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violet · cool

#c51dfd

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Amethyst

RGB
197, 29, 253
HSL
285°, 98%, 55%
CMYK
22, 89, 0, 1
Luminance
0.1984

#c51dfd is a balanced electric violet, 285° on the wheel and 58/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.97:1). As text it scores 4.23:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Orchid, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(285 98% 55%)rgb(197 29 253)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c51dfd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c51dfd
Hue
285°
violet
Saturation
98%
electric
Lightness
55%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1984
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
58/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
4.97:1
Closest name
Medium Orchid
ΔE2000 7.7
Chroma
114.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.623
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 6.5
Web-safe
#CC33FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue285° of 360°
Saturation98%
Lightness55%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c51dfd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool58% 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
Red60%
Green4%
Blue36%

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

Every format

HEX#c51dfd
HEX (8-digit)#c51dfdff
RGBrgb(197, 29, 253)
RGBArgba(197, 29, 253, 1)
HSLhsl(285, 98%, 55%)
HSV / HSBhsv(285, 89%, 99%)
HWBhwb(285 11% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 89%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(51.7 86.8 -74.2)
LCHlch(51.7 114.1 319.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.623 0.295 314.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.19, 19.84, 94.57)
Decimal12918269
Display P3color(display-p3 0.773 0.114 0.992)
Web-safe#CC33FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c51dfd;
background-color: #c51dfd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c51dfd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c51dfd] bg-[#c51dfd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c51dfd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.773, green: 0.114, blue: 0.992)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.773, green: 0.114, blue: 0.992, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C51DFD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC51DFD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC51DFD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 29, 197)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(197, 29, 253)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(197, 29, 253)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 197, 29, 253)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7725f, 0.1137f, 0.9922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{197,29,253}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c51dfd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c51dfd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5F017E, #E7D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c51dfd 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: #FAF1FD;
  --brand-100: #F6E3FC;
  --brand-200: #ECC1FB;
  --brand-300: #E290FE;
  --brand-400: #D458FD;
  --brand-500: #c51dfd;
  --brand-600: #B602F3;
  --brand-700: #9802CA;
  --brand-800: #7A01A2;
  --brand-900: #590674;
  --brand-950: #380449;
  --brand: #c51dfd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E1C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B802F4;
  --brand-pressed: #9D02D1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #201424;
    --brand-ink: #E7D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF1FD',
        100: '#F6E3FC',
        200: '#ECC1FB',
        300: '#E290FE',
        400: '#D458FD',
        500: '#c51dfd',
        600: '#B602F3',
        700: '#9802CA',
        800: '#7A01A2',
        900: '#590674',
        950: '#380449',
        DEFAULT: '#c51dfd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF1FD,
  '100': #F6E3FC,
  '200': #ECC1FB,
  '300': #E290FE,
  '400': #D458FD,
  '500': #c51dfd,
  '600': #B602F3,
  '700': #9802CA,
  '800': #7A01A2,
  '900': #590674,
  '950': #380449,
);
$brand-base: #c51dfd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF1FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6E3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECC1FB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E290FE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D458FD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#c51dfd", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B602F3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9802CA", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7A01A2", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#590674", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#380449", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c51dfd · 4.97:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.23:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.97:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c51dfd as text scores 4.23:1 on white and 4.97:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5F017E at 2.77:1.

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
#BE04FD · 4.54:1
AA on white−5% L
#BE04FD
The quick fox
#8E02BD · 7.26:1
AAA on white−18% L
#8E02BD
The quick fox
#c51dfd · 4.97:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c51dfd
The quick fox
#D764FE · 7.14:1
AAA on black+14% L
#D764FE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C51DFD 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
#c51dfd on white: 4.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c51dfd on black: 4.97:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c51dfd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c51dfd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.23:1AaAa
Slate 504.04:1AaAa
Slate 1003.86:1AaAa
Slate 2003.43:1AaAa
Slate 3002.85:1AaAa
Slate 4001.65:1AaAa
Slate 5001.13:1AaAa
Slate 6001.79:1AaAa
Slate 7002.45:1AaAa
Slate 8003.46:1AaAa
Slate 9004.22:1AaAa
Black4.97:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0073FF
deuteranopia · #007FF9
tritanopia · #C05E97

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. #c51dfd is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF1FD
#F6E3FC
#ECC1FB
#E290FE
#D458FD
#c51dfd
#B602F3
#9802CA
#7A01A2
#590674
#380449
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF1FDDarkest = 950 · #380449Text 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 0.074 314.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.118 314.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.177 314.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.230 314.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.271 314.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.295 314.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.295 314.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.277 314.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.248 314.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.206 314.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.162 314.6);
}

Colors that work with #c51dfd

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#E1C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#874B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#66CC00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5F017E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9E6FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#201424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B802F4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9D02D1
Two steps down
Disabled#CBB8D2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CB2FFF
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 #c51dfd

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #5F017E
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight45/100
  • 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#55FD1D
Analogous left#551DFD
Analogous right#FD1DC5
Split-complement 1#C5FD1D
Split-complement 2#1DFD55
Triadic 1#FDC51D
Triadic 2#1DFDC5
Tetradic#FD551D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°285°

#c51dfd sits at 285°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red77.3%
Green11.4%
Blue99.2%
R · 0–255
197
0xc5
G · 0–255
29
0x1d
B · 0–255
253
0xfd

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.1%
Magenta88.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 111%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c51dfd text on a black background

contrast 4.97:1

Card sample

#c51dfd text on a white background

contrast 4.23:1

Card sample

#c51dfd on grey

3.86:1

#c51dfd on its own surface

3.89:1

#c51dfd on its dark surface

4.19:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c51dfd;
Background color
Panel with #c51dfd background
background-color: #c51dfd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c51dfd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(197, 29, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(197, 29, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c51dfd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c51dfd, #FD1DA0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c51dfd, #FD1D68);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c51dfd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c51dfd;
caret-color: #c51dfd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c51dfd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9E6FF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c51dfd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c51dfd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c51dfd 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(197, 29, 253, 0.5)
rgb(197 29 253 / 50%)
#c51dfd80
hsl(285 98% 55% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c51dfd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c51dfd1a#F9E8FF
20%#c51dfd33#F3D2FF
40%#c51dfd66#E8A5FE
60%#c51dfd99#DC77FE
80%#c51dfdcc#D14AFD

Gradients from #c51dfd

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, #D55AFD, #c51dfd 45%, #5F017E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c51dfd, #F9027E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c51dfd, #55FD1D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DC78FE 0%, #c51dfd 45%, #5F017E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #6D50FD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FD3BBD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5F017E 0%, transparent 65%), #c51dfd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c51dfd

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.

#c51dfd 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.

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 4.97:1.

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.

#c51dfd, answered

What color is #c51dfd?

#c51dfd is a balanced electric violet, closest to Medium Orchid (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 285° on the hue wheel with 98% saturation and 55% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c51dfd?

rgb(197, 29, 253) — 197 red, 29 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 77.3% / 11.4% / 99.2% by channel.

What is #c51dfd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(285, 98%, 55%) and hsv(285, 89%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c51dfd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1984 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 4.97:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c51dfd?

Black. It scores 4.97:1 against #c51dfd, versus 4.23:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #c51dfd accessible on a white background?

#c51dfd on white scores 4.23:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #BE04FD to reach 4.5:1, or #8E02BD for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c51dfd?

#55FD1D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C5FD1D and #1DFD55, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c51dfd?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E1C0ED for borders, #874B9B for secondary text, #66CC00 as an accent and #5F017E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #551DFD and #FD1DC5 stays calm, while #55FD1D is the loudest partner.

What is #c51dfd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 89%, 0%, 1%). 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 #c51dfd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 58 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FD1DE3; nudged cooler, #721BFF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c51dfd?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 6.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c51dfd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c51dfd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c51dfd] or text-[#c51dfd], 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 #c51dfd with 50% opacity?

rgba(197, 29, 253, 0.5), or #c51dfd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E28EFE; over black, #630F7F.

Is #c51dfd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC33FF, ΔE2000 2.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c51dfd 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 #c51dfd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D55AFD, #c51dfd 45%, #5F017E). For more colour, a short hue run to #F9027E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c51dfd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c51dfd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.