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violet · cool

#b686e1

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Thistle

RGB
182, 134, 225
HSL
272°, 60%, 70%
CMYK
19, 40, 0, 12
Luminance
0.3243

#b686e1 is a light vivid violet, 272° on the wheel and 66/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.49:1). As text it scores 2.81:1 on white — use #9855D5 instead. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(272 60% 70%)rgb(182 134 225)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b686e1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b686e1
Hue
272°
violet
Saturation
60%
vivid
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
88%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3243
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
66/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.49:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 9.1
Chroma
53.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.701
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 12.9
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue272° of 360°
Saturation60%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b686e1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool66% 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
Red31%
Green53%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#b686e1
HEX (8-digit)#b686e1ff
RGBrgb(182, 134, 225)
RGBArgba(182, 134, 225, 1)
HSLhsl(272, 60%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(272, 40%, 88%)
HWBhwb(272 53% 12%)
CMYKcmyk(19%, 40%, 0%, 12%)
LABlab(63.7 35.5 -39.5)
LCHlch(63.7 53.1 312.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.701 0.138 307.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.40, 32.43, 75.30)
Decimal11962081
Display P3color(display-p3 0.714 0.525 0.882)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b686e1;
background-color: #b686e1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b686e1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b686e1] bg-[#b686e1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b686e1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.714, green: 0.525, blue: 0.882)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.714, green: 0.525, blue: 0.882, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B686E1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB686E1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB686E1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(225, 134, 182)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(182, 134, 225)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(182, 134, 225)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 182, 134, 225)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7137f, 0.5255f, 0.8824f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{182,134,225}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b686e1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b686e1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#421966, #E1D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b686e1 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: #F0E9F7;
  --brand-200: #DFCCEF;
  --brand-300: #C9A5E9;
  --brand-400: #b686e1;
  --brand-500: #924BD2;
  --brand-600: #7E31C4;
  --brand-700: #6928A4;
  --brand-800: #542083;
  --brand-900: #3F1B5F;
  --brand-950: #27113B;
  --brand: #b686e1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D7C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #A569DA;
  --brand-pressed: #934DD3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1C1424;
    --brand-ink: #E1D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F4FB',
        100: '#F0E9F7',
        200: '#DFCCEF',
        300: '#C9A5E9',
        400: '#b686e1',
        500: '#924BD2',
        600: '#7E31C4',
        700: '#6928A4',
        800: '#542083',
        900: '#3F1B5F',
        950: '#27113B',
        DEFAULT: '#b686e1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F4FB,
  '100': #F0E9F7,
  '200': #DFCCEF,
  '300': #C9A5E9,
  '400': #b686e1,
  '500': #924BD2,
  '600': #7E31C4,
  '700': #6928A4,
  '800': #542083,
  '900': #3F1B5F,
  '950': #27113B,
);
$brand-base: #b686e1;
$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": "#F0E9F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFCCEF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C9A5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#b686e1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#924BD2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7E31C4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6928A4", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#542083", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3F1B5F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#27113B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b686e1 · 7.49:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.81:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.49:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b686e1 as text scores 2.81:1 on white and 7.49:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #421966 at 4.79:1.

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
#9855D5 · 4.57:1
AA on white−12% L
#9855D5
The quick fox
#7A2FBE · 7.05:1
AAA on white−24% L
#7A2FBE
The quick fox
#b686e1 · 7.49:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b686e1
The quick fox
#b686e1 · 7.49:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b686e1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B17EDF 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
#b686e1 on white: 2.81:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b686e1 on black: 7.49:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b686e1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b686e1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.81:1AaAa
Slate 502.68:1AaAa
Slate 1002.56:1AaAa
Slate 2002.28:1AaAa
Slate 3001.89:1AaAa
Slate 4001.09:1AaAa
Slate 5001.70:1AaAa
Slate 6002.70:1AaAa
Slate 7003.69:1AaAa
Slate 8005.22:1AaAa
Slate 9006.36:1AaAa
Black7.49:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7298E4
deuteranopia · #7D9BDF
tritanopia · #B094A9

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. #b686e1 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
#F0E9F7
#DFCCEF
#C9A5E9
#b686e1
#924BD2
#7E31C4
#6928A4
#542083
#3F1B5F
#27113B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F4FBDarkest = 950 · #27113BText 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 0.035 307.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.055 307.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.083 307.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.108 307.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.127 307.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.138 307.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.138 307.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.130 307.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.116 307.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.097 307.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.076 307.5);
}

Colors that work with #b686e1

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#D7C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#754B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#83A725
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#421966
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3EBFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1C1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A569DA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#934DD3
Two steps down
Disabled#ECE7F0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C090EC
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 #b686e1

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 #421966
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B17EDF

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
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#B1E186
Analogous left#8886E1
Analogous right#E186DF
Split-complement 1#DFE186
Split-complement 2#86E188
Triadic 1#E1B686
Triadic 2#86E1B6
Tetradic#E18886
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°272°

#b686e1 sits at 272°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.4%
Green52.5%
Blue88.2%
R · 0–255
182
0xb6
G · 0–255
134
0x86
B · 0–255
225
0xe1

CMYK percentages

Cyan19.1%
Magenta40.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.8%

Total ink coverage is 71%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b686e1 text on a black background

contrast 7.49:1

Card sample

#b686e1 text on a white background

contrast 2.81:1

Card sample

#b686e1 on grey

2.56:1

#b686e1 on its own surface

2.58:1

#b686e1 on its dark surface

6.37:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b686e1;
Background color
Panel with #b686e1 background
background-color: #b686e1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b686e1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(182, 134, 225, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(182, 134, 225, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b686e1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b686e1, #E186CF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b686e1, #E186B9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b686e1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b686e1;
caret-color: #b686e1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b686e1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3EBFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b686e1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b686e1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b686e1 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(182, 134, 225, 0.5)
rgb(182 134 225 / 50%)
#b686e180
hsl(272 60% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b686e1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b686e11a#F8F3FC
20%#b686e133#F0E7F9
40%#b686e166#E2CFF3
60%#b686e199#D3B6ED
80%#b686e1cc#C59EE7

Gradients from #b686e1

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, #D4B7ED, #b686e1 45%, #421966);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b686e1, #DB6DBD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b686e1, #B1E186);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E2D0F3 0%, #b686e1 45%, #421966 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%, #AFB2EB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E79FDF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #421966 0%, transparent 65%), #b686e1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b686e1

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.

#b686e1 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 7.49:1.

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.

#b686e1, answered

What color is #b686e1?

#b686e1 is a light vivid violet, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 9.1). It sits at 272° on the hue wheel with 60% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b686e1?

rgb(182, 134, 225) — 182 red, 134 green and 225 blue out of 255, or 71.4% / 52.5% / 88.2% by channel.

What is #b686e1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(272, 60%, 70%) and hsv(272, 40%, 88%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b686e1 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3243 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 7.49:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b686e1?

Black. It scores 7.49:1 against #b686e1, versus 2.81:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b686e1 accessible on a white background?

#b686e1 on white scores 2.81:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9855D5 to reach 4.5:1, or #7A2FBE for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b686e1?

#B1E186 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFE186 and #86E188, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b686e1?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D7C0ED for borders, #754B9B for secondary text, #83A725 as an accent and #421966 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8886E1 and #E186DF stays calm, while #B1E186 is the loudest partner.

What is #b686e1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(19%, 40%, 0%, 12%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b686e1 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 66 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D786E1; nudged cooler, #9484E3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b686e1?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 12.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b686e1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b686e1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b686e1] or text-[#b686e1], 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 #b686e1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(182, 134, 225, 0.5), or #b686e180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBC3F0; over black, #5B4371.

Is #b686e1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 10.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b686e1 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 #b686e1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D4B7ED, #b686e1 45%, #421966). For more colour, a short hue run to #DB6DBD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b686e1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b686e1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.