Skip to content
violet · neutral

#c437eb

a balanced, electric violet · neutral · closest name: Medium Orchid

Token name suggestion: Atlas Plum

RGB
196, 55, 235
HSL
287°, 82%, 57%
CMYK
17, 77, 0, 8
Luminance
0.2047

#c437eb is a balanced electric violet, 287° on the wheel and 57/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.09:1). As text it scores 4.12:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(287 82% 57%)rgb(196 55 235)Base step 500AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c437eb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c437eb
Hue
287°
violet
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2047
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
57/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.09:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 5
Chroma
99.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.624
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 5.2
Web-safe
#CC33FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue287° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c437eb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool57% 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
Red57%
Green13%
Blue29%

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

Every format

HEX#c437eb
HEX (8-digit)#c437ebff
RGBrgb(196, 55, 235)
RGBArgba(196, 55, 235, 1)
HSLhsl(287, 82%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(287, 77%, 92%)
HWBhwb(287 22% 8%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 77%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(52.4 77.3 -63.0)
LCHlch(52.4 99.7 320.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.624 0.263 317.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.12, 20.47, 80.47)
Decimal12859371
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.216 0.922)
Web-safe#CC33FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c437eb;
background-color: #c437eb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c437eb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c437eb] bg-[#c437eb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c437eb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.216, blue: 0.922)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.216, blue: 0.922, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C437EB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC437EB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC437EB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(235, 55, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 55, 235)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 55, 235)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 55, 235)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.2157f, 0.9216f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,55,235}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c437eb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c437eb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5D0C74, #E8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c437eb 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: #FAF2FC;
  --brand-100: #F5E6F9;
  --brand-200: #EBC6F6;
  --brand-300: #E199F5;
  --brand-400: #D266F0;
  --brand-500: #c437eb;
  --brand-600: #B316DF;
  --brand-700: #9513B9;
  --brand-800: #770F94;
  --brand-900: #570F6B;
  --brand-950: #370943;
  --brand: #c437eb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E3C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #BA17E7;
  --brand-pressed: #A014C7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211424;
    --brand-ink: #E8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF2FC',
        100: '#F5E6F9',
        200: '#EBC6F6',
        300: '#E199F5',
        400: '#D266F0',
        500: '#c437eb',
        600: '#B316DF',
        700: '#9513B9',
        800: '#770F94',
        900: '#570F6B',
        950: '#370943',
        DEFAULT: '#c437eb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF2FC,
  '100': #F5E6F9,
  '200': #EBC6F6,
  '300': #E199F5,
  '400': #D266F0,
  '500': #c437eb,
  '600': #B316DF,
  '700': #9513B9,
  '800': #770F94,
  '900': #570F6B,
  '950': #370943,
);
$brand-base: #c437eb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF2FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5E6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBC6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E199F5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D266F0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#c437eb", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B316DF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9513B9", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#770F94", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#570F6B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#370943", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c437eb · 5.09:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.12:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c437eb as text scores 4.12:1 on white and 5.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5D0C74 at 2.88:1.

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
#BF25E9 · 4.51:1
AA on white−4% L
#BF25E9
The quick fox
#9112B4 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−18% L
#9112B4
The quick fox
#c437eb · 5.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c437eb
The quick fox
#D36AF0 · 7.09:1
AAA on black+11% L
#D36AF0

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C437EB 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
#c437eb on white: 4.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c437eb on black: 5.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c437eb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c437eb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.12:1AaAa
Slate 503.94:1AaAa
Slate 1003.76:1AaAa
Slate 2003.34:1AaAa
Slate 3002.78:1AaAa
Slate 4001.61:1AaAa
Slate 5001.15:1AaAa
Slate 6001.84:1AaAa
Slate 7002.51:1AaAa
Slate 8003.55:1AaAa
Slate 9004.33:1AaAa
Black5.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0074F0
deuteranopia · #3D81E7
tritanopia · #C25F91

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. #c437eb is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF2FC
#F5E6F9
#EBC6F6
#E199F5
#D266F0
#c437eb
#B316DF
#9513B9
#770F94
#570F6B
#370943
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF2FCDarkest = 950 · #370943Text 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 0.066 317.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.105 317.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.158 317.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.205 317.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.242 317.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.263 317.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.263 317.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.247 317.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.221 317.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.184 317.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.145 317.6);
}

Colors that work with #c437eb

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#F9F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#E3C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8A4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#60BD0F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5D0C74
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8E8FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
Hover#BA17E7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A014C7
Two steps down
Disabled#D0BDD5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CF40F7
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 #c437eb

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #5D0C74
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.

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight43/100
  • 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#5EEB37
Analogous left#6A37EB
Analogous right#EB37B8
Split-complement 1#B8EB37
Split-complement 2#37EB6A
Triadic 1#EBC437
Triadic 2#37EBC4
Tetradic#EB6A37
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°287°

#c437eb sits at 287°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green21.6%
Blue92.2%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
55
0x37
B · 0–255
235
0xeb

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.6%
Magenta76.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.8%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c437eb text on a black background

contrast 5.09:1

Card sample

#c437eb text on a white background

contrast 4.12:1

Card sample

#c437eb on grey

3.76:1

#c437eb on its own surface

3.80:1

#c437eb on its dark surface

4.28:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c437eb;
Background color
Panel with #c437eb background
background-color: #c437eb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c437eb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 55, 235, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 55, 235, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c437eb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c437eb, #EB379A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c437eb, #EB376D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c437eb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c437eb;
caret-color: #c437eb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c437eb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8E8FD;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c437eb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c437eb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c437eb 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, 55, 235, 0.5)
rgb(196 55 235 / 50%)
#c437eb80
hsl(287 82% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c437eb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c437eb1a#F9EBFD
20%#c437eb33#F3D7FB
40%#c437eb66#E7AFF7
60%#c437eb99#DC87F3
80%#c437ebcc#D05FEF

Gradients from #c437eb

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, #D46FF1, #c437eb 45%, #5D0C74);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c437eb, #E81B7B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c437eb, #5EEB37);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DD8BF3 0%, #c437eb 45%, #5D0C74 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8166F0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EE53B5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5D0C74 0%, transparent 65%), #c437eb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c437eb

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.

#c437eb 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
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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.09:1.

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.

#c437eb, answered

What color is #c437eb?

#c437eb is a balanced electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 287° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #c437eb?

rgb(196, 55, 235) — 196 red, 55 green and 235 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 21.6% / 92.2% by channel.

What is #c437eb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(287, 82%, 57%) and hsv(287, 77%, 92%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c437eb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2047 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 5.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c437eb?

Black. It scores 5.09:1 against #c437eb, versus 4.12:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #c437eb accessible on a white background?

#c437eb on white scores 4.12:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #BF25E9 to reach 4.5:1, or #9112B4 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c437eb?

#5EEB37 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B8EB37 and #37EB6A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c437eb?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E3C0ED for borders, #8A4B9B for secondary text, #60BD0F as an accent and #5D0C74 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6A37EB and #EB37B8 stays calm, while #5EEB37 is the loudest partner.

What is #c437eb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 77%, 0%, 8%). 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 #c437eb warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 57 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EB37D0; nudged cooler, #8235ED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c437eb?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 5.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c437eb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c437eb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c437eb] or text-[#c437eb], 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 #c437eb with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 55, 235, 0.5), or #c437eb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E29BF5; over black, #621C76.

Is #c437eb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC33FF, ΔE2000 2.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c437eb 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 #c437eb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D46FF1, #c437eb 45%, #5D0C74). For more colour, a short hue run to #E81B7B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c437eb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c437eb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.