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violet · neutral

#bcafc4

a light, soft violet · neutral · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Morning Plum

RGB
188, 175, 196
HSL
277°, 15%, 73%
CMYK
4, 11, 0, 23
Luminance
0.4534

#bcafc4 is a light soft violet, 277° on the wheel and 55/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.07:1). As text it scores 2.09:1 on white — use #866E94 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(277 15% 73%)rgb(188 175 196)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcafc4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcafc4
Hue
277°
violet
Saturation
15%
soft
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4534
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
55/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.07:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 6.4
Chroma
12.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.771
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 23.3
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue277° of 360°
Saturation15%
Lightness73%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcafc4.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool55% 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
Red24%
Green68%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#bcafc4
HEX (8-digit)#bcafc4ff
RGBrgb(188, 175, 196)
RGBArgba(188, 175, 196, 1)
HSLhsl(277, 15%, 73%)
HSV / HSBhsv(277, 11%, 77%)
HWBhwb(277 69% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 11%, 0%, 23%)
LABlab(73.1 8.5 -9.0)
LCHlch(73.1 12.4 313.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.771 0.033 312.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(46.03, 45.34, 58.54)
Decimal12365764
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.686 0.769)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcafc4;
background-color: #bcafc4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcafc4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcafc4] bg-[#bcafc4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcafc4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.686, blue: 0.769)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.686, blue: 0.769, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCAFC4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCAFC4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCAFC4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(196, 175, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 175, 196)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 175, 196)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 175, 196)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.6863f, 0.7686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,175,196}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcafc4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcafc4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#423649, #E1DCE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcafc4 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: #F8F6F8;
  --brand-100: #F0EEF2;
  --brand-200: #DFD9E2;
  --brand-300: #bcafc4;
  --brand-400: #AE9EB8;
  --brand-500: #937EA0;
  --brand-600: #7F688D;
  --brand-700: #6A5775;
  --brand-800: #55455E;
  --brand-900: #3F3546;
  --brand-950: #28212C;
  --brand: #bcafc4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D8D0DC;
  --brand-hover: #AB9AB5;
  --brand-pressed: #9986A6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1820;
    --brand-ink: #E1DCE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F8',
        100: '#F0EEF2',
        200: '#DFD9E2',
        300: '#bcafc4',
        400: '#AE9EB8',
        500: '#937EA0',
        600: '#7F688D',
        700: '#6A5775',
        800: '#55455E',
        900: '#3F3546',
        950: '#28212C',
        DEFAULT: '#bcafc4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F8,
  '100': #F0EEF2,
  '200': #DFD9E2,
  '300': #bcafc4,
  '400': #AE9EB8,
  '500': #937EA0,
  '600': #7F688D,
  '700': #6A5775,
  '800': #55455E,
  '900': #3F3546,
  '950': #28212C,
);
$brand-base: #bcafc4;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F0EEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DFD9E2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bcafc4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#AE9EB8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#937EA0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7F688D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6A5775", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#55455E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3F3546", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#28212C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcafc4 · 10.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.09:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcafc4 as text scores 2.09:1 on white and 10.07:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #423649 at 5.43:1.

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
#866E94 · 4.50:1
AA on white−22% L
#866E94
The quick fox
#64526F · 7.05:1
AAA on white−35% L
#64526F
The quick fox
#bcafc4 · 10.07:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcafc4
The quick fox
#bcafc4 · 10.07:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcafc4

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9E8CAA 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
#bcafc4 on white: 2.09:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcafc4 on black: 10.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcafc4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcafc4.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.09:1AaAa
Slate 501.99:1AaAa
Slate 1001.90:1AaAa
Slate 2001.69:1AaAa
Slate 3001.40:1AaAa
Slate 4001.23:1AaAa
Slate 5002.28:1AaAa
Slate 6003.63:1AaAa
Slate 7004.96:1AaAa
Slate 8007.01:1AaAa
Slate 9008.56:1AaAa
Black10.07:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #ACB3C5
deuteranopia · #AFB4C3
tritanopia · #BBB1B6

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. #bcafc4 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.

#F8F6F8
#F0EEF2
#DFD9E2
#bcafc4
#AE9EB8
#937EA0
#7F688D
#6A5775
#55455E
#3F3546
#28212C
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F8Darkest = 950 · #28212CText 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 0.008 312.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 312.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.020 312.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.026 312.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 312.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.033 312.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.033 312.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.031 312.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.027 312.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.023 312.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 312.8);
}

Colors that work with #bcafc4

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#F8F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D8D0DC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#776184
Captions on the surface
Accent#6B7A52
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#423649
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F0F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1820
Dark-mode background
Hover#AB9AB5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9986A6
Two steps down
Disabled#F2EFF4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C7B5D2
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 #bcafc4

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #423649
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9E8CAA

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#B7C4AF
Analogous left#B1AFC4
Analogous right#C4AFC1
Split-complement 1#C1C4AF
Split-complement 2#AFC4B1
Triadic 1#C4BCAF
Triadic 2#AFC4BC
Tetradic#C4B1AF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°277°

#bcafc4 sits at 277°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green68.6%
Blue76.9%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
196
0xc4

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.1%
Magenta10.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 38%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcafc4 text on a black background

contrast 10.07:1

Card sample

#bcafc4 text on a white background

contrast 2.09:1

Card sample

#bcafc4 on grey

1.90:1

#bcafc4 on its own surface

1.94:1

#bcafc4 on its dark surface

8.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcafc4;
Background color
Panel with #bcafc4 background
background-color: #bcafc4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcafc4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 175, 196, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 175, 196, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcafc4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcafc4, #C4AFBE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcafc4, #C4AFB9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcafc4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcafc4;
caret-color: #bcafc4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcafc4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F0F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcafc4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcafc4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcafc4 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, 175, 196, 0.5)
rgb(188 175 196 / 50%)
#bcafc480
hsl(277 15% 73% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcafc4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcafc41a#F8F7F9
20%#bcafc433#F2EFF3
40%#bcafc466#E4DFE7
60%#bcafc499#D7CFDC
80%#bcafc4cc#C9BFD0

Gradients from #bcafc4

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, #D9D2DE, #bcafc4 45%, #423649);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcafc4, #B79DAD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcafc4, #B7C4AF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E8E4EB 0%, #bcafc4 45%, #423649 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CDCCDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D1C0CE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #423649 0%, transparent 65%), #bcafc4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcafc4

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.

#bcafc4 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 10.07:1.

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.

#bcafc4, answered

What color is #bcafc4?

#bcafc4 is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 277° on the hue wheel with 15% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #bcafc4?

rgb(188, 175, 196) — 188 red, 175 green and 196 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 68.6% / 76.9% by channel.

What is #bcafc4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(277, 15%, 73%) and hsv(277, 11%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcafc4 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4534 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcafc4?

Black. It scores 10.07:1 against #bcafc4, versus 2.09:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcafc4 accessible on a white background?

#bcafc4 on white scores 2.09:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #866E94 to reach 4.5:1, or #64526F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcafc4?

#B7C4AF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C1C4AF and #AFC4B1, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcafc4?

For interface work: #F8F6F9 as the surface, #D8D0DC for borders, #776184 for secondary text, #6B7A52 as an accent and #423649 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B1AFC4 and #C4AFC1 stays calm, while #B7C4AF is the loudest partner.

What is #bcafc4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 11%, 0%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcafc4 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 55 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C4AFC4; nudged cooler, #B3ADC5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcafc4?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 23.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcafc4 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcafc4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcafc4] or text-[#bcafc4], 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 #bcafc4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 175, 196, 0.5), or #bcafc480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DED7E2; over black, #5E5862.

Is #bcafc4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 12 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcafc4 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bcafc4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D9D2DE, #bcafc4 45%, #423649). For more colour, a short hue run to #B79DAD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcafc4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcafc4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.