Skip to content
blue · cool

#b29fec

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
178, 159, 236
HSL
255°, 67%, 78%
CMYK
25, 33, 0, 8
Luminance
0.4032

#b29fec is a light vivid blue, 255° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.06:1). As text it scores 2.32:1 on white — use #7F5FDF instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(255 67% 78%)rgb(178 159 236)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b29fec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b29fec
Hue
255°
blue
Saturation
67%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4032
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.06:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 11.7
Chroma
42.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.748
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 19
Web-safe
#9999FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue255° of 360°
Saturation67%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b29fec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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%
Green62%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#b29fec
HEX (8-digit)#b29fecff
RGBrgb(178, 159, 236)
RGBArgba(178, 159, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(255, 67%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(255, 33%, 93%)
HWBhwb(255 62% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 33%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(69.7 22.9 -36.2)
LCHlch(69.7 42.8 302.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.748 0.111 294.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.89, 40.32, 84.70)
Decimal11706348
Display P3color(display-p3 0.698 0.624 0.925)
Web-safe#9999FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b29fec;
background-color: #b29fec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b29fec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b29fec] bg-[#b29fec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b29fec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.698, green: 0.624, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.698, green: 0.624, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B29FEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB29FEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB29FEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 159, 178)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(178, 159, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(178, 159, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 178, 159, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6980f, 0.6235f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{178,159,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b29fec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b29fec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2A156A, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b29fec 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: #F5F3FB;
  --brand-100: #ECE8F8;
  --brand-200: #D4CAF1;
  --brand-300: #b29fec;
  --brand-400: #8E72E3;
  --brand-500: #6944DA;
  --brand-600: #5128CC;
  --brand-700: #4322AA;
  --brand-800: #361B88;
  --brand-900: #2A1763;
  --brand-950: #1A0F3E;
  --brand: #b29fec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CBC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #9A81E6;
  --brand-pressed: #8264E0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F3FB',
        100: '#ECE8F8',
        200: '#D4CAF1',
        300: '#b29fec',
        400: '#8E72E3',
        500: '#6944DA',
        600: '#5128CC',
        700: '#4322AA',
        800: '#361B88',
        900: '#2A1763',
        950: '#1A0F3E',
        DEFAULT: '#b29fec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F3FB,
  '100': #ECE8F8,
  '200': #D4CAF1,
  '300': #b29fec,
  '400': #8E72E3,
  '500': #6944DA,
  '600': #5128CC,
  '700': #4322AA,
  '800': #361B88,
  '900': #2A1763,
  '950': #1A0F3E,
);
$brand-base: #b29fec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F3FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECE8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4CAF1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b29fec", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8E72E3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6944DA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5128CC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4322AA", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#361B88", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A1763", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A0F3E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b29fec · 9.06:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.06:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b29fec as text scores 2.32:1 on white and 9.06:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2A156A at 6.41:1.

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
#7F5FDF · 4.56:1
AA on white−15% L
#7F5FDF
The quick fox
#5D35D7 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−25% L
#5D35D7
The quick fox
#b29fec · 9.06:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b29fec
The quick fox
#b29fec · 9.06:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b29fec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9A81E6 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
#b29fec on white: 2.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b29fec on black: 9.06:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b29fec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b29fec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.32:1AaAa
Slate 502.21:1AaAa
Slate 1002.11:1AaAa
Slate 2001.88:1AaAa
Slate 3001.56:1AaAa
Slate 4001.11:1AaAa
Slate 5002.05:1AaAa
Slate 6003.27:1AaAa
Slate 7004.47:1AaAa
Slate 8006.31:1AaAa
Slate 9007.71:1AaAa
Black9.06:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8CABEF
deuteranopia · #8EA9EA
tritanopia · #A6ACBB

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. #b29fec 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.

#F5F3FB
#ECE8F8
#D4CAF1
#b29fec
#8E72E3
#6944DA
#5128CC
#4322AA
#361B88
#2A1763
#1A0F3E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F3FBDarkest = 950 · #1A0F3EText 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 0.028 294.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.044 294.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.066 294.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.086 294.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.102 294.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.111 294.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.111 294.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.104 294.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.093 294.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.077 294.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.061 294.9);
}

Colors that work with #b29fec

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#CBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5E4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#AEAE1E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2A156A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEEAFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9A81E6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8264E0
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BDACF4
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 #b29fec

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 #2A156A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9A81E6

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
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#D9EC9F
Analogous left#9FB3EC
Analogous right#D99FEC
Split-complement 1#ECD99F
Split-complement 2#B3EC9F
Triadic 1#ECB29F
Triadic 2#9FECB2
Tetradic#EC9FB3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°255°

#b29fec sits at 255°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.8%
Green62.4%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
178
0xb2
G · 0–255
159
0x9f
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.6%
Magenta32.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b29fec text on a black background

contrast 9.06:1

Card sample

#b29fec text on a white background

contrast 2.32:1

Card sample

#b29fec on grey

2.11:1

#b29fec on its own surface

2.12:1

#b29fec on its dark surface

7.78:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b29fec;
Background color
Panel with #b29fec background
background-color: #b29fec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b29fec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(178, 159, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(178, 159, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b29fec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b29fec, #E59FEC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b29fec, #EC9FE0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b29fec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b29fec;
caret-color: #b29fec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b29fec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEEAFB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b29fec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b29fec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b29fec 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, 159, 236, 0.5)
rgb(178 159 236 / 50%)
#b29fec80
hsl(255 67% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b29fec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b29fec1a#F7F5FD
20%#b29fec33#F0ECFB
40%#b29fec66#E0D9F7
60%#b29fec99#D1C5F4
80%#b29feccc#C1B2F0

Gradients from #b29fec

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, #DBD2F6, #b29fec 45%, #2A156A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b29fec, #E786E7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b29fec, #D9EC9F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0ECFB 0%, #b29fec 45%, #2A156A 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%, #CAD8F4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E8B9F1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2A156A 0%, transparent 65%), #b29fec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b29fec

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.

#b29fec 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 9.06:1.

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.

#b29fec, answered

What color is #b29fec?

#b29fec is a light vivid blue, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 11.7). It sits at 255° on the hue wheel with 67% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b29fec?

rgb(178, 159, 236) — 178 red, 159 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 69.8% / 62.4% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #b29fec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(255, 67%, 78%) and hsv(255, 33%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b29fec a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4032 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.06:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b29fec?

Black. It scores 9.06:1 against #b29fec, versus 2.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b29fec accessible on a white background?

#b29fec on white scores 2.32:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7F5FDF to reach 4.5:1, or #5D35D7 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b29fec?

#D9EC9F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECD99F and #B3EC9F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b29fec?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CBC0ED for borders, #5E4B9B for secondary text, #AEAE1E as an accent and #2A156A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FB3EC and #D99FEC stays calm, while #D9EC9F is the loudest partner.

What is #b29fec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 33%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b29fec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CE9FEC; nudged cooler, #9EA8ED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b29fec?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 19 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b29fec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b29fec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b29fec] or text-[#b29fec], 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 #b29fec with 50% opacity?

rgba(178, 159, 236, 0.5), or #b29fec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9CFF6; over black, #595076.

Is #b29fec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999FF, ΔE2000 7.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b29fec 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 #b29fec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBD2F6, #b29fec 45%, #2A156A). For more colour, a short hue run to #E786E7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b29fec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b29fec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.