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magenta / pink · neutral

#c40caa

a dark, electric magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Medium Violet Red

Token name suggestion: Forest Fuchsia

RGB
196, 12, 170
HSL
309°, 89%, 41%
CMYK
0, 94, 13, 23
Luminance
0.1490

#c40caa is a dark electric magenta / pink, 309° on the wheel and 45/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.28:1). As text it scores 5.28:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Medium Violet Red, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(309 89% 41%)rgb(196 12 170)Base step 700AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c40caa is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c40caa
Hue
309°
magenta / pink
Saturation
89%
electric
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1490
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
45/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.28:1
Closest name
Medium Violet Red
ΔE2000 7.4
Chroma
84.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.563
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 13.6
Web-safe
#CC0099
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue309° of 360°
Saturation89%
Lightness41%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c40caa.

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
Red79%
Green2%
Blue19%

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

Every format

HEX#c40caa
HEX (8-digit)#c40caaff
RGBrgb(196, 12, 170)
RGBArgba(196, 12, 170, 1)
HSLhsl(309, 89%, 41%)
HSV / HSBhsv(308, 94%, 77%)
HWBhwb(309 5% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 94%, 13%, 23%)
LABlab(45.5 75.9 -36.4)
LCHlch(45.5 84.2 334.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.563 0.245 336.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.15, 14.90, 39.31)
Decimal12848298
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.047 0.667)
Web-safe#CC0099

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c40caa;
background-color: #c40caa;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c40caa;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c40caa] bg-[#c40caa]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c40caa;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.047, blue: 0.667)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.047, blue: 0.667, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C40CAA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC40CAA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC40CAA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(170, 12, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 12, 170)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 12, 170)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 12, 170)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.0471f, 0.6667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,12,170}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c40caa 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c40caa 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#780768, #EED3EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c40caa 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: #FDF2FB;
  --brand-100: #FAE5F7;
  --brand-200: #F8C4F0;
  --brand-300: #F995EA;
  --brand-400: #F560E0;
  --brand-500: #F22CD6;
  --brand-600: #E70EC8;
  --brand-700: #c40caa;
  --brand-800: #9A0985;
  --brand-900: #6F0B61;
  --brand-950: #45073D;
  --brand: #c40caa;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4FA;
  --brand-border: #EDC0E6;
  --brand-hover: #A20A8D;
  --brand-pressed: #810870;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241422;
    --brand-ink: #EED3EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF2FB',
        100: '#FAE5F7',
        200: '#F8C4F0',
        300: '#F995EA',
        400: '#F560E0',
        500: '#F22CD6',
        600: '#E70EC8',
        700: '#c40caa',
        800: '#9A0985',
        900: '#6F0B61',
        950: '#45073D',
        DEFAULT: '#c40caa',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF2FB,
  '100': #FAE5F7,
  '200': #F8C4F0,
  '300': #F995EA,
  '400': #F560E0,
  '500': #F22CD6,
  '600': #E70EC8,
  '700': #c40caa,
  '800': #9A0985,
  '900': #6F0B61,
  '950': #45073D,
);
$brand-base: #c40caa;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF2FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FAE5F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F8C4F0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F995EA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F560E0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#F22CD6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#E70EC8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#c40caa", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9A0985", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6F0B61", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#45073D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #c40caa · 5.28:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.28:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.98:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c40caa as text scores 5.28:1 on white and 3.98:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FEE7FA at 4.53:1.

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
#c40caa · 5.28:1
AA on whitealready passes
#c40caa
The quick fox
#A20A8D · 7.08:1
AAA on white−7% L
#A20A8D
The quick fox
#D30DB7 · 4.51:1
AA on black+3% L
#D30DB7
The quick fox
#F451DD · 7.07:1
AAA on black+23% L
#F451DD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C40CAA 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
#c40caa on white: 5.28:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c40caa on black: 3.98:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c40caa as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c40caa.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.28:1AaAa
Slate 505.04:1AaAa
Slate 1004.82:1AaAa
Slate 2004.28:1AaAa
Slate 3003.55:1AaAa
Slate 4002.06:1AaAa
Slate 5001.11:1AaAa
Slate 6001.44:1AaAa
Slate 7001.96:1AaAa
Slate 8002.77:1AaAa
Slate 9003.38:1AaAa
Black3.98:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #115CAD
deuteranopia · #5F74A6
tritanopia · #CF2664

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. #c40caa is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDF2FB
#FAE5F7
#F8C4F0
#F995EA
#F560E0
#F22CD6
#E70EC8
#c40caa
#9A0985
#6F0B61
#45073D
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FDF2FBDarkest = 950 · #45073DText step on white = 700
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 0.061 336.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.098 336.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.147 336.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.191 336.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.225 336.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.245 336.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.245 336.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.230 336.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.205 336.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.171 336.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.135 336.0);
}

Colors that work with #c40caa

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF4FA
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#1DC408
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#780768
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEE7FA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241422
Dark-mode background
Hover#A20A8D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#810870
Two steps down
Disabled#B58BAF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E302C3
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 #c40caa

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight59/100
  • 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#0CC426
Analogous left#820CC4
Analogous right#C40C4E
Split-complement 1#4EC40C
Split-complement 2#0CC482
Triadic 1#AAC40C
Triadic 2#0CAAC4
Tetradic#C4820C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°309°

#c40caa sits at 309°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green4.7%
Blue66.7%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
12
0x0c
B · 0–255
170
0xaa

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta93.9%
Yellow13.3%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 130%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c40caa text on a black background

contrast 3.98:1

Card sample

#c40caa text on a white background

contrast 5.28:1

Card sample

#c40caa on grey

4.82:1

#c40caa on its own surface

4.87:1

#c40caa on its dark surface

3.32:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c40caa;
Background color
Panel with #c40caa background
background-color: #c40caa;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c40caa;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 12, 170, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 12, 170, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c40caa;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c40caa, #C40C2F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c40caa, #C4170C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c40caa;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c40caa;
caret-color: #c40caa;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c40caa;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEE7FA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c40caa;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c40caa 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c40caa 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(196, 12, 170, 0.5)
rgb(196 12 170 / 50%)
#c40caa80
hsl(309 89% 41% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c40caa 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c40caa1a#F9E7F7
20%#c40caa33#F3CEEE
40%#c40caa66#E79EDD
60%#c40caa99#DC6DCC
80%#c40caacc#D03DBB

Gradients from #c40caa

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, #F11CD3, #c40caa 45%, #780768);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c40caa, #A70A1B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c40caa, #0CC426);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F339D9 0%, #c40caa 45%, #780768 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8E13F1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E10E48 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #780768 0%, transparent 65%), #c40caa;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c40caa

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.

#c40caa 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

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

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 3.98:1 — lift it to #D30DB7 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#c40caa, answered

What color is #c40caa?

#c40caa is a dark electric magenta / pink, closest to Medium Violet Red (ΔE2000 7.4). It sits at 309° on the hue wheel with 89% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #c40caa?

rgb(196, 12, 170) — 196 red, 12 green and 170 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 4.7% / 66.7% by channel.

What is #c40caa in HSL and HSV?

hsl(309, 89%, 41%) and hsv(308, 94%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c40caa a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1490 and perceived brightness is 48%, so white text on it reaches 5.28:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c40caa?

White. It scores 5.28:1 against #c40caa, versus 3.98:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #c40caa accessible on a white background?

#c40caa on white scores 5.28:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #c40caa?

#0CC426 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4EC40C and #0CC482, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c40caa?

For interface work: #FAF4FA as the surface, #EDC0E6 for borders, #9B4B90 for secondary text, #1DC408 as an accent and #780768 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #820CC4 and #C40C4E stays calm, while #0CC426 is the loudest partner.

What is #c40caa in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 94%, 13%, 23%). 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 #c40caa 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 #C40C67; nudged cooler, #9C0AC6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c40caa?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 13.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c40caa as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c40caa in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c40caa] or text-[#c40caa], 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 #c40caa with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 12, 170, 0.5), or #c40caa80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E286D5; over black, #620655.

Is #c40caa a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC0099, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c40caa 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #c40caa?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F11CD3, #c40caa 45%, #780768). For more colour, a short hue run to #A70A1B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c40caa in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c40caa at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.