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violet · cool

#bcb0dc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Iris

RGB
188, 176, 220
HSL
256°, 39%, 78%
CMYK
15, 20, 0, 14
Luminance
0.4691

#bcb0dc is a light soft violet, 256° on the wheel and 74/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.38:1). As text it scores 2.02:1 on white — use #7D66BB instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(256 39% 78%)rgb(188 176 220)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcb0dc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcb0dc
Hue
256°
violet
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4691
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
74/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.38:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 8.6
Chroma
24.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.782
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 25
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue256° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcb0dc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool74% 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%
Green66%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#bcb0dc
HEX (8-digit)#bcb0dcff
RGBrgb(188, 176, 220)
RGBArgba(188, 176, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(256, 39%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(256, 20%, 86%)
HWBhwb(256 69% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 20%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(74.1 12.9 -20.6)
LCHlch(74.1 24.3 302.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.782 0.063 297.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.18, 46.91, 74.16)
Decimal12366044
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.690 0.863)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcb0dc;
background-color: #bcb0dc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcb0dc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcb0dc] bg-[#bcb0dc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcb0dc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.690, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.690, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCB0DC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCB0DC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCB0DC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 176, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 176, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 176, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 176, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.6902f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,176,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcb0dc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcb0dc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#352758, #DBD5EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcb0dc 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: #F6F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EEEBF4;
  --brand-200: #D9D3E9;
  --brand-300: #bcb0dc;
  --brand-400: #9C8ACB;
  --brand-500: #7B63BA;
  --brand-600: #654BAA;
  --brand-700: #543F8D;
  --brand-800: #433271;
  --brand-900: #332753;
  --brand-950: #201934;
  --brand: #bcb0dc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CFC6E6;
  --brand-hover: #A797D1;
  --brand-pressed: #927EC6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #DBD5EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F5FA',
        100: '#EEEBF4',
        200: '#D9D3E9',
        300: '#bcb0dc',
        400: '#9C8ACB',
        500: '#7B63BA',
        600: '#654BAA',
        700: '#543F8D',
        800: '#433271',
        900: '#332753',
        950: '#201934',
        DEFAULT: '#bcb0dc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F5FA,
  '100': #EEEBF4,
  '200': #D9D3E9,
  '300': #bcb0dc,
  '400': #9C8ACB,
  '500': #7B63BA,
  '600': #654BAA,
  '700': #543F8D,
  '800': #433271,
  '900': #332753,
  '950': #201934,
);
$brand-base: #bcb0dc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9D3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bcb0dc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9C8ACB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7B63BA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#654BAA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#543F8D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#433271", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#332753", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#201934", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcb0dc · 10.38:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.02:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.38:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcb0dc as text scores 2.02:1 on white and 10.38:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #352758 at 6.56:1.

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
#7D66BB · 4.68:1
AA on white−21% L
#7D66BB
The quick fox
#6047A1 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−32% L
#6047A1
The quick fox
#bcb0dc · 10.38:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcb0dc
The quick fox
#bcb0dc · 10.38:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcb0dc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9B89CB 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
#bcb0dc on white: 2.02:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcb0dc on black: 10.38:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcb0dc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcb0dc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.02:1AaAa
Slate 501.93:1AaAa
Slate 1001.85:1AaAa
Slate 2001.64:1AaAa
Slate 3001.36:1AaAa
Slate 4001.27:1AaAa
Slate 5002.35:1AaAa
Slate 6003.75:1AaAa
Slate 7005.12:1AaAa
Slate 8007.23:1AaAa
Slate 9008.83:1AaAa
Black10.38:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A7B6DE
deuteranopia · #A9B6DB
tritanopia · #B6B6BF

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. #bcb0dc 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.

#F6F5FA
#EEEBF4
#D9D3E9
#bcb0dc
#9C8ACB
#7B63BA
#654BAA
#543F8D
#433271
#332753
#201934
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F5FADarkest = 950 · #201934Text 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 0.016 297.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 297.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 297.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 297.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 297.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.063 297.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.063 297.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.059 297.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 297.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 297.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 297.4);
}

Colors that work with #bcb0dc

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#CFC6E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#614B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8F913B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#352758
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0EDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A797D1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#927EC6
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C6B9E7
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 #bcb0dc

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 #352758
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9B89CB

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#D0DCB0
Analogous left#B0BADC
Analogous right#D2B0DC
Split-complement 1#DCD2B0
Split-complement 2#BADCB0
Triadic 1#DCBCB0
Triadic 2#B0DCBC
Tetradic#DCB0BA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°256°

#bcb0dc sits at 256°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green69.0%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
176
0xb0
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan14.5%
Magenta20.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 48%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcb0dc text on a black background

contrast 10.38:1

Card sample

#bcb0dc text on a white background

contrast 2.02:1

Card sample

#bcb0dc on grey

1.85:1

#bcb0dc on its own surface

1.85:1

#bcb0dc on its dark surface

8.92:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcb0dc;
Background color
Panel with #bcb0dc background
background-color: #bcb0dc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcb0dc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 176, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 176, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcb0dc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcb0dc, #D9B0DC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcb0dc, #DCB0D4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcb0dc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcb0dc;
caret-color: #bcb0dc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcb0dc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0EDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcb0dc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcb0dc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcb0dc 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, 176, 220, 0.5)
rgb(188 176 220 / 50%)
#bcb0dc80
hsl(256 39% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcb0dc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcb0dc1a#F8F7FC
20%#bcb0dc33#F2EFF8
40%#bcb0dc66#E4DFF1
60%#bcb0dc99#D7D0EA
80%#bcb0dccc#C9C0E3

Gradients from #bcb0dc

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, #E0DAEF, #bcb0dc 45%, #352758);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcb0dc, #D39BD1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcb0dc, #D0DCB0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2EFF8 0%, #bcb0dc 45%, #352758 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%, #D3DBEC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E1C5E5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #352758 0%, transparent 65%), #bcb0dc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcb0dc

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.

#bcb0dc 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 10.38:1.

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.

#bcb0dc, answered

What color is #bcb0dc?

#bcb0dc is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 256° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bcb0dc?

rgb(188, 176, 220) — 188 red, 176 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 69% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #bcb0dc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(256, 39%, 78%) and hsv(256, 20%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcb0dc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4691 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 10.38:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcb0dc?

Black. It scores 10.38:1 against #bcb0dc, versus 2.02:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcb0dc accessible on a white background?

#bcb0dc on white scores 2.02:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7D66BB to reach 4.5:1, or #6047A1 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcb0dc?

#D0DCB0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCD2B0 and #BADCB0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcb0dc?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CFC6E6 for borders, #614B9B for secondary text, #8F913B as an accent and #352758 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B0BADC and #D2B0DC stays calm, while #D0DCB0 is the loudest partner.

What is #bcb0dc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 20%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcb0dc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 74 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CCB0DC; nudged cooler, #AFB3DD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcb0dc?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 25 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcb0dc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcb0dc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcb0dc] or text-[#bcb0dc], 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 #bcb0dc with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 176, 220, 0.5), or #bcb0dc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DED8EE; over black, #5E586E.

Is #bcb0dc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 10.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcb0dc 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 #bcb0dc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0DAEF, #bcb0dc 45%, #352758). For more colour, a short hue run to #D39BD1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcb0dc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcb0dc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.