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violet · cool

#a86fc5

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Plum

RGB
168, 111, 197
HSL
280°, 43%, 60%
CMYK
15, 44, 0, 23
Luminance
0.2372

#a86fc5 is a balanced soft violet, 280° on the wheel and 61/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.74:1). As text it scores 3.66:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(280 43% 60%)rgb(168 111 197)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a86fc5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a86fc5
Hue
280°
violet
Saturation
43%
soft
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2372
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
61/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.74:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
52.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.635
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 10.1
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue280° of 360°
Saturation43%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a86fc5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool61% 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
Red35%
Green48%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#a86fc5
HEX (8-digit)#a86fc5ff
RGBrgb(168, 111, 197)
RGBArgba(168, 111, 197, 1)
HSLhsl(280, 43%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(280, 44%, 77%)
HWBhwb(280 44% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 44%, 0%, 23%)
LABlab(55.8 38.0 -36.1)
LCHlch(55.8 52.4 316.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.635 0.138 313.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(31.91, 23.73, 55.71)
Decimal11038661
Display P3color(display-p3 0.659 0.435 0.773)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a86fc5;
background-color: #a86fc5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a86fc5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a86fc5] bg-[#a86fc5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a86fc5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.659, green: 0.435, blue: 0.773)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.659, green: 0.435, blue: 0.773, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A86FC5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA86FC5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA86FC5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(197, 111, 168)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(168, 111, 197)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(168, 111, 197)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 168, 111, 197)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6588f, 0.4353f, 0.7725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{168,111,197}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a86fc5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a86fc5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#49255B, #E5D3ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a86fc5 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: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-100: #F1EBF5;
  --brand-200: #E2D1EA;
  --brand-300: #CFAFDF;
  --brand-400: #B787CF;
  --brand-500: #a86fc5;
  --brand-600: #8B46AF;
  --brand-700: #743B91;
  --brand-800: #5D2F74;
  --brand-900: #452555;
  --brand-950: #2B1735;
  --brand: #a86fc5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DCC5E8;
  --brand-hover: #9956BB;
  --brand-pressed: #8744A9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1424;
    --brand-ink: #E5D3ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5FA',
        100: '#F1EBF5',
        200: '#E2D1EA',
        300: '#CFAFDF',
        400: '#B787CF',
        500: '#a86fc5',
        600: '#8B46AF',
        700: '#743B91',
        800: '#5D2F74',
        900: '#452555',
        950: '#2B1735',
        DEFAULT: '#a86fc5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5FA,
  '100': #F1EBF5,
  '200': #E2D1EA,
  '300': #CFAFDF,
  '400': #B787CF,
  '500': #a86fc5,
  '600': #8B46AF,
  '700': #743B91,
  '800': #5D2F74,
  '900': #452555,
  '950': #2B1735,
);
$brand-base: #a86fc5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EBF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2D1EA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CFAFDF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B787CF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#a86fc5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8B46AF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#743B91", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5D2F74", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#452555", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B1735", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a86fc5 · 5.74:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.66:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.74:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a86fc5 as text scores 3.66:1 on white and 5.74:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #49255B at 3.38:1.

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
#9B59BC · 4.62:1
AA on white−6% L
#9B59BC
The quick fox
#7B3E9A · 7.00:1
AAA on white−18% L
#7B3E9A
The quick fox
#a86fc5 · 5.74:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a86fc5
The quick fox
#B585CE · 7.21:1
AAA on black+6% L
#B585CE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A86FC5 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
#a86fc5 on white: 3.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a86fc5 on black: 5.74:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a86fc5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a86fc5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.66:1AaAa
Slate 503.49:1AaAa
Slate 1003.34:1AaAa
Slate 2002.97:1AaAa
Slate 3002.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.43:1AaAa
Slate 5001.30:1AaAa
Slate 6002.07:1AaAa
Slate 7002.83:1AaAa
Slate 8004.00:1AaAa
Slate 9004.88:1AaAa
Black5.74:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5E83C8
deuteranopia · #6D87C3
tritanopia · #A67B91

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. #a86fc5 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.

#F8F5FA
#F1EBF5
#E2D1EA
#CFAFDF
#B787CF
#a86fc5
#8B46AF
#743B91
#5D2F74
#452555
#2B1735
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F5FADarkest = 950 · #2B1735Text 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 0.035 313.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.055 313.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.083 313.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.108 313.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.127 313.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.138 313.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.138 313.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.130 313.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.116 313.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.097 313.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.076 313.5);
}

Colors that work with #a86fc5

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#DCC5E8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#804B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6E9537
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#49255B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EDF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9956BB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8744A9
Two steps down
Disabled#D5C8DC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B474D4
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 #a86fc5

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 #49255B
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
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#8CC56F
Analogous left#7D6FC5
Analogous right#C56FB7
Split-complement 1#B7C56F
Split-complement 2#6FC57D
Triadic 1#C5A86F
Triadic 2#6FC5A8
Tetradic#C57D6F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°280°

#a86fc5 sits at 280°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red65.9%
Green43.5%
Blue77.3%
R · 0–255
168
0xa8
G · 0–255
111
0x6f
B · 0–255
197
0xc5

CMYK percentages

Cyan14.7%
Magenta43.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)22.7%

Total ink coverage is 81%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a86fc5 text on a black background

contrast 5.74:1

Card sample

#a86fc5 text on a white background

contrast 3.66:1

Card sample

#a86fc5 on grey

3.34:1

#a86fc5 on its own surface

3.36:1

#a86fc5 on its dark surface

4.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a86fc5;
Background color
Panel with #a86fc5 background
background-color: #a86fc5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a86fc5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(168, 111, 197, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(168, 111, 197, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a86fc5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a86fc5, #C56FA9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a86fc5, #C56F93);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a86fc5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a86fc5;
caret-color: #a86fc5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a86fc5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EDF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a86fc5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a86fc5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a86fc5 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, 111, 197, 0.5)
rgb(168 111 197 / 50%)
#a86fc580
hsl(280 43% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a86fc5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a86fc51a#F6F1F9
20%#a86fc533#EEE2F3
40%#a86fc566#DCC5E8
60%#a86fc599#CBA9DC
80%#a86fc5cc#B98CD1

Gradients from #a86fc5

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, #C29BD7, #a86fc5 45%, #49255B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a86fc5, #BC5993);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a86fc5, #8CC56F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D0B0DF 0%, #a86fc5 45%, #49255B 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%, #9993D4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CE85BC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #49255B 0%, transparent 65%), #a86fc5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a86fc5

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.

#a86fc5 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 5.74:1.

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.

#a86fc5, answered

What color is #a86fc5?

#a86fc5 is a balanced soft violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 280° on the hue wheel with 43% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a86fc5?

rgb(168, 111, 197) — 168 red, 111 green and 197 blue out of 255, or 65.9% / 43.5% / 77.3% by channel.

What is #a86fc5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(280, 43%, 60%) and hsv(280, 44%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a86fc5 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2372 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 5.74:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a86fc5?

Black. It scores 5.74:1 against #a86fc5, versus 3.66:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #a86fc5 accessible on a white background?

#a86fc5 on white scores 3.66:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9B59BC to reach 4.5:1, or #7B3E9A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a86fc5?

#8CC56F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B7C56F and #6FC57D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a86fc5?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DCC5E8 for borders, #804B9B for secondary text, #6E9537 as an accent and #49255B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7D6FC5 and #C56FB7 stays calm, while #8CC56F is the loudest partner.

What is #a86fc5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 44%, 0%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a86fc5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 61 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C56FC2; nudged cooler, #886DC7.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a86fc5?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 10.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a86fc5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a86fc5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a86fc5] or text-[#a86fc5], 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 #a86fc5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(168, 111, 197, 0.5), or #a86fc580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D4B7E2; over black, #543863.

Is #a86fc5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a86fc5 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 #a86fc5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C29BD7, #a86fc5 45%, #49255B). For more colour, a short hue run to #BC5993 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a86fc5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a86fc5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.