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violet · cool

#c38eee

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Thistle

RGB
195, 142, 238
HSL
273°, 74%, 75%
CMYK
18, 40, 0, 7
Luminance
0.3712

#c38eee is a light vivid violet, 273° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.42:1). As text it scores 2.49:1 on white — use #A04CE4 instead. Nearest name is Violet, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(273 74% 75%)rgb(195 142 238)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c38eee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c38eee
Hue
273°
violet
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3712
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.42:1
Closest name
Violet
ΔE2000 8.5
Chroma
55.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.734
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 13.9
Web-safe
#CC99FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue273° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c38eee.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool65% 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
Red31%
Green52%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#c38eee
HEX (8-digit)#c38eeeff
RGBrgb(195, 142, 238)
RGBArgba(195, 142, 238, 1)
HSLhsl(273, 74%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(273, 40%, 93%)
HWBhwb(273 56% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 40%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(67.4 37.7 -40.8)
LCHlch(67.4 55.6 312.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.734 0.145 308.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.61, 37.12, 85.53)
Decimal12816110
Display P3color(display-p3 0.765 0.557 0.933)
Web-safe#CC99FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c38eee;
background-color: #c38eee;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c38eee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c38eee] bg-[#c38eee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c38eee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.765, green: 0.557, blue: 0.933)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.765, green: 0.557, blue: 0.933, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C38EEE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC38EEE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC38EEE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 142, 195)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(195, 142, 238)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(195, 142, 238)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 195, 142, 238)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7647f, 0.5569f, 0.9333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{195,142,238}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c38eee 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c38eee 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#45116F, #E2D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c38eee 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: #F8F3FC;
  --brand-100: #F1E7F9;
  --brand-200: #E0C8F3;
  --brand-300: #c38eee;
  --brand-400: #B16DE9;
  --brand-500: #973CE2;
  --brand-600: #8420D5;
  --brand-700: #6E1BB1;
  --brand-800: #58158E;
  --brand-900: #411467;
  --brand-950: #290C40;
  --brand: #c38eee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F4FA;
  --brand-border: #D9C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B26FE9;
  --brand-pressed: #A250E5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D1424;
    --brand-ink: #E2D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F3FC',
        100: '#F1E7F9',
        200: '#E0C8F3',
        300: '#c38eee',
        400: '#B16DE9',
        500: '#973CE2',
        600: '#8420D5',
        700: '#6E1BB1',
        800: '#58158E',
        900: '#411467',
        950: '#290C40',
        DEFAULT: '#c38eee',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F3FC,
  '100': #F1E7F9,
  '200': #E0C8F3,
  '300': #c38eee,
  '400': #B16DE9,
  '500': #973CE2,
  '600': #8420D5,
  '700': #6E1BB1,
  '800': #58158E,
  '900': #411467,
  '950': #290C40,
);
$brand-base: #c38eee;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1E7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0C8F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#c38eee", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B16DE9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#973CE2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8420D5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6E1BB1", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#58158E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#411467", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#290C40", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c38eee · 8.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.49:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c38eee as text scores 2.49:1 on white and 8.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #45116F at 5.39:1.

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
#A04CE4 · 4.52:1
AA on white−15% L
#A04CE4
The quick fox
#7D1ECA · 7.22:1
AAA on white−29% L
#7D1ECA
The quick fox
#c38eee · 8.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c38eee
The quick fox
#c38eee · 8.42:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c38eee

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B778EB 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
#c38eee on white: 2.49:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c38eee on black: 8.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c38eee as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c38eee.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.49:1AaAa
Slate 502.38:1AaAa
Slate 1002.28:1AaAa
Slate 2002.02:1AaAa
Slate 3001.68:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.91:1AaAa
Slate 6003.04:1AaAa
Slate 7004.15:1AaAa
Slate 8005.87:1AaAa
Slate 9007.16:1AaAa
Black8.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #79A2F2
deuteranopia · #86A5EB
tritanopia · #BD9DB3

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. #c38eee 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.

#F8F3FC
#F1E7F9
#E0C8F3
#c38eee
#B16DE9
#973CE2
#8420D5
#6E1BB1
#58158E
#411467
#290C40
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F3FCDarkest = 950 · #290C40Text 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 0.036 308.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 308.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.087 308.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.113 308.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.133 308.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.145 308.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.145 308.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.136 308.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.122 308.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 308.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.080 308.6);
}

Colors that work with #c38eee

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#D9C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#774B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#85B616
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#45116F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3E9FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B26FE9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A250E5
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CD9AF6
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 #c38eee

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 #45116F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B778EB

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
  • Weight26/100
  • 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#B9EE8E
Analogous left#938EEE
Analogous right#EE8EE9
Split-complement 1#E9EE8E
Split-complement 2#8EEE93
Triadic 1#EEC38E
Triadic 2#8EEEC3
Tetradic#EE938E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°273°

#c38eee sits at 273°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.5%
Green55.7%
Blue93.3%
R · 0–255
195
0xc3
G · 0–255
142
0x8e
B · 0–255
238
0xee

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.1%
Magenta40.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c38eee text on a black background

contrast 8.42:1

Card sample

#c38eee text on a white background

contrast 2.49:1

Card sample

#c38eee on grey

2.28:1

#c38eee on its own surface

2.29:1

#c38eee on its dark surface

7.15:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c38eee;
Background color
Panel with #c38eee background
background-color: #c38eee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c38eee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(195, 142, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(195, 142, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c38eee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c38eee, #EE8ED9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c38eee, #EE8EC1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c38eee;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c38eee;
caret-color: #c38eee;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c38eee;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3E9FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c38eee;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c38eee 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c38eee 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(195, 142, 238, 0.5)
rgb(195 142 238 / 50%)
#c38eee80
hsl(273 74% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c38eee 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c38eee1a#F9F4FD
20%#c38eee33#F3E8FC
40%#c38eee66#E7D2F8
60%#c38eee99#DBBBF5
80%#c38eeecc#CFA5F1

Gradients from #c38eee

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, #DFC3F6, #c38eee 45%, #45116F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c38eee, #EA73C6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c38eee, #B9EE8E);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EDDEFA 0%, #c38eee 45%, #45116F 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%, #BABCF5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F2A9E8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #45116F 0%, transparent 65%), #c38eee;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c38eee

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.

#c38eee 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 8.42:1.

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.

#c38eee, answered

What color is #c38eee?

#c38eee is a light vivid violet, closest to Violet (ΔE2000 8.5). It sits at 273° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c38eee?

rgb(195, 142, 238) — 195 red, 142 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 76.5% / 55.7% / 93.3% by channel.

What is #c38eee in HSL and HSV?

hsl(273, 74%, 75%) and hsv(273, 40%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c38eee a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3712 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 8.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c38eee?

Black. It scores 8.42:1 against #c38eee, versus 2.49:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c38eee accessible on a white background?

#c38eee on white scores 2.49:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A04CE4 to reach 4.5:1, or #7D1ECA for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c38eee?

#B9EE8E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E9EE8E and #8EEE93, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c38eee?

For interface work: #F8F4FA as the surface, #D9C0ED for borders, #774B9B for secondary text, #85B616 as an accent and #45116F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #938EEE and #EE8EE9 stays calm, while #B9EE8E is the loudest partner.

What is #c38eee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 40%, 0%, 7%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c38eee warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 65 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E68EEE; nudged cooler, #9F8DEF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c38eee?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 13.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c38eee as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c38eee in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c38eee] or text-[#c38eee], 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 #c38eee with 50% opacity?

rgba(195, 142, 238, 0.5), or #c38eee80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E1C7F7; over black, #624777.

Is #c38eee a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99FF, ΔE2000 3.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c38eee 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 #c38eee?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DFC3F6, #c38eee 45%, #45116F). For more colour, a short hue run to #EA73C6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c38eee in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c38eee at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.