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magenta / pink · neutral

#cd23ad

a balanced, vivid magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Medium Violet Red

Token name suggestion: Studio Peony

RGB
205, 35, 173
HSL
311°, 71%, 47%
CMYK
0, 83, 16, 20
Luminance
0.1720

#cd23ad is a balanced vivid magenta / pink, 311° on the wheel and 44/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (4.73:1). As text it scores 4.73:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Medium Violet Red, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(311 71% 47%)rgb(205 35 173)Base step 600AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cd23ad is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cd23ad
Hue
311°
magenta / pink
Saturation
71%
vivid
Lightness
47%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1720
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
44/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
4.73:1
Closest name
Medium Violet Red
ΔE2000 7.3
Chroma
81.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.588
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 11.6
Web-safe
#CC3399
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue311° of 360°
Saturation71%
Lightness47%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cd23ad.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool44% 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
Red75%
Green7%
Blue18%

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

Every format

HEX#cd23ad
HEX (8-digit)#cd23adff
RGBrgb(205, 35, 173)
RGBArgba(205, 35, 173, 1)
HSLhsl(311, 71%, 47%)
HSV / HSBhsv(311, 83%, 80%)
HWBhwb(311 14% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 83%, 16%, 20%)
LABlab(48.5 74.5 -33.3)
LCHlch(48.5 81.6 335.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.588 0.239 337.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.32, 17.20, 41.09)
Decimal13444013
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.137 0.678)
Web-safe#CC3399

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cd23ad;
background-color: #cd23ad;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cd23ad;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cd23ad] bg-[#cd23ad]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cd23ad;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.137, blue: 0.678)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.137, blue: 0.678, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CD23AD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCD23AD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCD23AD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(173, 35, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 35, 173)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 35, 173)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 35, 173)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.1373f, 0.6784f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,35,173}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cd23ad 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cd23ad 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6D135C, #EED3E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cd23ad 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: #FCF3FA;
  --brand-100: #F8E7F5;
  --brand-200: #F3C9EB;
  --brand-300: #EF9FE0;
  --brand-400: #E66FD0;
  --brand-500: #DE3FC0;
  --brand-600: #cd23ad;
  --brand-700: #AE1E93;
  --brand-800: #8B1876;
  --brand-900: #651556;
  --brand-950: #3F0D36;
  --brand: #cd23ad;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F9;
  --brand-border: #EDC0E4;
  --brand-hover: #AF1E93;
  --brand-pressed: #90197A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241421;
    --brand-ink: #EED3E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF3FA',
        100: '#F8E7F5',
        200: '#F3C9EB',
        300: '#EF9FE0',
        400: '#E66FD0',
        500: '#DE3FC0',
        600: '#cd23ad',
        700: '#AE1E93',
        800: '#8B1876',
        900: '#651556',
        950: '#3F0D36',
        DEFAULT: '#cd23ad',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF3FA,
  '100': #F8E7F5,
  '200': #F3C9EB,
  '300': #EF9FE0,
  '400': #E66FD0,
  '500': #DE3FC0,
  '600': #cd23ad,
  '700': #AE1E93,
  '800': #8B1876,
  '900': #651556,
  '950': #3F0D36,
);
$brand-base: #cd23ad;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF3FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8E7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3C9EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EF9FE0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E66FD0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#DE3FC0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#cd23ad", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#AE1E93", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8B1876", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#651556", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3F0D36", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cd23ad · 4.73:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.73:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.44:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #cd23ad as text scores 4.73:1 on white and 4.44:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FBE9F8 at 4.08:1.

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
#cd23ad · 4.73:1
AA on whitealready passes
#cd23ad
The quick fox
#9D1B85 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−11% L
#9D1B85
The quick fox
#D124B1 · 4.60:1
AA on black+1% L
#D124B1
The quick fox
#E567CD · 7.15:1
AAA on black+18% L
#E567CD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CD23AD 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
#cd23ad on white: 4.73:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cd23ad on black: 4.44:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cd23ad as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cd23ad.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.73:1AaAa
Slate 504.52:1AaAa
Slate 1004.32:1AaAa
Slate 2003.84:1AaAa
Slate 3003.19:1AaAa
Slate 4001.84:1AaAa
Slate 5001.01:1AaAa
Slate 6001.60:1AaAa
Slate 7002.19:1AaAa
Slate 8003.09:1AaAa
Slate 9003.77:1AaAa
Black4.44:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #2C63B0
deuteranopia · #6A7CA9
tritanopia · #D93069

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. #cd23ad is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCF3FA
#F8E7F5
#F3C9EB
#EF9FE0
#E66FD0
#DE3FC0
#cd23ad
#AE1E93
#8B1876
#651556
#3F0D36
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCF3FADarkest = 950 · #3F0D36Text 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 0.060 337.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.095 337.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.143 337.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.186 337.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.220 337.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.239 337.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.239 337.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.224 337.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.200 337.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.167 337.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.131 337.7);
}

Colors that work with #cd23ad

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#FAF4F9
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0E4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B8C
Captions on the surface
Accent#23B319
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6D135C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBE9F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241421
Dark-mode background
Hover#AF1E93
One step down in lightness
Pressed#90197A
Two steps down
Disabled#C29FBB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E71EC1
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 #cd23ad

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight53/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityHigh

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#23CD43
Analogous left#9823CD
Analogous right#CD2358
Split-complement 1#58CD23
Split-complement 2#23CD98
Triadic 1#ADCD23
Triadic 2#23ADCD
Tetradic#CD9823
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°311°

#cd23ad sits at 311°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green13.7%
Blue67.8%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
35
0x23
B · 0–255
173
0xad

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta82.9%
Yellow15.6%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 118%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cd23ad text on a black background

contrast 4.44:1

Card sample

#cd23ad text on a white background

contrast 4.73:1

Card sample

#cd23ad on grey

4.32:1

#cd23ad on its own surface

4.36:1

#cd23ad on its dark surface

3.71:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cd23ad;
Background color
Panel with #cd23ad background
background-color: #cd23ad;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cd23ad;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 35, 173, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 35, 173, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cd23ad;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cd23ad, #CD233C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cd23ad, #CD3523);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cd23ad;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cd23ad;
caret-color: #cd23ad;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cd23ad;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBE9F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cd23ad;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cd23ad 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cd23ad 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(205, 35, 173, 0.5)
rgb(205 35 173 / 50%)
#cd23ad80
hsl(311 71% 47% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cd23ad 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cd23ad1a#FAE9F7
20%#cd23ad33#F5D3EF
40%#cd23ad66#EBA7DE
60%#cd23ad99#E17BCE
80%#cd23adcc#D74FBD

Gradients from #cd23ad

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, #E14DC5, #cd23ad 45%, #6D135C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cd23ad, #B31F28);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cd23ad, #23CD43);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E567CD 0%, #cd23ad 45%, #6D135C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #A244DF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DC3359 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6D135C 0%, transparent 65%), #cd23ad;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cd23ad

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.

#cd23ad 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

Too dim on dark surfaces at 4.44:1 — lift it to #D124B1 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.

#cd23ad, answered

What color is #cd23ad?

#cd23ad is a balanced vivid magenta / pink, closest to Medium Violet Red (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 311° on the hue wheel with 71% saturation and 47% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #cd23ad?

rgb(205, 35, 173) — 205 red, 35 green and 173 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 13.7% / 67.8% by channel.

What is #cd23ad in HSL and HSV?

hsl(311, 71%, 47%) and hsv(311, 83%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cd23ad a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1720 and perceived brightness is 51%, so white text on it reaches 4.73:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cd23ad?

White. It scores 4.73:1 against #cd23ad, versus 4.44:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #cd23ad accessible on a white background?

#cd23ad on white scores 4.73:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #cd23ad?

#23CD43 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #58CD23 and #23CD98, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cd23ad?

For interface work: #FAF4F9 as the surface, #EDC0E4 for borders, #9B4B8C for secondary text, #23B319 as an accent and #6D135C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9823CD and #CD2358 stays calm, while #23CD43 is the loudest partner.

What is #cd23ad in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 83%, 16%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cd23ad warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 44 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CD236F; nudged cooler, #B021D0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cd23ad?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 11.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cd23ad as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cd23ad in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cd23ad] or text-[#cd23ad], 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 #cd23ad with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 35, 173, 0.5), or #cd23ad80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E691D6; over black, #671257.

Is #cd23ad a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC3399, ΔE2000 4.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cd23ad 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 #cd23ad?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E14DC5, #cd23ad 45%, #6D135C). For more colour, a short hue run to #B31F28 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cd23ad in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cd23ad at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.