Skip to content
violet · cool

#977cc8

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

Token name suggestion: True Iris

RGB
151, 124, 200
HSL
261°, 41%, 64%
CMYK
25, 38, 0, 22
Luminance
0.2516

#977cc8 is a balanced soft violet, 261° on the wheel and 72/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.03:1). As text it scores 3.48:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(261 41% 64%)rgb(151 124 200)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #977cc8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#977cc8
Hue
261°
violet
Saturation
41%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
78%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2516
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
72/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.03:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
44.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.642
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 12.2
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue261° of 360°
Saturation41%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #977cc8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool72% 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%
Green57%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#977cc8
HEX (8-digit)#977cc8ff
RGBrgb(151, 124, 200)
RGBArgba(151, 124, 200, 1)
HSLhsl(261, 41%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(261, 38%, 78%)
HWBhwb(261 49% 22%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 38%, 0%, 22%)
LABlab(57.2 26.2 -35.8)
LCHlch(57.2 44.4 306.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.642 0.114 299.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.39, 25.16, 57.89)
Decimal9927880
Display P3color(display-p3 0.592 0.486 0.784)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #977cc8;
background-color: #977cc8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #977cc8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#977cc8] bg-[#977cc8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #977cc8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.592, green: 0.486, blue: 0.784)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.592, green: 0.486, blue: 0.784, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#977CC8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF977CC8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF977CC8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(200, 124, 151)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(151, 124, 200)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(151, 124, 200)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 151, 124, 200)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5922f, 0.4863f, 0.7843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{151,124,200}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #977cc8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #977cc8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#38265A, #DDD4ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #977cc8 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: #F7F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EEEBF5;
  --brand-200: #DAD2EA;
  --brand-300: #C0B0DE;
  --brand-400: #977cc8;
  --brand-500: #8161BD;
  --brand-600: #6C48AC;
  --brand-700: #5A3C90;
  --brand-800: #483073;
  --brand-900: #372654;
  --brand-950: #221835;
  --brand: #977cc8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D1C6E7;
  --brand-hover: #8363BD;
  --brand-pressed: #6F4BB2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1A1424;
    --brand-ink: #DDD4ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F5FA',
        100: '#EEEBF5',
        200: '#DAD2EA',
        300: '#C0B0DE',
        400: '#977cc8',
        500: '#8161BD',
        600: '#6C48AC',
        700: '#5A3C90',
        800: '#483073',
        900: '#372654',
        950: '#221835',
        DEFAULT: '#977cc8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F5FA,
  '100': #EEEBF5,
  '200': #DAD2EA,
  '300': #C0B0DE,
  '400': #977cc8,
  '500': #8161BD,
  '600': #6C48AC,
  '700': #5A3C90,
  '800': #483073,
  '900': #372654,
  '950': #221835,
);
$brand-base: #977cc8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEBF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DAD2EA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C0B0DE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#977cc8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8161BD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6C48AC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5A3C90", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#483073", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#372654", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#221835", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #977cc8 · 6.03:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.48:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.03:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #977cc8 as text scores 3.48:1 on white and 6.03:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #38265A at 3.79:1.

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
#8666BF · 4.50:1
AA on white−6% L
#8666BF
The quick fox
#6645A3 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−18% L
#6645A3
The quick fox
#977cc8 · 6.03:1
AA on blackalready passes
#977cc8
The quick fox
#A28ACE · 7.06:1
AAA on black+4% L
#A28ACE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #977CC8 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
#977cc8 on white: 3.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#977cc8 on black: 6.03:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #977cc8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #977cc8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.48:1AaAa
Slate 503.33:1AaAa
Slate 1003.18:1AaAa
Slate 2002.82:1AaAa
Slate 3002.34:1AaAa
Slate 4001.36:1AaAa
Slate 5001.37:1AaAa
Slate 6002.18:1AaAa
Slate 7002.97:1AaAa
Slate 8004.20:1AaAa
Slate 9005.13:1AaAa
Black6.03:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6989CB
deuteranopia · #6E89C6
tritanopia · #8E8999

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. #977cc8 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.

#F7F5FA
#EEEBF5
#DAD2EA
#C0B0DE
#977cc8
#8161BD
#6C48AC
#5A3C90
#483073
#372654
#221835
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F5FADarkest = 950 · #221835Text step on white = 500
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 0.029 299.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 299.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 299.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 299.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.105 299.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.114 299.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.114 299.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.107 299.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.096 299.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.080 299.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.063 299.5);
}

Colors that work with #977cc8

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#D1C6E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#674B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8A9438
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#38265A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1EDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8363BD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6F4BB2
Two steps down
Disabled#D8D2E2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A082D6
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 #977cc8

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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 #38265A
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
  • Weight37/100
  • 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#ADC87C
Analogous left#7C87C8
Analogous right#BD7CC8
Split-complement 1#C8BD7C
Split-complement 2#87C87C
Triadic 1#C8977C
Triadic 2#7CC897
Tetradic#C87C87
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°261°

#977cc8 sits at 261°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.2%
Green48.6%
Blue78.4%
R · 0–255
151
0x97
G · 0–255
124
0x7c
B · 0–255
200
0xc8

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.5%
Magenta38.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)21.6%

Total ink coverage is 84%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#977cc8 text on a black background

contrast 6.03:1

Card sample

#977cc8 text on a white background

contrast 3.48:1

Card sample

#977cc8 on grey

3.18:1

#977cc8 on its own surface

3.19:1

#977cc8 on its dark surface

5.16:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #977cc8;
Background color
Panel with #977cc8 background
background-color: #977cc8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #977cc8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(151, 124, 200, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(151, 124, 200, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #977cc8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #977cc8, #C87CC6);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #977cc8, #C87CB3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #977cc8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #977cc8;
caret-color: #977cc8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #977cc8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1EDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #977cc8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#977cc8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #977cc8 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(151, 124, 200, 0.5)
rgb(151 124 200 / 50%)
#977cc880
hsl(261 41% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #977cc8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#977cc81a#F5F2FA
20%#977cc833#EAE5F4
40%#977cc866#D5CBE9
60%#977cc899#C1B0DE
80%#977cc8cc#AC96D3

Gradients from #977cc8

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, #B9A7DA, #977cc8 45%, #38265A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #977cc8, #BF66B6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #977cc8, #ADC87C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CABDE3 0%, #977cc8 45%, #38265A 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%, #A0ACD7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CD91D1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #38265A 0%, transparent 65%), #977cc8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #977cc8

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.

#977cc8 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 6.03:1.

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.

#977cc8, answered

What color is #977cc8?

#977cc8 is a balanced soft violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 261° on the hue wheel with 41% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #977cc8?

rgb(151, 124, 200) — 151 red, 124 green and 200 blue out of 255, or 59.2% / 48.6% / 78.4% by channel.

What is #977cc8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(261, 41%, 64%) and hsv(261, 38%, 78%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #977cc8 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2516 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 6.03:1.

Should I use black or white text on #977cc8?

Black. It scores 6.03:1 against #977cc8, versus 3.48:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #977cc8 accessible on a white background?

#977cc8 on white scores 3.48:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #8666BF to reach 4.5:1, or #6645A3 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #977cc8?

#ADC87C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C8BD7C and #87C87C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #977cc8?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #D1C6E7 for borders, #674B9B for secondary text, #8A9438 as an accent and #38265A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7C87C8 and #BD7CC8 stays calm, while #ADC87C is the loudest partner.

What is #977cc8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 38%, 0%, 22%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #977cc8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 72 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B37CC8; nudged cooler, #7A7BCA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #977cc8?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 12.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #977cc8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #977cc8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#977cc8] or text-[#977cc8], 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 #977cc8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(151, 124, 200, 0.5), or #977cc880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CBBEE4; over black, #4C3E64.

Is #977cc8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #977cc8 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 #977cc8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B9A7DA, #977cc8 45%, #38265A). For more colour, a short hue run to #BF66B6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #977cc8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #977cc8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.