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#c511ee

a balanced, electric violet · neutral · closest name: Medium Orchid

RGB
197, 17, 238
HSL
289°, 87%, 50%
CMYK
17, 93, 0, 7
Luminance
0.1844

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c511ee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c511ee
Hue
289°
violet
Saturation
87%
electric
Lightness
50%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1844
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
56/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
4.69:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 7.5
Where it sits
Hue289° of 360°
Saturation87%
Lightness50%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool56% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#c511ee
RGBrgb(197, 17, 238)
HSLhsl(289, 87%, 50%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 93%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(50.0 85.8 -68.4)
LCHlch(50.0 109.8 321.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.609 0.289 318.1)
Decimal12915182
Display P3color(display-p3 0.773 0.067 0.933)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #c511ee;
background-color: #c511ee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c511ee] bg-[#c511ee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c511ee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.773, green: 0.067, blue: 0.933)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#c511ee")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC511EE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 17, 197)

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 #c511ee · 4.69:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 4.48:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.69:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c511ee as text scores 4.48:1 on white and 4.69:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#c511ee on white: 4.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c511ee on black: 4.69:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #006DF3
deuteranopia · #217CEA
tritanopia · #C3548D

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #c511ee is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF2FD
#F6E5FA
#EEC4F7
#E696F8
#D962F4
#CC2EF0
#c511ee
#9E0EBE
#7E0B98
#5C0C6E
#390845
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF2FDDarkest = 950 · #390845
:root {
  --brand-50: #FBF2FD;
  --brand-100: #F6E5FA;
  --brand-200: #EEC4F7;
  --brand-300: #E696F8;
  --brand-400: #D962F4;
  --brand-500: #CC2EF0;
  --brand-600: #c511ee;
  --brand-700: #9E0EBE;
  --brand-800: #7E0B98;
  --brand-900: #5C0C6E;
  --brand-950: #390845;
  --brand: #c511ee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #c511ee

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#F9F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#E4C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8C4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5AC20A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#630877
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9E7FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #c511ee

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#3AEE11
Analogous left#5711EE
Analogous right#EE11A8
Split-complement 1#A8EE11
Split-complement 2#11EE57
Triadic 1#EEC511
Triadic 2#11EEC5
Tetradic#EE5711

RGB percentages

Red77.3%
Green6.7%
Blue93.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.2%
Magenta92.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#c511ee text on a black background

contrast 4.69:1

Card sample

#c511ee text on a white background

contrast 4.48:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c511ee;
Background color
Panel with #c511ee background
background-color: #c511ee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c511ee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(197, 17, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(197, 17, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c511ee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c511ee, #EE1184);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c511ee

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#c511ee 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#c511ee, answered

What color is #c511ee?

#c511ee is a balanced electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 289° on the hue wheel with 87% saturation and 50% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #c511ee?

rgb(197, 17, 238) — 197 red, 17 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 77.3% / 6.7% / 93.3% by channel.

Is #c511ee a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1844 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 4.69:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c511ee?

Black. It scores 4.69:1 against #c511ee, versus 4.48:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #c511ee?

#3AEE11 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A8EE11 and #11EE57, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c511ee?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E4C0ED for borders, #8C4B9B for secondary text, #5AC20A as an accent and #630877 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5711EE and #EE11A8 stays calm, while #3AEE11 is the loudest partner.

What is #c511ee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 93%, 0%, 7%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #c511ee warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 56 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EE11C6; nudged cooler, #740EF1.

Work with #c511ee in the Color Lab