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blue · cool

#b09dec

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Morning Cobalt

RGB
176, 157, 236
HSL
254°, 68%, 77%
CMYK
25, 34, 0, 8
Luminance
0.3940

#b09dec is a light vivid blue, 254° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.88:1). As text it scores 2.36:1 on white — use #7C5DE0 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(254 68% 77%)rgb(176 157 236)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b09dec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b09dec
Hue
254°
blue
Saturation
68%
vivid
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3940
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.88:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 12
Chroma
44.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.742
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 18.4
Web-safe
#9999FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue254° of 360°
Saturation68%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b09dec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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%
Green61%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#b09dec
HEX (8-digit)#b09decff
RGBrgb(176, 157, 236)
RGBArgba(176, 157, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(254, 68%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(254, 33%, 93%)
HWBhwb(254 62% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 34%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(69.0 23.4 -37.2)
LCHlch(69.0 44.0 302.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.742 0.114 294.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.10, 39.40, 84.57)
Decimal11574764
Display P3color(display-p3 0.690 0.616 0.925)
Web-safe#9999FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b09dec;
background-color: #b09dec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b09dec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b09dec] bg-[#b09dec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b09dec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.690, green: 0.616, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.690, green: 0.616, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B09DEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB09DEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB09DEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 157, 176)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(176, 157, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(176, 157, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 176, 157, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6902f, 0.6157f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{176,157,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b09dec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b09dec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#29156B, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b09dec 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: #F5F3FB;
  --brand-100: #ECE8F8;
  --brand-200: #D4CAF2;
  --brand-300: #b09dec;
  --brand-400: #8D72E4;
  --brand-500: #6743DB;
  --brand-600: #4F28CD;
  --brand-700: #4221AB;
  --brand-800: #351B89;
  --brand-900: #291763;
  --brand-950: #1A0E3E;
  --brand: #b09dec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CBC0ED;
  --brand-hover: #987FE6;
  --brand-pressed: #8061E0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F3FB',
        100: '#ECE8F8',
        200: '#D4CAF2',
        300: '#b09dec',
        400: '#8D72E4',
        500: '#6743DB',
        600: '#4F28CD',
        700: '#4221AB',
        800: '#351B89',
        900: '#291763',
        950: '#1A0E3E',
        DEFAULT: '#b09dec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F3FB,
  '100': #ECE8F8,
  '200': #D4CAF2,
  '300': #b09dec,
  '400': #8D72E4,
  '500': #6743DB,
  '600': #4F28CD,
  '700': #4221AB,
  '800': #351B89,
  '900': #291763,
  '950': #1A0E3E,
);
$brand-base: #b09dec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F3FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECE8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4CAF2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b09dec", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8D72E4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6743DB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4F28CD", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4221AB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#351B89", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#291763", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A0E3E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b09dec · 8.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b09dec as text scores 2.36:1 on white and 8.88:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #29156B at 6.28:1.

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
#7C5DE0 · 4.67:1
AA on white−15% L
#7C5DE0
The quick fox
#5A32D7 · 7.31:1
AAA on white−25% L
#5A32D7
The quick fox
#b09dec · 8.88:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b09dec
The quick fox
#b09dec · 8.88:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b09dec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9B84E7 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
#b09dec on white: 2.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b09dec on black: 8.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b09dec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b09dec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.36:1AaAa
Slate 502.26:1AaAa
Slate 1002.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.92:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.08:1AaAa
Slate 5002.01:1AaAa
Slate 6003.20:1AaAa
Slate 7004.38:1AaAa
Slate 8006.19:1AaAa
Slate 9007.55:1AaAa
Black8.88:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #89A9EF
deuteranopia · #8BA7EA
tritanopia · #A4AABA

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. #b09dec 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.

#F5F3FB
#ECE8F8
#D4CAF2
#b09dec
#8D72E4
#6743DB
#4F28CD
#4221AB
#351B89
#291763
#1A0E3E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F3FBDarkest = 950 · #1A0E3EText 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 0.028 294.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 294.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.068 294.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 294.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.104 294.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.114 294.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.114 294.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.107 294.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.095 294.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.079 294.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 294.5);
}

Colors that work with #b09dec

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#CBC0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5E4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#AEAE1E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#29156B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEEAFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#987FE6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8061E0
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BBA9F4
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 #b09dec

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 #29156B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9B84E7

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
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#D9EC9D
Analogous left#9DB2EC
Analogous right#D89DEC
Split-complement 1#ECD89D
Split-complement 2#B2EC9D
Triadic 1#ECB09D
Triadic 2#9DECB0
Tetradic#EC9DB2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°254°

#b09dec sits at 254°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.0%
Green61.6%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
176
0xb0
G · 0–255
157
0x9d
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.4%
Magenta33.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 66%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b09dec text on a black background

contrast 8.88:1

Card sample

#b09dec text on a white background

contrast 2.36:1

Card sample

#b09dec on grey

2.16:1

#b09dec on its own surface

2.17:1

#b09dec on its dark surface

7.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b09dec;
Background color
Panel with #b09dec background
background-color: #b09dec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b09dec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(176, 157, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(176, 157, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b09dec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b09dec, #E59DEC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b09dec, #EC9DE0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b09dec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b09dec;
caret-color: #b09dec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b09dec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEEAFB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b09dec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b09dec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b09dec 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(176, 157, 236, 0.5)
rgb(176 157 236 / 50%)
#b09dec80
hsl(254 68% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b09dec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b09dec1a#F7F5FD
20%#b09dec33#EFEBFB
40%#b09dec66#DFD8F7
60%#b09dec99#D0C4F4
80%#b09deccc#C0B1F0

Gradients from #b09dec

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, #D9D0F6, #b09dec 45%, #29156B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b09dec, #E684E7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b09dec, #D9EC9D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EEEAFB 0%, #b09dec 45%, #29156B 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%, #C8D7F4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E7B7F1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #29156B 0%, transparent 65%), #b09dec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b09dec

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.

#b09dec 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 8.88:1.

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.

#b09dec, answered

What color is #b09dec?

#b09dec is a light vivid blue, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 12). It sits at 254° on the hue wheel with 68% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b09dec?

rgb(176, 157, 236) — 176 red, 157 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 69% / 61.6% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #b09dec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(254, 68%, 77%) and hsv(254, 33%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b09dec a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3940 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 8.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b09dec?

Black. It scores 8.88:1 against #b09dec, versus 2.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b09dec accessible on a white background?

#b09dec on white scores 2.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7C5DE0 to reach 4.5:1, or #5A32D7 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b09dec?

#D9EC9D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECD89D and #B2EC9D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b09dec?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CBC0ED for borders, #5E4B9B for secondary text, #AEAE1E as an accent and #29156B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9DB2EC and #D89DEC stays calm, while #D9EC9D is the loudest partner.

What is #b09dec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 34%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b09dec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CD9DEC; nudged cooler, #9CA6ED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b09dec?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 18.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b09dec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b09dec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b09dec] or text-[#b09dec], 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 #b09dec with 50% opacity?

rgba(176, 157, 236, 0.5), or #b09dec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D8CEF6; over black, #584F76.

Is #b09dec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999FF, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b09dec 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 #b09dec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D9D0F6, #b09dec 45%, #29156B). For more colour, a short hue run to #E684E7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b09dec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b09dec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.