Skip to content
magenta / pink · neutral

#bc8eb3

a balanced, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Atlas Ruby

RGB
188, 142, 179
HSL
312°, 26%, 65%
CMYK
0, 25, 5, 26
Luminance
0.3329

#bc8eb3 is a balanced soft magenta / pink, 312° on the wheel and 45/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.66:1). As text it scores 2.74:1 on white — use #A16195 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is pink.

hsl(312 26% 65%)rgb(188 142 179)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc8eb3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc8eb3
Hue
312°
magenta / pink
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
65%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3329
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
45/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.66:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 8.9
Chroma
26.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.702
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
pink
500 · ΔE 16.9
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue312° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bc8eb3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool45% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red32%
Green58%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#bc8eb3
HEX (8-digit)#bc8eb3ff
RGBrgb(188, 142, 179)
RGBArgba(188, 142, 179, 1)
HSLhsl(312, 26%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(312, 24%, 74%)
HWBhwb(312 56% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 25%, 5%, 26%)
LABlab(64.4 23.6 -12.6)
LCHlch(64.4 26.7 331.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.702 0.075 333.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.55, 33.29, 47.03)
Decimal12357299
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.557 0.702)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc8eb3;
background-color: #bc8eb3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc8eb3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc8eb3] bg-[#bc8eb3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc8eb3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.557, blue: 0.702)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.557, blue: 0.702, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC8EB3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC8EB3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC8EB3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(179, 142, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 142, 179)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 142, 179)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 142, 179)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.5569f, 0.7020f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,142,179}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc8eb3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc8eb3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#502F4A, #E8D9E5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc8eb3 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: #F9F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F3EDF2;
  --brand-200: #E5D6E2;
  --brand-300: #D5B9D0;
  --brand-400: #bc8eb3;
  --brand-500: #AC72A0;
  --brand-600: #9A5B8E;
  --brand-700: #804C76;
  --brand-800: #663D5E;
  --brand-900: #4C2F46;
  --brand-950: #2F1D2C;
  --brand: #bc8eb3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F5F9;
  --brand-border: #E1CCDD;
  --brand-hover: #AF78A4;
  --brand-pressed: #A16195;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #231520;
    --brand-ink: #E8D9E5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F8',
        100: '#F3EDF2',
        200: '#E5D6E2',
        300: '#D5B9D0',
        400: '#bc8eb3',
        500: '#AC72A0',
        600: '#9A5B8E',
        700: '#804C76',
        800: '#663D5E',
        900: '#4C2F46',
        950: '#2F1D2C',
        DEFAULT: '#bc8eb3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F8,
  '100': #F3EDF2,
  '200': #E5D6E2,
  '300': #D5B9D0,
  '400': #bc8eb3,
  '500': #AC72A0,
  '600': #9A5B8E,
  '700': #804C76,
  '800': #663D5E,
  '900': #4C2F46,
  '950': #2F1D2C,
);
$brand-base: #bc8eb3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5D6E2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5B9D0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bc8eb3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AC72A0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9A5B8E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#804C76", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#663D5E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C2F46", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F1D2C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc8eb3 · 7.66:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.66:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bc8eb3 as text scores 2.74:1 on white and 7.66:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #502F4A at 4.15:1.

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
#A16195 · 4.51:1
AA on white−14% L
#A16195
The quick fox
#79486F · 7.07:1
AAA on white−27% L
#79486F
The quick fox
#bc8eb3 · 7.66:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bc8eb3
The quick fox
#bc8eb3 · 7.66:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bc8eb3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B684AD 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
#bc8eb3 on white: 2.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc8eb3 on black: 7.66:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc8eb3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc8eb3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.74:1AaAa
Slate 502.62:1AaAa
Slate 1002.50:1AaAa
Slate 2002.22:1AaAa
Slate 3001.85:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.74:1AaAa
Slate 6002.76:1AaAa
Slate 7003.78:1AaAa
Slate 8005.33:1AaAa
Slate 9006.51:1AaAa
Black7.66:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8E98B5
deuteranopia · #989EB2
tritanopia · #C0909B

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. #bc8eb3 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.

#F9F6F8
#F3EDF2
#E5D6E2
#D5B9D0
#bc8eb3
#AC72A0
#9A5B8E
#804C76
#663D5E
#4C2F46
#2F1D2C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F8Darkest = 950 · #2F1D2CText step on white = 600
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 0.019 333.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 333.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.045 333.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.058 333.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.069 333.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.075 333.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.075 333.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.070 333.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.063 333.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.052 333.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.041 333.3);
}

Colors that work with #bc8eb3

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#F9F5F9
Tinted page background
Border#E1CCDD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#905585
Captions on the surface
Accent#4B8547
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#502F4A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EFF4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#231520
Dark-mode background
Hover#AF78A4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A16195
Two steps down
Disabled#E5D6E2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CC93C1
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 #bc8eb3

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #502F4A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B684AD

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

expressiveyouthfulwarmconfident

Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight35/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • 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#8EBC97
Analogous left#AE8EBC
Analogous right#BC8E9C
Split-complement 1#9CBC8E
Split-complement 2#8EBCAE
Triadic 1#B3BC8E
Triadic 2#8EB3BC
Tetradic#BCAE8E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°312°

#bc8eb3 sits at 312°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green55.7%
Blue70.2%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
142
0x8e
B · 0–255
179
0xb3

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta24.5%
Yellow4.8%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 56%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc8eb3 text on a black background

contrast 7.66:1

Card sample

#bc8eb3 text on a white background

contrast 2.74:1

Card sample

#bc8eb3 on grey

2.50:1

#bc8eb3 on its own surface

2.54:1

#bc8eb3 on its dark surface

6.38:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc8eb3;
Background color
Panel with #bc8eb3 background
background-color: #bc8eb3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc8eb3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 142, 179, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 142, 179, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc8eb3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc8eb3, #BC8E94);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc8eb3, #BC938E);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc8eb3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc8eb3;
caret-color: #bc8eb3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc8eb3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EFF4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc8eb3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc8eb3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc8eb3 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(188, 142, 179, 0.5)
rgb(188 142 179 / 50%)
#bc8eb380
hsl(312 26% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc8eb3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc8eb31a#F8F4F7
20%#bc8eb333#F2E8F0
40%#bc8eb366#E4D2E1
60%#bc8eb399#D7BBD1
80%#bc8eb3cc#C9A5C2

Gradients from #bc8eb3

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, #D3B4CD, #bc8eb3 45%, #502F4A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc8eb3, #B17B7E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc8eb3, #8EBC97);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DEC8DA 0%, #bc8eb3 45%, #502F4A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F5F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C2AECF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C7A1AA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #502F4A 0%, transparent 65%), #bc8eb3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc8eb3

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.

#bc8eb3 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
BeautyFashionLifestyleYouth brands
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
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 7.66:1.

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.

#bc8eb3, answered

What color is #bc8eb3?

#bc8eb3 is a balanced soft magenta / pink, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 8.9). It sits at 312° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #bc8eb3?

rgb(188, 142, 179) — 188 red, 142 green and 179 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 55.7% / 70.2% by channel.

What is #bc8eb3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(312, 26%, 65%) and hsv(312, 24%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc8eb3 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3329 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 7.66:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc8eb3?

Black. It scores 7.66:1 against #bc8eb3, versus 2.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bc8eb3 accessible on a white background?

#bc8eb3 on white scores 2.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A16195 to reach 4.5:1, or #79486F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bc8eb3?

#8EBC97 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9CBC8E and #8EBCAE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc8eb3?

For interface work: #F9F5F9 as the surface, #E1CCDD for borders, #905585 for secondary text, #4B8547 as an accent and #502F4A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AE8EBC and #BC8E9C stays calm, while #8EBC97 is the loudest partner.

What is #bc8eb3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 25%, 5%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc8eb3 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 45 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC8EA2; nudged cooler, #B58CBE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc8eb3?

The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 16.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc8eb3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc8eb3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc8eb3] or text-[#bc8eb3], 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 #bc8eb3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 142, 179, 0.5), or #bc8eb380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEC7D9; over black, #5E475A.

Is #bc8eb3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 5.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc8eb3 mean?

As a magenta / pink, it reads expressive, youthful, warm. Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bc8eb3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3B4CD, #bc8eb3 45%, #502F4A). For more colour, a short hue run to #B17B7E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc8eb3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc8eb3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.