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violet · cool

#b98cdb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Iris

RGB
185, 140, 219
HSL
274°, 52%, 70%
CMYK
16, 36, 0, 14
Luminance
0.3418

#b98cdb is a light vivid violet, 274° on the wheel and 64/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.84:1). As text it scores 2.68:1 on white — use #9856CA instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(274 52% 70%)rgb(185 140 219)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b98cdb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b98cdb
Hue
274°
violet
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3418
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
64/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.84:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 9.1
Chroma
46.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.712
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 14.5
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue274° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b98cdb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool64% 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
Red30%
Green55%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#b98cdb
HEX (8-digit)#b98cdbff
RGBrgb(185, 140, 219)
RGBArgba(185, 140, 219, 1)
HSLhsl(274, 52%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(274, 36%, 86%)
HWBhwb(274 55% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 36%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(65.1 31.7 -33.9)
LCHlch(65.1 46.4 313.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.712 0.121 309.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.17, 34.19, 71.38)
Decimal12160219
Display P3color(display-p3 0.725 0.549 0.859)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b98cdb;
background-color: #b98cdb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b98cdb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b98cdb] bg-[#b98cdb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b98cdb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.725, green: 0.549, blue: 0.859)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.725, green: 0.549, blue: 0.859, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B98CDB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB98CDB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB98CDB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(219, 140, 185)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(185, 140, 219)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(185, 140, 219)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 185, 140, 219)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7255f, 0.5490f, 0.8588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{185,140,219}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b98cdb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b98cdb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#441E61, #E2D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b98cdb 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: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-100: #F1E9F6;
  --brand-200: #E0CFED;
  --brand-300: #CBAAE4;
  --brand-400: #b98cdb;
  --brand-500: #9754C9;
  --brand-600: #833ABA;
  --brand-700: #6D319B;
  --brand-800: #58277C;
  --brand-900: #41205B;
  --brand-950: #291439;
  --brand: #b98cdb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D9C1EC;
  --brand-hover: #A971D2;
  --brand-pressed: #9856CA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E2D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F4FA',
        100: '#F1E9F6',
        200: '#E0CFED',
        300: '#CBAAE4',
        400: '#b98cdb',
        500: '#9754C9',
        600: '#833ABA',
        700: '#6D319B',
        800: '#58277C',
        900: '#41205B',
        950: '#291439',
        DEFAULT: '#b98cdb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F4FA,
  '100': #F1E9F6,
  '200': #E0CFED,
  '300': #CBAAE4,
  '400': #b98cdb,
  '500': #9754C9,
  '600': #833ABA,
  '700': #6D319B,
  '800': #58277C,
  '900': #41205B,
  '950': #291439,
);
$brand-base: #b98cdb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F4FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1E9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0CFED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CBAAE4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#b98cdb", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9754C9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#833ABA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6D319B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#58277C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#41205B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#291439", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b98cdb · 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: #b98cdb 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: #441E61 at 4.89:1.

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
#9856CA · 4.65:1
AA on white−14% L
#9856CA
The quick fox
#7A36AC · 7.12:1
AAA on white−26% L
#7A36AC
The quick fox
#b98cdb · 7.84:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b98cdb
The quick fox
#b98cdb · 7.84:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b98cdb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B280D7 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
#b98cdb on white: 2.68:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b98cdb on black: 7.84:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b98cdb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b98cdb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.68:1AaAa
Slate 502.56:1AaAa
Slate 1002.45:1AaAa
Slate 2002.17:1AaAa
Slate 3001.80:1AaAa
Slate 4001.05:1AaAa
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 · #7D9CDE
deuteranopia · #879FD9
tritanopia · #B597A9

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. #b98cdb 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.

#F8F4FA
#F1E9F6
#E0CFED
#CBAAE4
#b98cdb
#9754C9
#833ABA
#6D319B
#58277C
#41205B
#291439
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F4FADarkest = 950 · #291439Text 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 0.030 309.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 309.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.073 309.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.095 309.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.112 309.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.121 309.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.121 309.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.114 309.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.102 309.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.085 309.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.067 309.7);
}

Colors that work with #b98cdb

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#F8F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#D9C1EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#784B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7B9F2D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#441E61
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3ECF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A971D2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9856CA
Two steps down
Disabled#ECE7F0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C395E6
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 #b98cdb

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 #441E61
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B280D7

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.

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

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight30/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#AEDB8C
Analogous left#928CDB
Analogous right#DB8CD5
Split-complement 1#D5DB8C
Split-complement 2#8CDB92
Triadic 1#DBB98C
Triadic 2#8CDBB9
Tetradic#DB928C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°274°

#b98cdb sits at 274°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.5%
Green54.9%
Blue85.9%
R · 0–255
185
0xb9
G · 0–255
140
0x8c
B · 0–255
219
0xdb

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.5%
Magenta36.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.1%

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

Color previews

#b98cdb text on a black background

contrast 7.84:1

Card sample

#b98cdb text on a white background

contrast 2.68:1

Card sample

#b98cdb on grey

2.45:1

#b98cdb on its own surface

2.46:1

#b98cdb on its dark surface

6.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b98cdb;
Background color
Panel with #b98cdb background
background-color: #b98cdb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b98cdb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(185, 140, 219, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(185, 140, 219, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b98cdb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b98cdb, #DB8CC8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b98cdb, #DB8CB5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b98cdb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b98cdb;
caret-color: #b98cdb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b98cdb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3ECF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b98cdb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b98cdb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b98cdb 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(185, 140, 219, 0.5)
rgb(185 140 219 / 50%)
#b98cdb80
hsl(274 52% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b98cdb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b98cdb1a#F8F4FB
20%#b98cdb33#F1E8F8
40%#b98cdb66#E3D1F1
60%#b98cdb99#D5BAE9
80%#b98cdbcc#C7A3E2

Gradients from #b98cdb

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, #D5BBEA, #b98cdb 45%, #441E61);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b98cdb, #D475B5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b98cdb, #AEDB8C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E4D2F1 0%, #b98cdb 45%, #441E61 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B3B4E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E2A3D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #441E61 0%, transparent 65%), #b98cdb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b98cdb

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.

#b98cdb 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 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.

#b98cdb, answered

What color is #b98cdb?

#b98cdb is a light vivid violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 9.1). It sits at 274° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b98cdb?

rgb(185, 140, 219) — 185 red, 140 green and 219 blue out of 255, or 72.5% / 54.9% / 85.9% by channel.

What is #b98cdb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(274, 52%, 70%) and hsv(274, 36%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b98cdb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3418 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 7.84:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b98cdb?

Black. It scores 7.84:1 against #b98cdb, versus 2.68:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b98cdb accessible on a white background?

#b98cdb on white scores 2.68:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9856CA to reach 4.5:1, or #7A36AC for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b98cdb?

#AEDB8C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D5DB8C and #8CDB92, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b98cdb?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D9C1EC for borders, #784B9B for secondary text, #7B9F2D as an accent and #441E61 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #928CDB and #DB8CD5 stays calm, while #AEDB8C is the loudest partner.

What is #b98cdb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 36%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b98cdb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 64 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D68CDB; nudged cooler, #9B8BDD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b98cdb?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 14.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b98cdb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b98cdb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b98cdb] or text-[#b98cdb], 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 #b98cdb with 50% opacity?

rgba(185, 140, 219, 0.5), or #b98cdb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCC6ED; over black, #5D466E.

Is #b98cdb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 8.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b98cdb 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 #b98cdb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5BBEA, #b98cdb 45%, #441E61). For more colour, a short hue run to #D475B5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b98cdb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b98cdb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.