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#a009df

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

RGB
160, 9, 223
HSL
282°, 92%, 46%
CMYK
28, 96, 0, 13
Luminance
0.1300

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a009df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a009df
Hue
282°
violet
Saturation
92%
electric
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
45%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1300
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
60/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.83:1
Closest name
Dark Violet
ΔE2000 2.9
Where it sits
Hue282° of 360°
Saturation92%
Lightness46%
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.

Every format

HEX#a009df
RGBrgb(160, 9, 223)
HSLhsl(282, 92%, 46%)
CMYKcmyk(28%, 96%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(42.8 79.1 -72.0)
LCHlch(42.8 106.9 317.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.543 0.270 310.7)
Decimal10488287
Display P3color(display-p3 0.627 0.035 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #a009df;
background-color: #a009df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a009df] bg-[#a009df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a009df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.627, green: 0.035, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#a009df")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA009DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 9, 160)

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 #a009df · 5.83:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 5.83:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.60:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a009df as text scores 5.83:1 on white and 3.60:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#a009df on white: 5.83:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a009df on black: 3.60:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #005FE4
deuteranopia · #0067DB
tritanopia · #975283

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #a009df 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.

#FAF2FD
#F4E4FB
#E9C3F9
#DC93FB
#CB5DF8
#B927F6
#a009df
#8D08C4
#70069D
#520971
#340647
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF2FDDarkest = 950 · #340647
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAF2FD;
  --brand-100: #F4E4FB;
  --brand-200: #E9C3F9;
  --brand-300: #DC93FB;
  --brand-400: #CB5DF8;
  --brand-500: #B927F6;
  --brand-600: #a009df;
  --brand-700: #8D08C4;
  --brand-800: #70069D;
  --brand-900: #520971;
  --brand-950: #340647;
  --brand: #a009df;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #a009df

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#F9F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#DFC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#834B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6FC903
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#58057B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
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 #a009df

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#48DF09
Analogous left#3509DF
Analogous right#DF09B3
Split-complement 1#B3DF09
Split-complement 2#09DF35
Triadic 1#DFA009
Triadic 2#09DFA0
Tetradic#DF3509

RGB percentages

Red62.7%
Green3.5%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan28.3%
Magenta96.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Color previews

#a009df text on a black background

contrast 3.60:1

Card sample

#a009df text on a white background

contrast 5.83:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a009df;
Background color
Panel with #a009df background
background-color: #a009df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a009df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(160, 9, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(160, 9, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a009df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a009df, #DF098F);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a009df

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.

#a009df 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.

#a009df, answered

What color is #a009df?

#a009df is a balanced electric violet, closest to Dark Violet (ΔE2000 2.9). It sits at 282° on the hue wheel with 92% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a009df?

rgb(160, 9, 223) — 160 red, 9 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 62.7% / 3.5% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #a009df a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1300 and perceived brightness is 45%, so white text on it reaches 5.83:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a009df?

White. It scores 5.83:1 against #a009df, versus 3.60:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #a009df?

#48DF09 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B3DF09 and #09DF35, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a009df?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #DFC0ED for borders, #834B9B for secondary text, #6FC903 as an accent and #58057B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3509DF and #DF09B3 stays calm, while #48DF09 is the loudest partner.

What is #a009df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(28%, 96%, 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 #a009df 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 #DF09D0; nudged cooler, #5107E1.

Work with #a009df in the Color Lab