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blue · cool

#aea0df

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
174, 160, 223
HSL
253°, 50%, 75%
CMYK
22, 28, 0, 13
Luminance
0.3947

#aea0df is a light vivid blue, 253° on the wheel and 76/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.89:1). As text it scores 2.36:1 on white — use #7A63CA instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(253 50% 75%)rgb(174 160 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #aea0df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#aea0df
Hue
253°
blue
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3947
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
76/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.89:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 11.5
Chroma
35.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.741
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 20.2
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue253° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #aea0df.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool76% 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
Red23%
Green64%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#aea0df
HEX (8-digit)#aea0dfff
RGBrgb(174, 160, 223)
RGBArgba(174, 160, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(253, 50%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(253, 28%, 87%)
HWBhwb(253 63% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 28%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(69.1 18.1 -30.0)
LCHlch(69.1 35.1 301.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.741 0.091 294.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.34, 39.47, 75.13)
Decimal11444447
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.627 0.875)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #aea0df;
background-color: #aea0df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #aea0df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aea0df] bg-[#aea0df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aea0df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.627, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.682, green: 0.627, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AEA0DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAEA0DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAEA0DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 160, 174)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(174, 160, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(174, 160, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 174, 160, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6824f, 0.6275f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{174,160,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #aea0df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #aea0df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E205F, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #aea0df 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: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-100: #ECEAF6;
  --brand-200: #D6CFEC;
  --brand-300: #aea0df;
  --brand-400: #9481D5;
  --brand-500: #7057C6;
  --brand-600: #593EB7;
  --brand-700: #4A3399;
  --brand-800: #3B297A;
  --brand-900: #2E2159;
  --brand-950: #1D1538;
  --brand: #aea0df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CBC2EA;
  --brand-hover: #9785D6;
  --brand-pressed: #806BCD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F4FA',
        100: '#ECEAF6',
        200: '#D6CFEC',
        300: '#aea0df',
        400: '#9481D5',
        500: '#7057C6',
        600: '#593EB7',
        700: '#4A3399',
        800: '#3B297A',
        900: '#2E2159',
        950: '#1D1538',
        DEFAULT: '#aea0df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F4FA,
  '100': #ECEAF6,
  '200': #D6CFEC,
  '300': #aea0df,
  '400': #9481D5,
  '500': #7057C6,
  '600': #593EB7,
  '700': #4A3399,
  '800': #3B297A,
  '900': #2E2159,
  '950': #1D1538,
);
$brand-base: #aea0df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F4FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEAF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6CFEC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#aea0df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9481D5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7057C6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#593EB7", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4A3399", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3B297A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2E2159", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D1538", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #aea0df · 8.89:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.89:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aea0df as text scores 2.36:1 on white and 8.89:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2E205F at 5.98:1.

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
#7A63CA · 4.70:1
AA on white−16% L
#7A63CA
The quick fox
#5D41BF · 7.06:1
AAA on white−25% L
#5D41BF
The quick fox
#aea0df · 8.89:1
AA on blackalready passes
#aea0df
The quick fox
#aea0df · 8.89:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#aea0df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9A89D7 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
#aea0df on white: 2.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aea0df on black: 8.89:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #aea0df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #aea0df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.36:1AaAa
Slate 502.26:1AaAa
Slate 1002.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.92:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.09:1AaAa
Slate 5002.02:1AaAa
Slate 6003.21:1AaAa
Slate 7004.39:1AaAa
Slate 8006.20:1AaAa
Slate 9007.56:1AaAa
Black8.89:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #91A9E2
deuteranopia · #93A8DD
tritanopia · #A4AAB6

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. #aea0df is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F4FA
#ECEAF6
#D6CFEC
#aea0df
#9481D5
#7057C6
#593EB7
#4A3399
#3B297A
#2E2159
#1D1538
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F4FADarkest = 950 · #1D1538Text 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 0.023 294.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.036 294.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.054 294.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.071 294.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.084 294.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.091 294.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.091 294.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.085 294.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.076 294.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.064 294.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.050 294.3);
}

Colors that work with #aea0df

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBC2EA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5C4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9D9A2F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E205F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFECF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9785D6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#806BCD
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B8AAE9
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 #aea0df

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #2E205F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9A89D7

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight25/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

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#D1DFA0
Analogous left#A0B2DF
Analogous right#CDA0DF
Split-complement 1#DFCDA0
Split-complement 2#B2DFA0
Triadic 1#DFAEA0
Triadic 2#A0DFAE
Tetradic#DFA0B2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°253°

#aea0df sits at 253°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green62.7%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
174
0xae
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.0%
Magenta28.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 63%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#aea0df text on a black background

contrast 8.89:1

Card sample

#aea0df text on a white background

contrast 2.36:1

Card sample

#aea0df on grey

2.16:1

#aea0df on its own surface

2.16:1

#aea0df on its dark surface

7.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #aea0df;
Background color
Panel with #aea0df background
background-color: #aea0df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #aea0df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 160, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 160, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aea0df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aea0df, #D8A0DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aea0df, #DFA0D6);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #aea0df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #aea0df;
caret-color: #aea0df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #aea0df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFECF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #aea0df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#aea0df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #aea0df 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(174, 160, 223, 0.5)
rgb(174 160 223 / 50%)
#aea0df80
hsl(253 50% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #aea0df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#aea0df1a#F7F6FC
20%#aea0df33#EFECF9
40%#aea0df66#DFD9F2
60%#aea0df99#CEC6EC
80%#aea0dfcc#BEB3E5

Gradients from #aea0df

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, #D5CEEE, #aea0df 45%, #2E205F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #aea0df, #D589D7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aea0df, #D1DFA0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E9E5F6 0%, #aea0df 45%, #2E205F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C6D4EC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DDB7E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E205F 0%, transparent 65%), #aea0df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aea0df

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.

#aea0df in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 8.89:1.

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.

#aea0df, answered

What color is #aea0df?

#aea0df is a light vivid blue, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 11.5). It sits at 253° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aea0df?

rgb(174, 160, 223) — 174 red, 160 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 62.7% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #aea0df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(253, 50%, 75%) and hsv(253, 28%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #aea0df a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3947 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 8.89:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aea0df?

Black. It scores 8.89:1 against #aea0df, versus 2.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #aea0df accessible on a white background?

#aea0df on white scores 2.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7A63CA to reach 4.5:1, or #5D41BF for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #aea0df?

#D1DFA0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFCDA0 and #B2DFA0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #aea0df?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CBC2EA for borders, #5C4B9B for secondary text, #9D9A2F as an accent and #2E205F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A0B2DF and #CDA0DF stays calm, while #D1DFA0 is the loudest partner.

What is #aea0df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 28%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #aea0df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 76 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C5A0DF; nudged cooler, #9FA8E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #aea0df?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 20.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #aea0df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #aea0df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#aea0df] or text-[#aea0df], 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 #aea0df with 50% opacity?

rgba(174, 160, 223, 0.5), or #aea0df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7D0EF; over black, #575070.

Is #aea0df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #aea0df mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #aea0df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5CEEE, #aea0df 45%, #2E205F). For more colour, a short hue run to #D589D7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #aea0df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #aea0df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.