Skip to content
magenta / pink · neutral

#ddb8da

a light, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Drift Fuchsia

RGB
221, 184, 218
HSL
305°, 35%, 79%
CMYK
0, 17, 1, 13
Luminance
0.5472

#ddb8da is a light soft magenta / pink, 305° on the wheel and 47/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.94:1). As text it scores 1.76:1 on white — use #AD54A6 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is pink.

hsl(305 35% 79%)rgb(221 184 218)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ddb8da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ddb8da
Hue
305°
magenta / pink
Saturation
35%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5472
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
47/100 cool
Color family
Magenta / pink
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.94:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 4
Chroma
22.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.825
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
pink
500 · ΔE 24.8
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue305° of 360°
Saturation35%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ddb8da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool47% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red28%
Green63%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#ddb8da
HEX (8-digit)#ddb8daff
RGBrgb(221, 184, 218)
RGBArgba(221, 184, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(305, 35%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(305, 17%, 87%)
HWBhwb(305 72% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 17%, 1%, 13%)
LABlab(78.9 19.0 -12.1)
LCHlch(78.9 22.5 327.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.825 0.062 328.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(59.61, 54.72, 73.74)
Decimal14530778
Display P3color(display-p3 0.867 0.722 0.855)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ddb8da;
background-color: #ddb8da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ddb8da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ddb8da] bg-[#ddb8da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ddb8da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.722, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.722, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDB8DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDB8DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDB8DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 184, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 184, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 184, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 184, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.7216f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,184,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ddb8da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ddb8da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#562953, #EBD6E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ddb8da 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: #F9F5F9;
  --brand-100: #F4EBF3;
  --brand-200: #E8D4E6;
  --brand-300: #ddb8da;
  --brand-400: #C88DC4;
  --brand-500: #B667B0;
  --brand-600: #A54F9E;
  --brand-700: #8A4284;
  --brand-800: #6E356A;
  --brand-900: #51294E;
  --brand-950: #331A31;
  --brand: #ddb8da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5FA;
  --brand-border: #E5C8E2;
  --brand-hover: #D1A0CD;
  --brand-pressed: #C688C1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241423;
    --brand-ink: #EBD6E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F5F9',
        100: '#F4EBF3',
        200: '#E8D4E6',
        300: '#ddb8da',
        400: '#C88DC4',
        500: '#B667B0',
        600: '#A54F9E',
        700: '#8A4284',
        800: '#6E356A',
        900: '#51294E',
        950: '#331A31',
        DEFAULT: '#ddb8da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F5F9,
  '100': #F4EBF3,
  '200': #E8D4E6,
  '300': #ddb8da,
  '400': #C88DC4,
  '500': #B667B0,
  '600': #A54F9E,
  '700': #8A4284,
  '800': #6E356A,
  '900': #51294E,
  '950': #331A31,
);
$brand-base: #ddb8da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4EBF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8D4E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ddb8da", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C88DC4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B667B0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A54F9E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8A4284", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6E356A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#51294E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#331A31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ddb8da · 11.94:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.76:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.94:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ddb8da as text scores 1.76:1 on white and 11.94:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #562953 at 6.50:1.

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
#AD54A6 · 4.57:1
AA on white−29% L
#AD54A6
The quick fox
#843F7F · 7.00:1
AAA on white−41% L
#843F7F
The quick fox
#ddb8da · 11.94:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ddb8da
The quick fox
#ddb8da · 11.94:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ddb8da

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C17DBB 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
#ddb8da on white: 1.76:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ddb8da on black: 11.94:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ddb8da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ddb8da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.76:1AaAa
Slate 501.68:1AaAa
Slate 1001.61:1AaAa
Slate 2001.43:1AaAa
Slate 3001.18:1AaAa
Slate 4001.46:1AaAa
Slate 5002.71:1AaAa
Slate 6004.31:1AaAa
Slate 7005.89:1AaAa
Slate 8008.32:1AaAa
Slate 90010.15:1AaAa
Black11.94:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7C0DB
deuteranopia · #BFC5D9
tritanopia · #E0BAC3

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. #ddb8da 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.

#F9F5F9
#F4EBF3
#E8D4E6
#ddb8da
#C88DC4
#B667B0
#A54F9E
#8A4284
#6E356A
#51294E
#331A31
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F5F9Darkest = 950 · #331A31Text 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 0.015 328.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 328.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.037 328.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.048 328.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.057 328.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.062 328.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.062 328.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.058 328.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.052 328.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.043 328.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.034 328.7);
}

Colors that work with #ddb8da

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#FAF5FA
Tinted page background
Border#E5C8E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B94
Captions on the surface
Accent#4C8E3E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#562953
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EEF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241423
Dark-mode background
Hover#D1A0CD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C688C1
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E8C2E5
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 #ddb8da

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #562953
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C17DBB

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

expressiveyouthfulwarmconfident

Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight21/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • 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#B8DDBB
Analogous left#CDB8DD
Analogous right#DDB8C7
Split-complement 1#C7DDB8
Split-complement 2#B8DDCD
Triadic 1#DADDB8
Triadic 2#B8DADD
Tetradic#DDCDB8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°305°

#ddb8da sits at 305°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.7%
Green72.2%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
221
0xdd
G · 0–255
184
0xb8
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta16.7%
Yellow1.4%
Key (black)13.3%

Total ink coverage is 31%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ddb8da text on a black background

contrast 11.94:1

Card sample

#ddb8da text on a white background

contrast 1.76:1

Card sample

#ddb8da on grey

1.61:1

#ddb8da on its own surface

1.63:1

#ddb8da on its dark surface

9.96:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ddb8da;
Background color
Panel with #ddb8da background
background-color: #ddb8da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ddb8da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 184, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 184, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ddb8da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ddb8da, #DDB8C1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddb8da, #DDB8B8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ddb8da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ddb8da;
caret-color: #ddb8da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ddb8da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EEF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ddb8da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ddb8da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ddb8da 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(221, 184, 218, 0.5)
rgb(221 184 218 / 50%)
#ddb8da80
hsl(305 35% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ddb8da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ddb8da1a#FCF8FB
20%#ddb8da33#F8F1F8
40%#ddb8da66#F1E3F0
60%#ddb8da99#EBD4E9
80%#ddb8dacc#E4C6E1

Gradients from #ddb8da

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, #F1E1F0, #ddb8da 45%, #562953);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ddb8da, #D3A3AB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddb8da, #B8DDBB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FAF5FA 0%, #ddb8da 45%, #562953 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E4DAED 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E7CDD5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #562953 0%, transparent 65%), #ddb8da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ddb8da

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.

#ddb8da in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
BeautyFashionLifestyleYouth brands
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 11.94:1.

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.

#ddb8da, answered

What color is #ddb8da?

#ddb8da is a light soft magenta / pink, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 4). It sits at 305° on the hue wheel with 35% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #ddb8da?

rgb(221, 184, 218) — 221 red, 184 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 72.2% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #ddb8da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(305, 35%, 79%) and hsv(305, 17%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ddb8da a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5472 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 11.94:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ddb8da?

Black. It scores 11.94:1 against #ddb8da, versus 1.76:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ddb8da accessible on a white background?

#ddb8da on white scores 1.76:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #AD54A6 to reach 4.5:1, or #843F7F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ddb8da?

#B8DDBB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C7DDB8 and #B8DDCD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ddb8da?

For interface work: #FAF5FA as the surface, #E5C8E2 for borders, #9B4B94 for secondary text, #4C8E3E as an accent and #562953 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDB8DD and #DDB8C7 stays calm, while #B8DDBB is the loudest partner.

What is #ddb8da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 17%, 1%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ddb8da warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 47 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDB8CC; nudged cooler, #D3B7DE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ddb8da?

The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 24.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ddb8da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ddb8da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ddb8da] or text-[#ddb8da], 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 #ddb8da with 50% opacity?

rgba(221, 184, 218, 0.5), or #ddb8da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEDCED; over black, #6F5C6D.

Is #ddb8da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 18.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ddb8da mean?

As a magenta / pink, it reads expressive, youthful, warm. Pink is the fastest way to signal that a product is not another enterprise dashboard. It carries beauty, fashion and culture brands. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #ddb8da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1E1F0, #ddb8da 45%, #562953). For more colour, a short hue run to #D3A3AB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ddb8da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ddb8da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.