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blue · cool

#a294df

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Medium Purple

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
162, 148, 223
HSL
251°, 54%, 73%
CMYK
27, 34, 0, 13
Luminance
0.3419

#a294df is a light vivid blue, 251° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.84:1). As text it scores 2.68:1 on white — use #7965D1 instead. Nearest name is Medium Purple, nearest Tailwind family is violet.

hsl(251 54% 73%)rgb(162 148 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a294df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a294df
Hue
251°
blue
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3419
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.84:1
Closest name
Medium Purple
ΔE2000 10.8
Chroma
42.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.708
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
violet
500 · ΔE 16.7
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue251° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness73%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a294df.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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
Red22%
Green62%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#a294df
HEX (8-digit)#a294dfff
RGBrgb(162, 148, 223)
RGBArgba(162, 148, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(251, 54%, 73%)
HSV / HSBhsv(251, 34%, 87%)
HWBhwb(251 58% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(27%, 34%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(65.1 21.3 -36.3)
LCHlch(65.1 42.1 300.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.708 0.109 291.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.81, 34.19, 74.35)
Decimal10654943
Display P3color(display-p3 0.635 0.580 0.875)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a294df;
background-color: #a294df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a294df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a294df] bg-[#a294df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a294df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.635, green: 0.580, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.635, green: 0.580, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A294DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA294DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA294DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 148, 162)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(162, 148, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(162, 148, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 162, 148, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6353f, 0.5804f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{162,148,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a294df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a294df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2A1D62, #D8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a294df 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: #F5F4FB;
  --brand-100: #ECE9F6;
  --brand-200: #D4CEEE;
  --brand-300: #a294df;
  --brand-400: #8E7DD8;
  --brand-500: #6952CB;
  --brand-600: #5138BC;
  --brand-700: #432F9D;
  --brand-800: #36267E;
  --brand-900: #2A1F5C;
  --brand-950: #1A1339;
  --brand: #a294df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C8C0EC;
  --brand-hover: #8A78D7;
  --brand-pressed: #725DCF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F4FB',
        100: '#ECE9F6',
        200: '#D4CEEE',
        300: '#a294df',
        400: '#8E7DD8',
        500: '#6952CB',
        600: '#5138BC',
        700: '#432F9D',
        800: '#36267E',
        900: '#2A1F5C',
        950: '#1A1339',
        DEFAULT: '#a294df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F4FB,
  '100': #ECE9F6,
  '200': #D4CEEE,
  '300': #a294df,
  '400': #8E7DD8,
  '500': #6952CB,
  '600': #5138BC,
  '700': #432F9D,
  '800': #36267E,
  '900': #2A1F5C,
  '950': #1A1339,
);
$brand-base: #a294df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECE9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4CEEE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#a294df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8E7DD8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6952CB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5138BC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#432F9D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#36267E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A1F5C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A1339", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a294df · 7.84:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.68:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.84:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a294df as text scores 2.68:1 on white and 7.84:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2A1D62 at 5.40:1.

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
#7965D1 · 4.57:1
AA on white−12% L
#7965D1
The quick fox
#573DC5 · 7.29:1
AAA on white−22% L
#573DC5
The quick fox
#a294df · 7.84:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a294df
The quick fox
#a294df · 7.84:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a294df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9888DB 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
#a294df on white: 2.68:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a294df on black: 7.84:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a294df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a294df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.68:1AaAa
Slate 502.56:1AaAa
Slate 1002.45:1AaAa
Slate 2002.17:1AaAa
Slate 3001.80:1AaAa
Slate 4001.04:1AaAa
Slate 5001.78:1AaAa
Slate 6002.83:1AaAa
Slate 7003.86:1AaAa
Slate 8005.46:1AaAa
Slate 9006.66:1AaAa
Black7.84:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #809FE2
deuteranopia · #819DDD
tritanopia · #95A1AF

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. #a294df 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.

#F5F4FB
#ECE9F6
#D4CEEE
#a294df
#8E7DD8
#6952CB
#5138BC
#432F9D
#36267E
#2A1F5C
#1A1339
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F4FBDarkest = 950 · #1A1339Text 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 0.027 291.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 291.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.065 291.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.085 291.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.100 291.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.109 291.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.109 291.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.102 291.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.091 291.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.076 291.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.060 291.9);
}

Colors that work with #a294df

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#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C8C0EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5A4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A19A2B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2A1D62
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEEBF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8A78D7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#725DCF
Two steps down
Disabled#F0EFF4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#AC9EEA
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 #a294df

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #2A1D62
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9888DB

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#D1DF94
Analogous left#94ABDF
Analogous right#C794DF
Split-complement 1#DFC794
Split-complement 2#ABDF94
Triadic 1#DFA294
Triadic 2#94DFA2
Tetradic#DF94AB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°251°

#a294df sits at 251°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red63.5%
Green58.0%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
162
0xa2
G · 0–255
148
0x94
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan27.4%
Magenta33.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 74%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a294df text on a black background

contrast 7.84:1

Card sample

#a294df text on a white background

contrast 2.68:1

Card sample

#a294df on grey

2.45:1

#a294df on its own surface

2.45:1

#a294df on its dark surface

6.75:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a294df;
Background color
Panel with #a294df background
background-color: #a294df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a294df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(162, 148, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(162, 148, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a294df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a294df, #D494DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a294df, #DF94D7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a294df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a294df;
caret-color: #a294df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a294df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEEBF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a294df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a294df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a294df 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(162, 148, 223, 0.5)
rgb(162 148 223 / 50%)
#a294df80
hsl(251 54% 73% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a294df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a294df1a#F6F4FC
20%#a294df33#ECEAF9
40%#a294df66#DAD4F2
60%#a294df99#C7BFEC
80%#a294dfcc#B5A9E5

Gradients from #a294df

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, #CBC3ED, #a294df 45%, #2A1D62);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a294df, #D27CD8);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a294df, #D1DF94);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DFDAF4 0%, #a294df 45%, #2A1D62 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BBCEEB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D9ABE6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2A1D62 0%, transparent 65%), #a294df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a294df

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.

#a294df in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
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 7.84:1.

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.

#a294df, answered

What color is #a294df?

#a294df is a light vivid blue, closest to Medium Purple (ΔE2000 10.8). It sits at 251° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a294df?

rgb(162, 148, 223) — 162 red, 148 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 63.5% / 58% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #a294df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(251, 54%, 73%) and hsv(251, 34%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a294df a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3419 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 7.84:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a294df?

Black. It scores 7.84:1 against #a294df, versus 2.68:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a294df accessible on a white background?

#a294df on white scores 2.68:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7965D1 to reach 4.5:1, or #573DC5 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a294df?

#D1DF94 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFC794 and #ABDF94, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a294df?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C8C0EC for borders, #5A4B9B for secondary text, #A19A2B as an accent and #2A1D62 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #94ABDF and #C794DF stays calm, while #D1DF94 is the loudest partner.

What is #a294df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(27%, 34%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a294df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BD94DF; nudged cooler, #92A0E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a294df?

The violet family — its 500 step is #8b5cf6, ΔE2000 16.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a294df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a294df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a294df] or text-[#a294df], 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 #a294df with 50% opacity?

rgba(162, 148, 223, 0.5), or #a294df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D1CAEF; over black, #514A70.

Is #a294df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a294df mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #a294df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CBC3ED, #a294df 45%, #2A1D62). For more colour, a short hue run to #D27CD8 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a294df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a294df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.