

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. #8f4eb4 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.

#F8F5FA
#F1EBF5
#E1D2EA
#CDB0DE
#B489CD
#9B61BC
#8f4eb4
#713D8F
#5B3173
#432654
#2A1835
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2A1835Text 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 0.041 311.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.065 311.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.098 311.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.127 311.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.150 311.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.163 311.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.163 311.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.153 311.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.137 311.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.114 311.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.090 311.6);
}

Colors that work with #8f4eb4

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#DBC6E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7E4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#719339
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#47265A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#7B429C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#683883
Two steps down
Disabled#BDAAC9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9B51C6
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 #8f4eb4

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
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#73B44E
Analogous left#5C4EB4
Analogous right#B44EA6
Split-complement 1#A6B44E
Split-complement 2#4EB45C
Triadic 1#B48F4E
Triadic 2#4EB48F
Tetradic#B45C4E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°278°

#8f4eb4 sits at 278°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red56.1%
Green30.6%
Blue70.6%
R · 0–255
143
0x8f
G · 0–255
78
0x4e
B · 0–255
180
0xb4

CMYK percentages

Cyan20.6%
Magenta56.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)29.4%

Total ink coverage is 107%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8f4eb4 text on a black background

contrast 3.92:1

Card sample

#8f4eb4 text on a white background

contrast 5.36:1

Card sample

#8f4eb4 on grey

4.89:1

#8f4eb4 on its own surface

4.93:1

#8f4eb4 on its dark surface

3.32:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8f4eb4;
Background color
Panel with #8f4eb4 background
background-color: #8f4eb4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8f4eb4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(143, 78, 180, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(143, 78, 180, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8f4eb4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8f4eb4, #B44E95);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f4eb4, #B44E7C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8f4eb4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8f4eb4;
caret-color: #8f4eb4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8f4eb4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8f4eb4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8f4eb4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8f4eb4 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(143, 78, 180, 0.5)
rgb(143 78 180 / 50%)
#8f4eb480
hsl(278 41% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8f4eb4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8f4eb41a#F4EDF8
20%#8f4eb433#E9DCF0
40%#8f4eb466#D2B8E1
60%#8f4eb499#BC95D2
80%#8f4eb4cc#A571C3

Gradients from #8f4eb4

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, #AA79C6, #8f4eb4 45%, #47265A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8f4eb4, #A0447C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f4eb4, #73B44E);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B88FCF 0%, #8f4eb4 45%, #47265A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #7672C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BD64A9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #47265A 0%, transparent 65%), #8f4eb4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8f4eb4

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.

#8f4eb4 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 3.92:1 — lift it to #985CBA 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.

#8f4eb4, answered

What color is #8f4eb4?

#8f4eb4 is a balanced soft violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 278° on the hue wheel with 41% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8f4eb4?

rgb(143, 78, 180) — 143 red, 78 green and 180 blue out of 255, or 56.1% / 30.6% / 70.6% by channel.

What is #8f4eb4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(278, 41%, 51%) and hsv(278, 57%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8f4eb4 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1458 and perceived brightness is 45%, so white text on it reaches 5.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8f4eb4?

White. It scores 5.36:1 against #8f4eb4, versus 3.92:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #8f4eb4 accessible on a white background?

#8f4eb4 on white scores 5.36:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #8f4eb4?

#73B44E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A6B44E and #4EB45C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8f4eb4?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DBC6E7 for borders, #7E4B9B for secondary text, #719339 as an accent and #47265A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5C4EB4 and #B44EA6 stays calm, while #73B44E is the loudest partner.

What is #8f4eb4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(21%, 57%, 0%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8f4eb4 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B44EB4; nudged cooler, #684BB7.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8f4eb4?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 11.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8f4eb4 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8f4eb4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8f4eb4] or text-[#8f4eb4], 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 #8f4eb4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(143, 78, 180, 0.5), or #8f4eb480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C7A7DA; over black, #48275A.

Is #8f4eb4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 7.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8f4eb4 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 #8f4eb4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #AA79C6, #8f4eb4 45%, #47265A). For more colour, a short hue run to #A0447C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8f4eb4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8f4eb4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.