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violet · cool

#9871af

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Amethyst

RGB
152, 113, 175
HSL
278°, 28%, 57%
CMYK
13, 35, 0, 31
Luminance
0.2158

#9871af is a balanced soft violet, 278° on the wheel and 60/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.32:1). As text it scores 3.95:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(278 28% 57%)rgb(152 113 175)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9871af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9871af
Hue
278°
violet
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
52%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2158
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
60/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.32:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 9.4
Chroma
38.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.611
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 13.9
Web-safe
#996699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue278° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9871af.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool60% 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
Red31%
Green55%
Blue14%

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

Every format

HEX#9871af
HEX (8-digit)#9871afff
RGBrgb(152, 113, 175)
RGBArgba(152, 113, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(278, 28%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(278, 35%, 69%)
HWBhwb(278 44% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 35%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(53.6 27.1 -27.1)
LCHlch(53.6 38.4 315.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.611 0.101 312.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.59, 21.58, 43.31)
Decimal9990575
Display P3color(display-p3 0.596 0.443 0.686)
Web-safe#996699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9871af;
background-color: #9871af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9871af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9871af] bg-[#9871af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9871af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.596, green: 0.443, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.596, green: 0.443, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9871AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9871AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9871AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 113, 152)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(152, 113, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(152, 113, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 152, 113, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5961f, 0.4431f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{152,113,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9871af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9871af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#442E52, #E3D8E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9871af 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: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-100: #F1ECF3;
  --brand-200: #E0D6E6;
  --brand-300: #CBB7D7;
  --brand-400: #B193C2;
  --brand-500: #9871af;
  --brand-600: #83589D;
  --brand-700: #6D4A82;
  --brand-800: #573B68;
  --brand-900: #412D4D;
  --brand-950: #291C30;
  --brand: #9871af;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5F9;
  --brand-border: #D9CBE2;
  --brand-hover: #875BA1;
  --brand-pressed: #744E8B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E3D8E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F9',
        100: '#F1ECF3',
        200: '#E0D6E6',
        300: '#CBB7D7',
        400: '#B193C2',
        500: '#9871af',
        600: '#83589D',
        700: '#6D4A82',
        800: '#573B68',
        900: '#412D4D',
        950: '#291C30',
        DEFAULT: '#9871af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F9,
  '100': #F1ECF3,
  '200': #E0D6E6,
  '300': #CBB7D7,
  '400': #B193C2,
  '500': #9871af,
  '600': #83589D,
  '700': #6D4A82,
  '800': #573B68,
  '900': #412D4D,
  '950': #291C30,
);
$brand-base: #9871af;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1ECF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0D6E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CBB7D7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B193C2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9871af", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#83589D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6D4A82", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#573B68", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#412D4D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#291C30", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9871af · 5.32:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.95:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #9871af as text scores 3.95:1 on white and 5.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #442E52 at 3.02:1.

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
#8F64A8 · 4.61:1
AA on white−4% L
#8F64A8
The quick fox
#6F4A84 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−16% L
#6F4A84
The quick fox
#9871af · 5.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9871af
The quick fox
#AB8BBE · 7.17:1
AAA on black+8% L
#AB8BBE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9871AF 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
#9871af on white: 3.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9871af on black: 5.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9871af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9871af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.95:1AaAa
Slate 503.78:1AaAa
Slate 1003.61:1AaAa
Slate 2003.20:1AaAa
Slate 3002.66:1AaAa
Slate 4001.54:1AaAa
Slate 5001.20:1AaAa
Slate 6001.92:1AaAa
Slate 7002.62:1AaAa
Slate 8003.70:1AaAa
Slate 9004.52:1AaAa
Black5.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #667EB1
deuteranopia · #6F81AD
tritanopia · #967988

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. #9871af 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.

#F8F6F9
#F1ECF3
#E0D6E6
#CBB7D7
#B193C2
#9871af
#83589D
#6D4A82
#573B68
#412D4D
#291C30
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F9Darkest = 950 · #291C30Text 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 0.025 312.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.040 312.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.061 312.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.079 312.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.093 312.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.101 312.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.101 312.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.095 312.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.085 312.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.071 312.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.056 312.4);
}

Colors that work with #9871af

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#F8F5F9
Tinted page background
Border#D9CBE2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7B5393
Captions on the surface
Accent#6E8646
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#442E52
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EFF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#875BA1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#744E8B
Two steps down
Disabled#CBBCD4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A474C0
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 #9871af

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 #442E52
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
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#88AF71
Analogous left#7971AF
Analogous right#AF71A7
Split-complement 1#A7AF71
Split-complement 2#71AF79
Triadic 1#AF9871
Triadic 2#71AF98
Tetradic#AF7971
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°278°

#9871af sits at 278°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.6%
Green44.3%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
152
0x98
G · 0–255
113
0x71
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.1%
Magenta35.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 80%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9871af text on a black background

contrast 5.32:1

Card sample

#9871af text on a white background

contrast 3.95:1

Card sample

#9871af on grey

3.61:1

#9871af on its own surface

3.65:1

#9871af on its dark surface

4.50:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9871af;
Background color
Panel with #9871af background
background-color: #9871af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9871af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(152, 113, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(152, 113, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9871af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9871af, #AF719D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9871af, #AF718D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9871af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9871af;
caret-color: #9871af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9871af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EFF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9871af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9871af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9871af 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(152, 113, 175, 0.5)
rgb(152 113 175 / 50%)
#9871af80
hsl(278 28% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9871af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9871af1a#F5F1F7
20%#9871af33#EAE3EF
40%#9871af66#D6C6DF
60%#9871af99#C1AACF
80%#9871afcc#AD8DBF

Gradients from #9871af

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, #B498C5, #9871af 45%, #442E52);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9871af, #A45E89);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9871af, #88AF71);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C3ACD0 0%, #9871af 45%, #442E52 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F5F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9492C1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BA85AF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #442E52 0%, transparent 65%), #9871af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9871af

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.

#9871af 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 5.32:1.

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.

#9871af, answered

What color is #9871af?

#9871af is a balanced soft violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 9.4). It sits at 278° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9871af?

rgb(152, 113, 175) — 152 red, 113 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 59.6% / 44.3% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #9871af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(278, 28%, 57%) and hsv(278, 35%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9871af a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2158 and perceived brightness is 52%, so black text on it reaches 5.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9871af?

Black. It scores 5.32:1 against #9871af, versus 3.95:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #9871af accessible on a white background?

#9871af on white scores 3.95:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #8F64A8 to reach 4.5:1, or #6F4A84 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9871af?

#88AF71 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A7AF71 and #71AF79, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9871af?

For interface work: #F8F5F9 as the surface, #D9CBE2 for borders, #7B5393 for secondary text, #6E8646 as an accent and #442E52 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7971AF and #AF71A7 stays calm, while #88AF71 is the loudest partner.

What is #9871af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 35%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9871af warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 60 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF71AF; nudged cooler, #806FB1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9871af?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 13.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9871af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9871af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9871af] or text-[#9871af], 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 #9871af with 50% opacity?

rgba(152, 113, 175, 0.5), or #9871af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CCB8D7; over black, #4C3958.

Is #9871af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996699, ΔE2000 5.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9871af 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 #9871af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B498C5, #9871af 45%, #442E52). For more colour, a short hue run to #A45E89 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9871af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9871af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.