Skip to content
violet · cool

#b274da

a light, vivid violet · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Drift Iris

RGB
178, 116, 218
HSL
277°, 58%, 66%
CMYK
18, 47, 0, 15
Luminance
0.2702

#b274da is a light vivid violet, 277° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.40:1). As text it scores 3.28:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(277 58% 66%)rgb(178 116 218)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b274da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b274da
Hue
277°
violet
Saturation
58%
vivid
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2702
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
6.40:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
60.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.664
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 9
Web-safe
#9966CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue277° of 360°
Saturation58%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b274da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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%
Green46%
Blue19%

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

Every format

HEX#b274da
HEX (8-digit)#b274daff
RGBrgb(178, 116, 218)
RGBArgba(178, 116, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(277, 58%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(276, 47%, 85%)
HWBhwb(277 45% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 47%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(59.0 42.7 -43.0)
LCHlch(59.0 60.6 314.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.664 0.158 310.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.26, 27.02, 69.57)
Decimal11695322
Display P3color(display-p3 0.698 0.455 0.855)
Web-safe#9966CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b274da;
background-color: #b274da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b274da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b274da] bg-[#b274da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b274da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.698, green: 0.455, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.698, green: 0.455, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B274DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB274DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB274DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 116, 178)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(178, 116, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(178, 116, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 178, 116, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6980f, 0.4549f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{178,116,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b274da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b274da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#481B65, #E3D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b274da 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: #F1E9F7;
  --brand-200: #E2CDEF;
  --brand-300: #CEA6E7;
  --brand-400: #b274da;
  --brand-500: #9D4ED0;
  --brand-600: #8A33C1;
  --brand-700: #732BA1;
  --brand-800: #5C2281;
  --brand-900: #441D5E;
  --brand-950: #2B123B;
  --brand: #b274da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #DBC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #A258D3;
  --brand-pressed: #933CCB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1424;
    --brand-ink: #E3D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F4FB',
        100: '#F1E9F7',
        200: '#E2CDEF',
        300: '#CEA6E7',
        400: '#b274da',
        500: '#9D4ED0',
        600: '#8A33C1',
        700: '#732BA1',
        800: '#5C2281',
        900: '#441D5E',
        950: '#2B123B',
        DEFAULT: '#b274da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F4FB,
  '100': #F1E9F7,
  '200': #E2CDEF,
  '300': #CEA6E7,
  '400': #b274da,
  '500': #9D4ED0,
  '600': #8A33C1,
  '700': #732BA1,
  '800': #5C2281,
  '900': #441D5E,
  '950': #2B123B,
);
$brand-base: #b274da;
$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": "#F1E9F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E2CDEF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CEA6E7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#b274da", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9D4ED0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8A33C1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#732BA1", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5C2281", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#441D5E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2B123B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b274da · 6.40:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.28:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.40:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #b274da as text scores 3.28:1 on white and 6.40:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #481B65 at 3.95:1.

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
#9E50D0 · 4.65:1
AA on white−9% L
#9E50D0
The quick fox
#8030B3 · 7.02:1
AAA on white−21% L
#8030B3
The quick fox
#b274da · 6.40:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b274da
The quick fox
#B980DD · 7.19:1
AAA on black+3% L
#B980DD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B274DA 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
#b274da on white: 3.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b274da on black: 6.40:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b274da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b274da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.28:1AaAa
Slate 503.13:1AaAa
Slate 1002.99:1AaAa
Slate 2002.66:1AaAa
Slate 3002.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.28:1AaAa
Slate 5001.45:1AaAa
Slate 6002.31:1AaAa
Slate 7003.16:1AaAa
Slate 8004.46:1AaAa
Slate 9005.44:1AaAa
Black6.40:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5C8BDE
deuteranopia · #6D8FD7
tritanopia · #AD849D

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. #b274da 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
#F1E9F7
#E2CDEF
#CEA6E7
#b274da
#9D4ED0
#8A33C1
#732BA1
#5C2281
#441D5E
#2B123B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F4FBDarkest = 950 · #2B123BText 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 0.040 310.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.063 310.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.095 310.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.123 310.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.145 310.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.158 310.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.158 310.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.149 310.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.133 310.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.111 310.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.087 310.8);
}

Colors that work with #b274da

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#DBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7B4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#77A626
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#481B65
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EBFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A258D3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#933CCB
Two steps down
Disabled#E1D8E6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BD7CE6
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 #b274da

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #481B65
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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#9CDA74
Analogous left#7F74DA
Analogous right#DA74CF
Split-complement 1#CFDA74
Split-complement 2#74DA7F
Triadic 1#DAB274
Triadic 2#74DAB2
Tetradic#DA7F74
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°277°

#b274da sits at 277°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.8%
Green45.5%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
178
0xb2
G · 0–255
116
0x74
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.3%
Magenta46.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 80%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b274da text on a black background

contrast 6.40:1

Card sample

#b274da text on a white background

contrast 3.28:1

Card sample

#b274da on grey

2.99:1

#b274da on its own surface

3.02:1

#b274da on its dark surface

5.42:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b274da;
Background color
Panel with #b274da background
background-color: #b274da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b274da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(178, 116, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(178, 116, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b274da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b274da, #DA74BE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b274da, #DA74A4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b274da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b274da;
caret-color: #b274da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b274da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EBFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b274da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b274da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b274da 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(178, 116, 218, 0.5)
rgb(178 116 218 / 50%)
#b274da80
hsl(277 58% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b274da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b274da1a#F7F1FB
20%#b274da33#F0E3F8
40%#b274da66#E0C7F0
60%#b274da99#D1ACE9
80%#b274dacc#C190E1

Gradients from #b274da

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, #CDA4E7, #b274da 45%, #481B65);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b274da, #D45CA9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b274da, #9CDA74);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DABDED 0%, #b274da 45%, #481B65 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%, #9E9CE5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E08CD0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #481B65 0%, transparent 65%), #b274da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b274da

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.

#b274da 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
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 6.40:1.

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.

#b274da, answered

What color is #b274da?

#b274da is a light vivid violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 277° on the hue wheel with 58% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b274da?

rgb(178, 116, 218) — 178 red, 116 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 69.8% / 45.5% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #b274da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(277, 58%, 66%) and hsv(276, 47%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b274da a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2702 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 6.40:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b274da?

Black. It scores 6.40:1 against #b274da, versus 3.28:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #b274da accessible on a white background?

#b274da on white scores 3.28:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9E50D0 to reach 4.5:1, or #8030B3 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b274da?

#9CDA74 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CFDA74 and #74DA7F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b274da?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DBC0ED for borders, #7B4B9B for secondary text, #77A626 as an accent and #481B65 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7F74DA and #DA74CF stays calm, while #9CDA74 is the loudest partner.

What is #b274da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 47%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b274da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D774DA; nudged cooler, #8C72DC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b274da?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b274da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b274da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b274da] or text-[#b274da], 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 #b274da with 50% opacity?

rgba(178, 116, 218, 0.5), or #b274da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9BAED; over black, #593A6D.

Is #b274da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9966CC, ΔE2000 6.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b274da 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 #b274da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDA4E7, #b274da 45%, #481B65). For more colour, a short hue run to #D45CA9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b274da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b274da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.