#cba4ff
a light, electric violet · cool · closest name: Plum
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #cba4ff is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.
Every format
| HEX | #cba4ff |
| RGB | rgb(203, 164, 255) |
| HSL | hsl(266, 100%, 82%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(20%, 36%, 0%, 0%) |
| LAB | lab(73.8 31.8 -39.9) |
| LCH | lch(73.8 51.0 308.5) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.787 0.132 303.2) |
| Decimal | 13346047 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.796 0.643 1.000) |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #cba4ff;
background-color: #cba4ff;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba4ff] bg-[#cba4ff]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba4ff;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.643, blue: 1.000)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cba4ff")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA4FF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(255, 164, 203)Best text color
Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.
Accessibility — WCAG contrast
Color scale — 50 to 950
A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cba4ff 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.
:root {
--brand-50: #F6F1FE;
--brand-100: #EEE3FC;
--brand-200: #DAC0FC;
--brand-300: #cba4ff;
--brand-400: #9F57FF;
--brand-500: #7F1FFF;
--brand-600: #6900F5;
--brand-700: #5700CC;
--brand-800: #4600A3;
--brand-900: #350576;
--brand-950: #210349;
--brand: #cba4ff;
--brand-ink: #000000;
}Colors that work with #cba4ff
Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.
Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.
Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.
How to use #cba4ff
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓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
- ⚠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
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 | #D8FFA4 | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #A4ABFF | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #F8A4FF | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #FFF8A4 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #ABFFA4 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #FFCBA4 | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #A4FFCB | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #FFA4AB | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Color previews
#cba4ff text on a black background
contrast 10.29:1
#cba4ff text on a white background
contrast 2.04:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #cba4ff;
background-color: #cba4ff;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba4ff;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 164, 255, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 164, 255, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #cba4ff; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba4ff, #FFA4F6);
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #cba4ff
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Mauve (#e0b0ff) — ΔE2000 5 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#cba4ff in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.
#cba4ff, answered
What color is #cba4ff?
#cba4ff is a light electric violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 9.4). It sits at 266° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.
What is the RGB value of #cba4ff?
rgb(203, 164, 255) — 203 red, 164 green and 255 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 64.3% / 100% by channel.
Is #cba4ff a light or a dark color?
It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4647 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.29:1.
Should I use black or white text on #cba4ff?
Black. It scores 10.29:1 against #cba4ff, versus 2.04:1 for white — AAA at any size.
What is the complementary color of #cba4ff?
#D8FFA4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FFF8A4 and #ABFFA4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #cba4ff?
For interface work: #F7F4FA as the surface, #D3C0ED for borders, #6D4B9B for secondary text, #A8CC00 as an accent and #370080 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A4ABFF and #F8A4FF stays calm, while #D8FFA4 is the loudest partner.
What is #cba4ff in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(20%, 36%, 0%, 0%). 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 #cba4ff warm or cool?
Cool — it scores 69 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ECA4FF; nudged cooler, #AAA4FF.