Skip to content

#8f8bc9

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

RGB
143, 139, 201
HSL
244°, 37%, 67%
CMYK
29, 31, 0, 21
Luminance
0.2852

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8f8bc9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8f8bc9
Hue
244°
blue
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2852
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
81/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.70:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 9.9
Where it sits
Hue244° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness67%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool81% 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#8f8bc9
RGBrgb(143, 139, 201)
HSLhsl(244, 37%, 67%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 31%, 0%, 21%)
LABlab(60.4 15.4 -31.5)
LCHlch(60.4 35.1 296.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.664 0.091 286.6)
Decimal9407433
Display P3color(display-p3 0.561 0.545 0.788)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #8f8bc9;
background-color: #8f8bc9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8f8bc9] bg-[#8f8bc9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8f8bc9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.561, green: 0.545, blue: 0.788)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#8f8bc9")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8F8BC9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(201, 139, 143)

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 #8f8bc9 · 6.70:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 3.13:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.70:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8f8bc9 as text scores 3.13:1 on white and 6.70:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#8f8bc9 on white: 3.13:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8f8bc9 on black: 6.70:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #7A93CC
deuteranopia · #7990C7
tritanopia · #8196A1

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #8f8bc9 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.

#F5F5FA
#ECEBF4
#D5D3E8
#B5B2DB
#8f8bc9
#6B66B8
#544EA7
#46418B
#38346F
#2B2952
#1B1933
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F5FADarkest = 950 · #1B1933
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F5FA;
  --brand-100: #ECEBF4;
  --brand-200: #D5D3E8;
  --brand-300: #B5B2DB;
  --brand-400: #8f8bc9;
  --brand-500: #6B66B8;
  --brand-600: #544EA7;
  --brand-700: #46418B;
  --brand-800: #38346F;
  --brand-900: #2B2952;
  --brand-950: #1B1933;
  --brand: #8f8bc9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #8f8bc9

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#F5F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9C7E5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#504B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8F803D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C2857
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEEEF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151424
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 #8f8bc9

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
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • White text placed on it
  • 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#C5C98B
Analogous left#8BA6C9
Analogous right#AE8BC9
Split-complement 1#C9AE8B
Split-complement 2#A6C98B
Triadic 1#C98F8B
Triadic 2#8BC98F
Tetradic#C98BA6

RGB percentages

Red56.1%
Green54.5%
Blue78.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan28.9%
Magenta30.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)21.2%

Color previews

#8f8bc9 text on a black background

contrast 6.70:1

Card sample

#8f8bc9 text on a white background

contrast 3.13:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8f8bc9;
Background color
Panel with #8f8bc9 background
background-color: #8f8bc9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8f8bc9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(143, 139, 201, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(143, 139, 201, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8f8bc9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8f8bc9, #B88BC9);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8f8bc9

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.

#8f8bc9 in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#8f8bc9, answered

What color is #8f8bc9?

#8f8bc9 is a light soft blue, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 9.9). It sits at 244° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8f8bc9?

rgb(143, 139, 201) — 143 red, 139 green and 201 blue out of 255, or 56.1% / 54.5% / 78.8% by channel.

Is #8f8bc9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2852 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 6.70:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8f8bc9?

Black. It scores 6.70:1 against #8f8bc9, versus 3.13:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #8f8bc9?

#C5C98B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C9AE8B and #A6C98B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8f8bc9?

For interface work: #F5F5FA as the surface, #C9C7E5 for borders, #504B9B for secondary text, #8F803D as an accent and #2C2857 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8BA6C9 and #AE8BC9 stays calm, while #C5C98B is the loudest partner.

What is #8f8bc9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 31%, 0%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8f8bc9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 81 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A68BC9; nudged cooler, #899DCB.

Work with #8f8bc9 in the Color Lab