#af538f
a balanced, soft magenta / pink · warm · closest name: Medium Violet Red
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #af538f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.
Every format
| HEX | #af538f |
| RGB | rgb(175, 83, 143) |
| HSL | hsl(321, 37%, 51%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(0%, 53%, 18%, 31%) |
| LAB | lab(48.6 44.9 -15.7) |
| LCH | lch(48.6 47.6 340.7) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.575 0.140 342.6) |
| Decimal | 11490191 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.686 0.325 0.561) |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #af538f;
background-color: #af538f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#af538f] bg-[#af538f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #af538f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.325, blue: 0.561)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#af538f")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAF538F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(143, 83, 175)Best text color
Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.
Accessibility — WCAG contrast
Color scale — 50 to 950
A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #af538f 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.
:root {
--brand-50: #FAF5F8;
--brand-100: #F4EBF1;
--brand-200: #E8D3E1;
--brand-300: #DBB2CD;
--brand-400: #CA8CB4;
--brand-500: #B8669B;
--brand-600: #af538f;
--brand-700: #8B4171;
--brand-800: #6F345B;
--brand-900: #522943;
--brand-950: #33192A;
--brand: #af538f;
--brand-ink: #ffffff;
}Colors that work with #af538f
Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.
Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.
Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.
How to use #af538f
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓Body text and links on white
- ✓Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
- ✓Brand accents, badges and data highlights
- ⚠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 | #53AF73 | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #A153AF | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #AF5361 | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #61AF53 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #53AFA1 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #8FAF53 | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #538FAF | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #AFA153 | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Color previews
#af538f text on a black background
contrast 4.46:1
#af538f text on a white background
contrast 4.71:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #af538f;
background-color: #af538f;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #af538f;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 83, 143, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 83, 143, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #af538f; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #af538f, #AF5453);
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #af538f
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Mulberry (#c54b8c) — ΔE2000 4.7 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#af538f in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.
#af538f, answered
What color is #af538f?
#af538f is a balanced soft magenta / pink, closest to Medium Violet Red (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 321° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as warm.
What is the RGB value of #af538f?
rgb(175, 83, 143) — 175 red, 83 green and 143 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 32.5% / 56.1% by channel.
Is #af538f a light or a dark color?
It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1728 and perceived brightness is 49%, so white text on it reaches 4.71:1.
Should I use black or white text on #af538f?
White. It scores 4.71:1 against #af538f, versus 4.46:1 for black — AA at any size.
What is the complementary color of #af538f?
#53AF73 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #61AF53 and #53AFA1, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #af538f?
For interface work: #FAF5F8 as the surface, #E5C7DB for borders, #9B4B7F for secondary text, #3D8F45 as an accent and #572847 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A153AF and #AF5361 stays calm, while #53AF73 is the loudest partner.
What is #af538f in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(0%, 53%, 18%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.
Is #af538f warm or cool?
Warm — it scores 38 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF536D; nudged cooler, #B051B2.