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violet · cool

#a339cd

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Amethyst

RGB
163, 57, 205
HSL
283°, 60%, 51%
CMYK
21, 72, 0, 20
Luminance
0.1512

#a339cd is a balanced vivid violet, 283° on the wheel and 59/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.22:1). As text it scores 5.22:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(283 60% 51%)rgb(163 57 205)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a339cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a339cd
Hue
283°
violet
Saturation
60%
vivid
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
47%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1512
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
59/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
5.22:1
Closest name
Dark Orchid
ΔE2000 2.6
Chroma
86.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.561
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 9
Web-safe
#9933CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue283° of 360°
Saturation60%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a339cd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool59% 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
Red51%
Green19%
Blue29%

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

Every format

HEX#a339cd
HEX (8-digit)#a339cdff
RGBrgb(163, 57, 205)
RGBArgba(163, 57, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(283, 60%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(283, 72%, 80%)
HWBhwb(283 22% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 72%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(45.8 64.7 -56.7)
LCHlch(45.8 86.0 318.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.561 0.224 314.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.58, 15.12, 59.21)
Decimal10697165
Display P3color(display-p3 0.639 0.224 0.804)
Web-safe#9933CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a339cd;
background-color: #a339cd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a339cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a339cd] bg-[#a339cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a339cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.639, green: 0.224, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.639, green: 0.224, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A339CD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA339CD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA339CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 57, 163)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(163, 57, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(163, 57, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 163, 57, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6392f, 0.2235f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{163,57,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a339cd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a339cd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#501A66, #E6D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a339cd 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: #F9F4FB;
  --brand-100: #F3E9F7;
  --brand-200: #E5CCEF;
  --brand-300: #D5A5E8;
  --brand-400: #C179DD;
  --brand-500: #AC4CD2;
  --brand-600: #a339cd;
  --brand-700: #8029A3;
  --brand-800: #672182;
  --brand-900: #4C1C5F;
  --brand-950: #2F113B;
  --brand: #a339cd;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E0C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #8F2EB5;
  --brand-pressed: #782698;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E6D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F4FB',
        100: '#F3E9F7',
        200: '#E5CCEF',
        300: '#D5A5E8',
        400: '#C179DD',
        500: '#AC4CD2',
        600: '#a339cd',
        700: '#8029A3',
        800: '#672182',
        900: '#4C1C5F',
        950: '#2F113B',
        DEFAULT: '#a339cd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F4FB,
  '100': #F3E9F7,
  '200': #E5CCEF,
  '300': #D5A5E8,
  '400': #C179DD,
  '500': #AC4CD2,
  '600': #a339cd,
  '700': #8029A3,
  '800': #672182,
  '900': #4C1C5F,
  '950': #2F113B,
);
$brand-base: #a339cd;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3E9F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5CCEF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5A5E8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C179DD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AC4CD2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#a339cd", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8029A3", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#672182", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C1C5F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F113B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a339cd · 5.22:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.02:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a339cd as text scores 5.22:1 on white and 4.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F6EBFA at 4.52:1.

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
#a339cd · 5.22:1
AA on whitealready passes
#a339cd
The quick fox
#852BA9 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−10% L
#852BA9
The quick fox
#AB49D1 · 4.61:1
AA on black+4% L
#AB49D1
The quick fox
#C17ADD · 7.10:1
AAA on black+16% L
#C17ADD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A339CD 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
#a339cd on white: 5.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a339cd on black: 4.02:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a339cd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a339cd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.22:1AaAa
Slate 504.99:1AaAa
Slate 1004.76:1AaAa
Slate 2004.23:1AaAa
Slate 3003.51:1AaAa
Slate 4002.04:1AaAa
Slate 5001.10:1AaAa
Slate 6001.45:1AaAa
Slate 7001.98:1AaAa
Slate 8002.80:1AaAa
Slate 9003.42:1AaAa
Black4.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0067D1
deuteranopia · #316FCA
tritanopia · #9F5980

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. #a339cd 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.

#F9F4FB
#F3E9F7
#E5CCEF
#D5A5E8
#C179DD
#AC4CD2
#a339cd
#8029A3
#672182
#4C1C5F
#2F113B
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F9F4FBDarkest = 950 · #2F113BText 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 0.056 314.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.090 314.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.134 314.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.175 314.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.206 314.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.224 314.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.224 314.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.210 314.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.188 314.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.157 314.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.123 314.4);
}

Colors that work with #a339cd

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#E0C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#844B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6AA725
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#501A66
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EBFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8F2EB5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#782698
Two steps down
Disabled#C2ACCA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B03EDD
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 #a339cd

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
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • 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#63CD39
Analogous left#5939CD
Analogous right#CD39AD
Split-complement 1#ADCD39
Split-complement 2#39CD59
Triadic 1#CDA339
Triadic 2#39CDA3
Tetradic#CD5939
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°283°

#a339cd sits at 283°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red63.9%
Green22.4%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
163
0xa3
G · 0–255
57
0x39
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan20.5%
Magenta72.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 112%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a339cd text on a black background

contrast 4.02:1

Card sample

#a339cd text on a white background

contrast 5.22:1

Card sample

#a339cd on grey

4.76:1

#a339cd on its own surface

4.81:1

#a339cd on its dark surface

3.39:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a339cd;
Background color
Panel with #a339cd background
background-color: #a339cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a339cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(163, 57, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(163, 57, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a339cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a339cd, #CD3994);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a339cd, #CD396F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a339cd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a339cd;
caret-color: #a339cd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a339cd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EBFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a339cd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a339cd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a339cd 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(163, 57, 205, 0.5)
rgb(163 57 205 / 50%)
#a339cd80
hsl(283 60% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a339cd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a339cd1a#F6EBFA
20%#a339cd33#EDD7F5
40%#a339cd66#DAB0EB
60%#a339cd99#C888E1
80%#a339cdcc#B561D7

Gradients from #a339cd

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, #BA6AD9, #a339cd 45%, #501A66);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a339cd, #B92F78);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a339cd, #63CD39);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C582E0 0%, #a339cd 45%, #501A66 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #7162D7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D352AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #501A66 0%, transparent 65%), #a339cd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a339cd

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.

#a339cd 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 4.02:1 — lift it to #AB49D1 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.

#a339cd, answered

What color is #a339cd?

#a339cd is a balanced vivid violet, closest to Dark Orchid (ΔE2000 2.6). It sits at 283° on the hue wheel with 60% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a339cd?

rgb(163, 57, 205) — 163 red, 57 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 63.9% / 22.4% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #a339cd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(283, 60%, 51%) and hsv(283, 72%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a339cd a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1512 and perceived brightness is 47%, so white text on it reaches 5.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a339cd?

White. It scores 5.22:1 against #a339cd, versus 4.02:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #a339cd accessible on a white background?

#a339cd on white scores 5.22:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #a339cd?

#63CD39 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ADCD39 and #39CD59, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a339cd?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E0C0ED for borders, #844B9B for secondary text, #6AA725 as an accent and #501A66 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5939CD and #CD39AD stays calm, while #63CD39 is the loudest partner.

What is #a339cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(21%, 72%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a339cd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 59 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CD39C1; nudged cooler, #6C37D0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a339cd?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a339cd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a339cd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a339cd] or text-[#a339cd], 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 #a339cd with 50% opacity?

rgba(163, 57, 205, 0.5), or #a339cd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D19CE6; over black, #521D67.

Is #a339cd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9933CC, ΔE2000 2.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a339cd 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #a339cd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BA6AD9, #a339cd 45%, #501A66). For more colour, a short hue run to #B92F78 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a339cd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a339cd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.