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violet · neutral

#df9cef

a light, vivid violet · neutral · closest name: Plum

Token name suggestion: Meadow Iris

RGB
223, 156, 239
HSL
288°, 72%, 78%
CMYK
7, 35, 0, 6
Luminance
0.4570

#df9cef is a light vivid violet, 288° on the wheel and 56/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.14:1). As text it scores 2.07:1 on white — use #BC2EDD instead. Nearest name is Plum, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(288 72% 78%)rgb(223 156 239)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #df9cef is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#df9cef
Hue
288°
violet
Saturation
72%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4570
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
56/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
10.14:1
Closest name
Plum
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
50.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.786
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 16.9
Web-safe
#CC99FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue288° of 360°
Saturation72%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #df9cef.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red34%
Green52%
Blue14%

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

Every format

HEX#df9cef
HEX (8-digit)#df9cefff
RGBrgb(223, 156, 239)
RGBArgba(223, 156, 239, 1)
HSLhsl(288, 72%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(288, 35%, 94%)
HWBhwb(288 61% 6%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 35%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(73.3 38.7 -31.8)
LCHlch(73.3 50.1 320.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.786 0.135 319.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(57.90, 45.70, 87.42)
Decimal14654703
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.612 0.937)
Web-safe#CC99FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #df9cef;
background-color: #df9cef;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #df9cef;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#df9cef] bg-[#df9cef]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #df9cef;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.612, blue: 0.937)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.612, blue: 0.937, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DF9CEF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDF9CEF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDF9CEF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(239, 156, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 156, 239)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 156, 239)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 156, 239)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.6118f, 0.9373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,156,239}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #df9cef 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #df9cef 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5C126E, #E9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #df9cef 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: #FAF3FC;
  --brand-100: #F5E7F8;
  --brand-200: #EBC9F3;
  --brand-300: #df9cef;
  --brand-400: #D06EE8;
  --brand-500: #C03EE0;
  --brand-600: #B122D3;
  --brand-700: #931CB0;
  --brand-800: #76178D;
  --brand-900: #561566;
  --brand-950: #360D40;
  --brand: #df9cef;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F4FA;
  --brand-border: #E4C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #D57DEA;
  --brand-pressed: #CB5FE5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211424;
    --brand-ink: #E9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF3FC',
        100: '#F5E7F8',
        200: '#EBC9F3',
        300: '#df9cef',
        400: '#D06EE8',
        500: '#C03EE0',
        600: '#B122D3',
        700: '#931CB0',
        800: '#76178D',
        900: '#561566',
        950: '#360D40',
        DEFAULT: '#df9cef',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF3FC,
  '100': #F5E7F8,
  '200': #EBC9F3,
  '300': #df9cef,
  '400': #D06EE8,
  '500': #C03EE0,
  '600': #B122D3,
  '700': #931CB0,
  '800': #76178D,
  '900': #561566,
  '950': #360D40,
);
$brand-base: #df9cef;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5E7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBC9F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#df9cef", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D06EE8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C03EE0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B122D3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#931CB0", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#76178D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#561566", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#360D40", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #df9cef · 10.14:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.07:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #df9cef as text scores 2.07:1 on white and 10.14:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5C126E at 5.74:1.

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
#BC2EDD · 4.59:1
AA on white−25% L
#BC2EDD
The quick fox
#911CAD · 7.06:1
AAA on white−38% L
#911CAD
The quick fox
#df9cef · 10.14:1
AA on blackalready passes
#df9cef
The quick fox
#df9cef · 10.14:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#df9cef

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CF6CE7 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
#df9cef on white: 2.07:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#df9cef on black: 10.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #df9cef as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #df9cef.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.07:1AaAa
Slate 501.98:1AaAa
Slate 1001.89:1AaAa
Slate 2001.68:1AaAa
Slate 3001.39:1AaAa
Slate 4001.24:1AaAa
Slate 5002.30:1AaAa
Slate 6003.66:1AaAa
Slate 7005.00:1AaAa
Slate 8007.06:1AaAa
Slate 9008.62:1AaAa
Black10.14:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #92B0F2
deuteranopia · #A2B7EC
tritanopia · #E0A6BB

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. #df9cef 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.

#FAF3FC
#F5E7F8
#EBC9F3
#df9cef
#D06EE8
#C03EE0
#B122D3
#931CB0
#76178D
#561566
#360D40
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF3FCDarkest = 950 · #360D40Text 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 0.034 319.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.054 319.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.081 319.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.105 319.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.124 319.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.135 319.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.135 319.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.127 319.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.113 319.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.094 319.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.074 319.7);
}

Colors that work with #df9cef

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#8B4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5EB319
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5C126E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8E9FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211424
Dark-mode background
Hover#D57DEA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CB5FE5
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E8A9F7
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 #df9cef

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

Works well for
  • 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
Use with care
  • 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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #5C126E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #CF6CE7

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#ACEF9C
Analogous left#B69CEF
Analogous right#EF9CD6
Split-complement 1#D6EF9C
Split-complement 2#9CEFB6
Triadic 1#EFDF9C
Triadic 2#9CEFDF
Tetradic#EFB69C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°288°

#df9cef sits at 288°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green61.2%
Blue93.7%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
156
0x9c
B · 0–255
239
0xef

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.7%
Magenta34.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.3%

Total ink coverage is 48%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#df9cef text on a black background

contrast 10.14:1

Card sample

#df9cef text on a white background

contrast 2.07:1

Card sample

#df9cef on grey

1.89:1

#df9cef on its own surface

1.91:1

#df9cef on its dark surface

8.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #df9cef;
Background color
Panel with #df9cef background
background-color: #df9cef;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #df9cef;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 156, 239, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 156, 239, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #df9cef;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #df9cef, #EF9CC8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #df9cef, #EF9CB3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #df9cef;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #df9cef;
caret-color: #df9cef;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #df9cef;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8E9FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #df9cef;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#df9cef 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #df9cef 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(223, 156, 239, 0.5)
rgb(223 156 239 / 50%)
#df9cef80
hsl(288 72% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #df9cef 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#df9cef1a#FCF5FD
20%#df9cef33#F9EBFC
40%#df9cef66#F2D7F9
60%#df9cef99#ECC4F5
80%#df9cefcc#E5B0F2

Gradients from #df9cef

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, #F0D1F8, #df9cef 45%, #5C126E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #df9cef, #EB82B0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #df9cef, #ACEF9C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F9EBFC 0%, #df9cef 45%, #5C126E 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%, #D2C8F6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F3B7DC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5C126E 0%, transparent 65%), #df9cef;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #df9cef

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.

#df9cef 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
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 10.14:1.

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.

#df9cef, answered

What color is #df9cef?

#df9cef is a light vivid violet, closest to Plum (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 288° on the hue wheel with 72% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #df9cef?

rgb(223, 156, 239) — 223 red, 156 green and 239 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 61.2% / 93.7% by channel.

What is #df9cef in HSL and HSV?

hsl(288, 72%, 78%) and hsv(288, 35%, 94%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #df9cef a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4570 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #df9cef?

Black. It scores 10.14:1 against #df9cef, versus 2.07:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #df9cef accessible on a white background?

#df9cef on white scores 2.07:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #BC2EDD to reach 4.5:1, or #911CAD for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #df9cef?

#ACEF9C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D6EF9C and #9CEFB6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #df9cef?

For interface work: #F9F4FA as the surface, #E4C0ED for borders, #8B4B9B for secondary text, #5EB319 as an accent and #5C126E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B69CEF and #EF9CD6 stays calm, while #ACEF9C is the loudest partner.

What is #df9cef in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 35%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #df9cef 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 #EF9CE1; nudged cooler, #C19BF0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #df9cef?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 16.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #df9cef as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #df9cef in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#df9cef] or text-[#df9cef], 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 #df9cef with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 156, 239, 0.5), or #df9cef80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFCEF7; over black, #704E78.

Is #df9cef a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99FF, ΔE2000 6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #df9cef 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 #df9cef?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0D1F8, #df9cef 45%, #5C126E). For more colour, a short hue run to #EB82B0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #df9cef in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #df9cef at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.