#ddb9df
a light, soft magenta / pink · neutral · closest name: Thistle
Token name suggestion: Meadow Blossom
#ddb9df is a light soft magenta / pink, 297° on the wheel and 52/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.08:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #AC53B1 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is pink.
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #ddb9df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ddb9df.
Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.
Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.
Every format
| HEX | #ddb9df |
| HEX (8-digit) | #ddb9dfff |
| RGB | rgb(221, 185, 223) |
| RGBA | rgba(221, 185, 223, 1) |
| HSL | hsl(297, 37%, 80%) |
| HSV / HSB | hsv(297, 17%, 87%) |
| HWB | hwb(297 73% 13%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(1%, 17%, 0%, 13%) |
| LAB | lab(79.3 19.4 -14.2) |
| LCH | lch(79.3 24.0 323.9) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.829 0.065 324.5) |
| XYZ (D65) | xyz(60.49, 55.40, 77.30) |
| Decimal | 14531039 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.867 0.725 0.875) |
| Web-safe | #CCCCCC |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #ddb9df;
background-color: #ddb9df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ddb9df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ddb9df] bg-[#ddb9df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ddb9df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.725, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.725, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDB9DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDB9DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDB9DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 185, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 185, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 185, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 185, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.7255f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,185,223}/* mix without leaving CSS */ background: color-mix(in oklab, #ddb9df 85%, white); border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ddb9df 40%, transparent); /* theme-aware in one line */ color: light-dark(#552858, #EBD5EC); /* relative colour syntax */ --hover: hsl(from #ddb9df h s calc(l - 7));
Design tokens
The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.
:root {
--brand-50: #F9F5FA;
--brand-100: #F4EBF4;
--brand-200: #E8D3E9;
--brand-300: #ddb9df;
--brand-400: #C78BCA;
--brand-500: #B465B9;
--brand-600: #A34DA8;
--brand-700: #88408C;
--brand-800: #6D3370;
--brand-900: #502852;
--brand-950: #321933;
--brand: #ddb9df;
--brand-ink: #000000;
--brand-surface: #FAF4FA;
--brand-border: #E4C7E5;
--brand-hover: #D1A0D4;
--brand-pressed: #C588C9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--brand-surface: #241424;
--brand-ink: #EBD5EC;
}
}theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
brand: {
50: '#F9F5FA',
100: '#F4EBF4',
200: '#E8D3E9',
300: '#ddb9df',
400: '#C78BCA',
500: '#B465B9',
600: '#A34DA8',
700: '#88408C',
800: '#6D3370',
900: '#502852',
950: '#321933',
DEFAULT: '#ddb9df',
},
},
},
}$brand: (
'50': #F9F5FA,
'100': #F4EBF4,
'200': #E8D3E9,
'300': #ddb9df,
'400': #C78BCA,
'500': #B465B9,
'600': #A34DA8,
'700': #88408C,
'800': #6D3370,
'900': #502852,
'950': #321933,
);
$brand-base: #ddb9df;
$brand-ink: #000000;
@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }{
"color": {
"brand": {
"50": { "$value": "#F9F5FA", "$type": "color" },
"100": { "$value": "#F4EBF4", "$type": "color" },
"200": { "$value": "#E8D3E9", "$type": "color" },
"300": { "$value": "#ddb9df", "$type": "color" },
"400": { "$value": "#C78BCA", "$type": "color" },
"500": { "$value": "#B465B9", "$type": "color" },
"600": { "$value": "#A34DA8", "$type": "color" },
"700": { "$value": "#88408C", "$type": "color" },
"800": { "$value": "#6D3370", "$type": "color" },
"900": { "$value": "#502852", "$type": "color" },
"950": { "$value": "#321933", "$type": "color" }
},
"brandInk": { "$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.
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.
Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C07DC4 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
Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ddb9df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ddb9df.
| Neutral | Ratio | Verdict | Both directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| White#ffffff | 1.74:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 50#f8fafc | 1.66:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 100#f1f5f9 | 1.59:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 200#e2e8f0 | 1.41:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 300#cbd5e1 | 1.17:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 400#94a3b8 | 1.47:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 500#64748b | 2.74:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 600#475569 | 4.36:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 700#334155 | 5.96:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 800#1e293b | 8.41:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 900#0f172a | 10.27:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Black#000000 | 12.08:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
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. #ddb9df 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.
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.
:root {
--brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.016 324.5);
--brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 324.5);
--brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.039 324.5);
--brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.051 324.5);
--brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.060 324.5);
--brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.065 324.5);
--brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.065 324.5);
--brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.061 324.5);
--brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.055 324.5);
--brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.046 324.5);
--brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.036 324.5);
}Colors that work with #ddb9df
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.
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.
Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.
The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.
How to use #ddb9df
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓Text and icons on dark surfaces
- ✓Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
- ✓Card and section backgrounds
- ✓Brand accents, badges and data highlights
- ⚠Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
- ⚠White text placed on it
- ⚠Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Meaning and mood
What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.
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.
Strong gendered associations in some markets — test it with the audience you actually have.
- FormalityMedium
- EnergyMedium
- Weight20/100
- 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 | #BBDFB9 | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #CAB9DF | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #DFB9CE | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #CEDFB9 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #B9DFCA | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #DFDDB9 | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #B9DFDD | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #DFCAB9 | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
#ddb9df sits at 297°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Total ink coverage is 30%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.
Color previews
#ddb9df text on a black background
contrast 12.08:1
#ddb9df text on a white background
contrast 1.74:1
#ddb9df on grey
1.59:1
#ddb9df on its own surface
1.60:1
#ddb9df on its dark surface
10.06:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #ddb9df;
background-color: #ddb9df;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ddb9df;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 185, 223, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 185, 223, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #ddb9df; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ddb9df, #DFB9C8);
Gradient headline
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddb9df, #DFB9BE); -webkit-background-clip: text; color: transparent;
outline: 2px solid #ddb9df; outline-offset: 3px;
Marked up text
text-decoration-color: #ddb9df; caret-color: #ddb9df;
border-left: 4px solid #ddb9df;
background: #F6EDF7; box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ddb9df;
background: conic-gradient(#ddb9df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);
Transparency
What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ddb9df 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.
rgba(221, 185, 223, 0.5) rgb(221 185 223 / 50%) #ddb9df80 hsl(297 37% 80% / 50%) color-mix(in srgb, #ddb9df 50%, transparent)
| Alpha | 8-digit hex | Flat on white |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | #ddb9df1a | #FCF8FC |
| 20% | #ddb9df33 | #F8F1F9 |
| 40% | #ddb9df66 | #F1E3F2 |
| 60% | #ddb9df99 | #EBD5EC |
| 80% | #ddb9dfcc | #E4C7E5 |
Gradients from #ddb9df
Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1E3F2, #ddb9df 45%, #552858);
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ddb9df, #D5A4B3);
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddb9df, #BBDFB9);
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FAF4FA 0%, #ddb9df 45%, #552858 100%);
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4FA, #ffffff);
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E3DCEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E9CEDB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #552858 0%, transparent 65%), #ddb9df;
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #ddb9df
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Thistle (#d8bfd8) — ΔE2000 4.5 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#ddb9df in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.
Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.
Usable as-is on a dark surface at 12.08:1.
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.
#ddb9df, answered
What color is #ddb9df?
#ddb9df is a light soft magenta / pink, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 297° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as neutral.
What is the RGB value of #ddb9df?
rgb(221, 185, 223) — 221 red, 185 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 72.5% / 87.5% by channel.
What is #ddb9df in HSL and HSV?
hsl(297, 37%, 80%) and hsv(297, 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 #ddb9df a light or a dark color?
It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5540 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.08:1.
Should I use black or white text on #ddb9df?
Black. It scores 12.08:1 against #ddb9df, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.
Is #ddb9df accessible on a white background?
#ddb9df on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #AC53B1 to reach 4.5:1, or #813D85 for 7:1.
What is the complementary color of #ddb9df?
#BBDFB9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CEDFB9 and #B9DFCA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #ddb9df?
For interface work: #FAF4FA as the surface, #E4C7E5 for borders, #974B9B for secondary text, #56903C as an accent and #552858 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CAB9DF and #DFB9CE stays calm, while #BBDFB9 is the loudest partner.
What is #ddb9df in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(1%, 17%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.
Is #ddb9df warm or cool?
Neutral — it scores 52 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DFB9D3; nudged cooler, #CFB8E0.
Which Tailwind color is closest to #ddb9df?
The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 25.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ddb9df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.
How do I use #ddb9df in Tailwind CSS?
Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ddb9df] or text-[#ddb9df], 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 #ddb9df with 50% opacity?
rgba(221, 185, 223, 0.5), or #ddb9df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEDCEF; over black, #6F5D70.
Is #ddb9df a web-safe color?
No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 18.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.
What does the color #ddb9df 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 #ddb9df?
The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1E3F2, #ddb9df 45%, #552858). For more colour, a short hue run to #D5A4B3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.
Work with #ddb9df in the Color Lab
Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.
Every value on this page is computed from #ddb9df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.