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#b536f9

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

RGB
181, 54, 249
HSL
279°, 94%, 59%
CMYK
27, 78, 0, 2
Luminance
0.1930

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b536f9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b536f9
Hue
279°
violet
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1930
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
4.86:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 7.4
Where it sits
Hue279° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness59%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#b536f9
RGBrgb(181, 54, 249)
HSLhsl(279, 94%, 59%)
CMYKcmyk(27%, 78%, 0%, 2%)
LABlab(51.0 77.7 -73.0)
LCHlch(51.0 106.6 316.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.613 0.271 310.0)
Decimal11876089
Display P3color(display-p3 0.710 0.212 0.976)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #b536f9;
background-color: #b536f9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b536f9] bg-[#b536f9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b536f9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.710, green: 0.212, blue: 0.976)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#b536f9")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB536F9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(249, 54, 181)

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 #b536f9 · 4.86:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 4.32:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #b536f9 as text scores 4.32:1 on white and 4.86:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#b536f9 on white: 4.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b536f9 on black: 4.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #0074FE
deuteranopia · #007BF5
tritanopia · #AB6898

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #b536f9 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.

#F9F2FD
#F3E4FB
#E6C2FA
#D792FC
#C35CFA
#b536f9
#9D07EE
#8306C6
#69059E
#4D0872
#300547
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F2FDDarkest = 950 · #300547
:root {
  --brand-50: #F9F2FD;
  --brand-100: #F3E4FB;
  --brand-200: #E6C2FA;
  --brand-300: #D792FC;
  --brand-400: #C35CFA;
  --brand-500: #b536f9;
  --brand-600: #9D07EE;
  --brand-700: #8306C6;
  --brand-800: #69059E;
  --brand-900: #4D0872;
  --brand-950: #300547;
  --brand: #b536f9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #b536f9

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#DDC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7F4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#79CA02
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#52047C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #b536f9

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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#7AF936
Analogous left#5436F9
Analogous right#F936DB
Split-complement 1#DBF936
Split-complement 2#36F954
Triadic 1#F9B536
Triadic 2#36F9B5
Tetradic#F95436

RGB percentages

Red71.0%
Green21.2%
Blue97.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan27.3%
Magenta78.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)2.4%

Color previews

#b536f9 text on a black background

contrast 4.86:1

Card sample

#b536f9 text on a white background

contrast 4.32:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b536f9;
Background color
Panel with #b536f9 background
background-color: #b536f9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b536f9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(181, 54, 249, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(181, 54, 249, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b536f9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b536f9, #F936BB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b536f9

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.

#b536f9 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#b536f9, answered

What color is #b536f9?

#b536f9 is a balanced electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 7.4). It sits at 279° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b536f9?

rgb(181, 54, 249) — 181 red, 54 green and 249 blue out of 255, or 71% / 21.2% / 97.6% by channel.

Is #b536f9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1930 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 4.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b536f9?

Black. It scores 4.86:1 against #b536f9, versus 4.32:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #b536f9?

#7AF936 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DBF936 and #36F954, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b536f9?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #DDC0ED for borders, #7F4B9B for secondary text, #79CA02 as an accent and #52047C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5436F9 and #F936DB stays calm, while #7AF936 is the loudest partner.

What is #b536f9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(27%, 78%, 0%, 2%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #b536f9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F936F5; nudged cooler, #6D34FB.

Work with #b536f9 in the Color Lab