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violet · cool

#a864da

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Iris

RGB
168, 100, 218
HSL
275°, 62%, 62%
CMYK
23, 54, 0, 15
Luminance
0.2250

#a864da is a balanced vivid violet, 275° on the wheel and 64/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.50:1). As text it scores 3.82:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(275 62% 62%)rgb(168 100 218)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a864da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a864da
Hue
275°
violet
Saturation
62%
vivid
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2250
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
64/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.50:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
69.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.629
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 5.2
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue275° of 360°
Saturation62%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a864da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool64% 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
Red37%
Green41%
Blue22%

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

Every format

HEX#a864da
HEX (8-digit)#a864daff
RGBrgb(168, 100, 218)
RGBArgba(168, 100, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(275, 62%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(275, 54%, 85%)
HWBhwb(275 39% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 54%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(54.6 48.6 -50.1)
LCHlch(54.6 69.8 314.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.629 0.180 308.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.36, 22.50, 68.90)
Decimal11035866
Display P3color(display-p3 0.659 0.392 0.855)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a864da;
background-color: #a864da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a864da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a864da] bg-[#a864da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a864da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.659, green: 0.392, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.659, green: 0.392, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A864DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA864DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA864DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 100, 168)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(168, 100, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(168, 100, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 168, 100, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6588f, 0.3922f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{168,100,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a864da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a864da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#461967, #E3D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a864da 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: #F8F4FB;
  --brand-100: #F1E8F7;
  --brand-200: #E1CCF0;
  --brand-300: #CCA4E9;
  --brand-400: #a864da;
  --brand-500: #994AD4;
  --brand-600: #862FC6;
  --brand-700: #7027A5;
  --brand-800: #591F84;
  --brand-900: #431B60;
  --brand-950: #2A113C;
  --brand: #a864da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DAC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #9847D3;
  --brand-pressed: #8730C7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E3D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F4FB',
        100: '#F1E8F7',
        200: '#E1CCF0',
        300: '#CCA4E9',
        400: '#a864da',
        500: '#994AD4',
        600: '#862FC6',
        700: '#7027A5',
        800: '#591F84',
        900: '#431B60',
        950: '#2A113C',
        DEFAULT: '#a864da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F4FB,
  '100': #F1E8F7,
  '200': #E1CCF0,
  '300': #CCA4E9,
  '400': #a864da,
  '500': #994AD4,
  '600': #862FC6,
  '700': #7027A5,
  '800': #591F84,
  '900': #431B60,
  '950': #2A113C,
);
$brand-base: #a864da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1E8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1CCF0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CCA4E9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#a864da", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#994AD4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#862FC6", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7027A5", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#591F84", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#431B60", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A113C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a864da · 5.50:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.82:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.50:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a864da as text scores 3.82:1 on white and 5.50:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #461967 at 3.45:1.

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
#9D50D5 · 4.62:1
AA on white−5% L
#9D50D5
The quick fox
#7F2DBB · 7.01:1
AAA on white−17% L
#7F2DBB
The quick fox
#a864da · 5.50:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a864da
The quick fox
#B67DE0 · 7.00:1
AAA on black+6% L
#B67DE0

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A864DA 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
#a864da on white: 3.82:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a864da on black: 5.50:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a864da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a864da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.82:1AaAa
Slate 503.65:1AaAa
Slate 1003.49:1AaAa
Slate 2003.10:1AaAa
Slate 3002.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.49:1AaAa
Slate 5001.25:1AaAa
Slate 6001.98:1AaAa
Slate 7002.71:1AaAa
Slate 8003.83:1AaAa
Slate 9004.68:1AaAa
Black5.50:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3F80DE
deuteranopia · #5683D7
tritanopia · #A17996

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. #a864da 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.

#F8F4FB
#F1E8F7
#E1CCF0
#CCA4E9
#a864da
#994AD4
#862FC6
#7027A5
#591F84
#431B60
#2A113C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F4FBDarkest = 950 · #2A113CText 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 0.045 308.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.072 308.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.108 308.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.140 308.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.166 308.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.180 308.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.180 308.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.169 308.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.151 308.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.126 308.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.099 308.7);
}

Colors that work with #a864da

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#DAC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#794B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7DA923
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#461967
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EAFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9847D3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8730C7
Two steps down
Disabled#D9CEE0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B36CE7
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 #a864da

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
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #461967
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
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#96DA64
Analogous left#6D64DA
Analogous right#DA64D1
Split-complement 1#D1DA64
Split-complement 2#64DA6D
Triadic 1#DAA864
Triadic 2#64DAA8
Tetradic#DA6D64
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°275°

#a864da sits at 275°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red65.9%
Green39.2%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
168
0xa8
G · 0–255
100
0x64
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.9%
Magenta54.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 92%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a864da text on a black background

contrast 5.50:1

Card sample

#a864da text on a white background

contrast 3.82:1

Card sample

#a864da on grey

3.49:1

#a864da on its own surface

3.51:1

#a864da on its dark surface

4.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a864da;
Background color
Panel with #a864da background
background-color: #a864da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a864da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(168, 100, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(168, 100, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a864da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a864da, #DA64BD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a864da, #DA64A0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a864da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a864da;
caret-color: #a864da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a864da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EAFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a864da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a864da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a864da 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(168, 100, 218, 0.5)
rgb(168 100 218 / 50%)
#a864da80
hsl(275 62% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a864da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a864da1a#F6F0FB
20%#a864da33#EEE0F8
40%#a864da66#DCC1F0
60%#a864da99#CBA2E9
80%#a864dacc#B983E1

Gradients from #a864da

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, #C496E6, #a864da 45%, #461967);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a864da, #D44BA8);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a864da, #96DA64);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D2AEEC 0%, #a864da 45%, #461967 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8D8EE4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E07DD0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #461967 0%, transparent 65%), #a864da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a864da

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.

#a864da 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 5.50:1.

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.

#a864da, answered

What color is #a864da?

#a864da is a balanced vivid violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 275° on the hue wheel with 62% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a864da?

rgb(168, 100, 218) — 168 red, 100 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 65.9% / 39.2% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #a864da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(275, 62%, 62%) and hsv(275, 54%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a864da a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2250 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 5.50:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a864da?

Black. It scores 5.50:1 against #a864da, versus 3.82:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #a864da accessible on a white background?

#a864da on white scores 3.82:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9D50D5 to reach 4.5:1, or #7F2DBB for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a864da?

#96DA64 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D1DA64 and #64DA6D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a864da?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DAC0ED for borders, #794B9B for secondary text, #7DA923 as an accent and #461967 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6D64DA and #DA64D1 stays calm, while #96DA64 is the loudest partner.

What is #a864da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 54%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a864da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 64 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D364DA; nudged cooler, #7C62DC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a864da?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 5.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a864da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a864da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a864da] or text-[#a864da], 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 #a864da with 50% opacity?

rgba(168, 100, 218, 0.5), or #a864da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D4B2ED; over black, #54326D.

Is #a864da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 3.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a864da 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 #a864da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C496E6, #a864da 45%, #461967). For more colour, a short hue run to #D44BA8 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a864da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a864da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.