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violet · cool

#b5a2cf

a light, soft violet · cool · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Meadow Thistle

RGB
181, 162, 207
HSL
265°, 32%, 72%
CMYK
13, 22, 0, 19
Luminance
0.4017

#b5a2cf is a light soft violet, 265° on the wheel and 68/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.03:1). As text it scores 2.32:1 on white — use #8566B0 instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(265 32% 72%)rgb(181 162 207)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b5a2cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b5a2cf
Hue
265°
violet
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4017
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
68/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.03:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 9.3
Chroma
25.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.744
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 22.3
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue265° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b5a2cf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool68% 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
Red24%
Green64%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#b5a2cf
HEX (8-digit)#b5a2cfff
RGBrgb(181, 162, 207)
RGBArgba(181, 162, 207, 1)
HSLhsl(265, 32%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(265, 22%, 81%)
HWBhwb(265 64% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 22%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(69.6 15.6 -20.4)
LCHlch(69.6 25.7 307.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.744 0.067 304.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.24, 40.17, 64.50)
Decimal11903695
Display P3color(display-p3 0.710 0.635 0.812)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b5a2cf;
background-color: #b5a2cf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b5a2cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b5a2cf] bg-[#b5a2cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b5a2cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.710, green: 0.635, blue: 0.812)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.710, green: 0.635, blue: 0.812, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B5A2CF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB5A2CF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB5A2CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 162, 181)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(181, 162, 207)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(181, 162, 207)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 181, 162, 207)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7098f, 0.6353f, 0.8118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{181,162,207}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b5a2cf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b5a2cf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3D2B54, #DFD7EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b5a2cf 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: #F7F5F9;
  --brand-100: #EFECF4;
  --brand-200: #DCD5E7;
  --brand-300: #C4B5D9;
  --brand-400: #b5a2cf;
  --brand-500: #896BB3;
  --brand-600: #7453A1;
  --brand-700: #614587;
  --brand-800: #4E386C;
  --brand-900: #3A2B4F;
  --brand-950: #241B31;
  --brand: #b5a2cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F5FA;
  --brand-border: #D4C9E3;
  --brand-hover: #A28BC3;
  --brand-pressed: #9073B7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1B1424;
    --brand-ink: #DFD7EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F5F9',
        100: '#EFECF4',
        200: '#DCD5E7',
        300: '#C4B5D9',
        400: '#b5a2cf',
        500: '#896BB3',
        600: '#7453A1',
        700: '#614587',
        800: '#4E386C',
        900: '#3A2B4F',
        950: '#241B31',
        DEFAULT: '#b5a2cf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F5F9,
  '100': #EFECF4,
  '200': #DCD5E7,
  '300': #C4B5D9,
  '400': #b5a2cf,
  '500': #896BB3,
  '600': #7453A1,
  '700': #614587,
  '800': #4E386C,
  '900': #3A2B4F,
  '950': #241B31,
);
$brand-base: #b5a2cf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFECF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DCD5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C4B5D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#b5a2cf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#896BB3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#7453A1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#614587", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4E386C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3A2B4F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#241B31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b5a2cf · 9.03:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.03:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b5a2cf as text scores 2.32:1 on white and 9.03:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3D2B54 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
#8566B0 · 4.64:1
AA on white−18% L
#8566B0
The quick fox
#674A8F · 7.11:1
AAA on white−30% L
#674A8F
The quick fox
#b5a2cf · 9.03:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b5a2cf
The quick fox
#b5a2cf · 9.03:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b5a2cf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A087C1 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
#b5a2cf on white: 2.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b5a2cf on black: 9.03:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b5a2cf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b5a2cf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.32:1AaAa
Slate 502.22:1AaAa
Slate 1002.12:1AaAa
Slate 2001.89:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.05:1AaAa
Slate 6003.26:1AaAa
Slate 7004.45:1AaAa
Slate 8006.29:1AaAa
Slate 9007.68:1AaAa
Black9.03:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9AA9D1
deuteranopia · #9DAACE
tritanopia · #B1A8B1

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. #b5a2cf is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F5F9
#EFECF4
#DCD5E7
#C4B5D9
#b5a2cf
#896BB3
#7453A1
#614587
#4E386C
#3A2B4F
#241B31
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F5F9Darkest = 950 · #241B31Text 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 0.017 304.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.027 304.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.040 304.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.052 304.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.062 304.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.067 304.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.067 304.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.063 304.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.056 304.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.047 304.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.037 304.0);
}

Colors that work with #b5a2cf

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#F7F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#D4C9E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6D4E97
Captions on the surface
Accent#7E8B41
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3D2B54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1B1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A28BC3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9073B7
Two steps down
Disabled#F0EEF4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BFAADC
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 #b5a2cf

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #3D2B54
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A087C1

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight28/100
  • 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#BCCFA2
Analogous left#A2A6CF
Analogous right#CCA2CF
Split-complement 1#CFCCA2
Split-complement 2#A6CFA2
Triadic 1#CFB5A2
Triadic 2#A2CFB5
Tetradic#CFA2A6
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°265°

#b5a2cf sits at 265°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.0%
Green63.5%
Blue81.2%
R · 0–255
181
0xb5
G · 0–255
162
0xa2
B · 0–255
207
0xcf

CMYK percentages

Cyan12.6%
Magenta21.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b5a2cf text on a black background

contrast 9.03:1

Card sample

#b5a2cf text on a white background

contrast 2.32:1

Card sample

#b5a2cf on grey

2.12:1

#b5a2cf on its own surface

2.15:1

#b5a2cf on its dark surface

7.71:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b5a2cf;
Background color
Panel with #b5a2cf background
background-color: #b5a2cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b5a2cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(181, 162, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(181, 162, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b5a2cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b5a2cf, #CFA2CB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5a2cf, #CFA2C0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b5a2cf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b5a2cf;
caret-color: #b5a2cf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b5a2cf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b5a2cf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b5a2cf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b5a2cf 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(181, 162, 207, 0.5)
rgb(181 162 207 / 50%)
#b5a2cf80
hsl(265 32% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b5a2cf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b5a2cf1a#F8F6FA
20%#b5a2cf33#F0ECF5
40%#b5a2cf66#E1DAEC
60%#b5a2cf99#D3C7E2
80%#b5a2cfcc#C4B5D9

Gradients from #b5a2cf

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, #D5CBE4, #b5a2cf 45%, #3D2B54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b5a2cf, #C58EBB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5a2cf, #BCCFA2);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E5DFEE 0%, #b5a2cf 45%, #3D2B54 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C4C8E0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D9B6D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3D2B54 0%, transparent 65%), #b5a2cf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b5a2cf

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.

#b5a2cf 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
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 9.03:1.

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.

#b5a2cf, answered

What color is #b5a2cf?

#b5a2cf is a light soft violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 9.3). It sits at 265° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b5a2cf?

rgb(181, 162, 207) — 181 red, 162 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 71% / 63.5% / 81.2% by channel.

What is #b5a2cf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(265, 32%, 72%) and hsv(265, 22%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b5a2cf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4017 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.03:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b5a2cf?

Black. It scores 9.03:1 against #b5a2cf, versus 2.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b5a2cf accessible on a white background?

#b5a2cf on white scores 2.32:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8566B0 to reach 4.5:1, or #674A8F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b5a2cf?

#BCCFA2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CFCCA2 and #A6CFA2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b5a2cf?

For interface work: #F7F5FA as the surface, #D4C9E3 for borders, #6D4E97 for secondary text, #7E8B41 as an accent and #3D2B54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A2A6CF and #CCA2CF stays calm, while #BCCFA2 is the loudest partner.

What is #b5a2cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 22%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b5a2cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 68 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C6A2CF; nudged cooler, #A3A1D0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b5a2cf?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 22.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b5a2cf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b5a2cf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b5a2cf] or text-[#b5a2cf], 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 #b5a2cf with 50% opacity?

rgba(181, 162, 207, 0.5), or #b5a2cf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DAD1E7; over black, #5B5168.

Is #b5a2cf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 7.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b5a2cf 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #b5a2cf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5CBE4, #b5a2cf 45%, #3D2B54). For more colour, a short hue run to #C58EBB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b5a2cf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b5a2cf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.