Skip to content

#856AA9 Color

#856AA9 is rgb(133, 106, 169) in RGB, hsl(266, 27%, 54%) in HSL, and about cmyk(21%, 37%, 0%, 34%) in CMYK. It has no registered color name of its own — the closest is Purple Mountain Majesty (#9678B6), clearly related but distinguishable side by side at ΔE 5.92. Black text is the more readable choice on this background.

#856AA9
HEX#856AA9
RGBrgb(133, 106, 169)
HSLhsl(266, 27%, 54%)
HSVhsv(266, 37%, 66%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 37%, 0%, 34%)
OKLCHoklch(57.6% 0.099 303.1)
LABlab(49.44% 20.90 -30.01)
LCHlch(49.44% 36.57 304.86)

What #856AA9 Is Called

Most hex codes have no name: there are 16.7 million of them and a few thousand registered names. These are the named colors nearest to #856AA9, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Purple Mountain Majesty#9678B6ΔE 5.92Lavender Purple#967BB6ΔE 7.1Middle Blue Purple#8B72BEΔE 7.7Heather#9E7BB5ΔE 8.64Amethyst (Crayola)#64609AΔE 10.62French Lilac#86608EΔE 11.32

Browse the full index of named colors A-Z or every purple in the library.

#856AA9 Channel Values

How #856AA9 breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

ModelChannelsNotes
RGBR 133 · G 106 · B 1698-bit channels as sent to the display
HSLH 266° · S 27% · L 54%Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSVH 266° · S 37% · V 66%Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYKC 21% · M 37% · Y 0% · K 34%Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance4.53:1 vs white · 4.63:1 vs blackWCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #856AA9 background. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; AAA requires 7:1. Contrast is one check, not a full accessibility review.

TextWhite text4.53:1AA normal AA large AAA normal
TextBlack text4.63:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #856AA9 in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #856AA9

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #856AA9; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base
#856AA9
Complementary
#8EA96A
Analogous
#6A6EA9
Analogous
#A56AA9
Triadic
#A9856A
Triadic
#6AA985
Split comp.
#A9A56A
Split comp.
#6EA96A

Tints & Shades of #856AA9

Lighter tints and darker shades built by moving the lightness channel while holding hue and saturation, which is what you want for hover states, backgrounds, and text variants.

Tints

#957DB5
#A894C2
#B8A8CD
#C8BBD8
#D7CEE3
#EAE5F0

Shades

#745798
#624A82
#513D6B
#3D2F51
#2C223A
#1B1424

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #856AA9.

How #856AA9 Looks with Color Vision Deficiency

Simulated with the Viénot, Brettel & Mollon LMS projection model. Anomalous types are rendered as partial versions of the matching dichromacy, which is an approximation rather than a per-person clinical model.

Typical#856AA9
Protanopia#6F6FA9
Protanomaly#796DA9
Deuteranopia#7474A9
Deuteranomaly#7B70A9
Tritanopia#7C7474
Tritanomaly#80708C
Achromatopsia#767676

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #856AA9 in Code

Copy-ready declarations for the places this color usually ends up.

CSS custom property--color-856aa9: #856AA9;
CSS backgroundbackground-color: #856AA9;
Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-856aa9': '#856AA9' }
SwiftUIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.416, blue: 0.663)
Android XML<color name="color_856aa9">#856AA9</color>
SVG fillfill="#856AA9"

More Purple Colors

#856AA9 sits in the purple family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

150024fdf8ff170b22fdf4ff1b0d35faf5ff1d0731fae8ff1e0033f6cfff20002ef3e8ff3000524020605414906600cc7008e78806ce9900cca11fffb19cd9c27affcebeefe0b2eb

#856AA9 Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #856AA9?

#856AA9 is a mid-tone purple — rgb(133, 106, 169) in RGB and hsl(266, 27%, 54%) in HSL. It carries no registered color name of its own; the closest named color is Purple Mountain Majesty (#9678B6), which is clearly related but distinguishable side by side at a CIE76 distance of 5.92.

What is the RGB value of #856AA9?

#856AA9 is rgb(133, 106, 169) — red 133, green 106, and blue 169 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #856AA9?

#856AA9 converts to approximately cmyk(21%, 37%, 0%, 34%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #856AA9 be black or white?

Black text is the more readable choice. #856AA9 scores 4.53:1 against white and 4.63:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #856AA9 as a CSS color keyword?

No. #856AA9 is not one of the CSS color keywords, so it has to be written as a hex, rgb() or hsl() value. The closest keyword is darkslateblue (#483D8B) at a CIE76 distance of 23.01, which is visibly different.

Open #856AA9 in a Tool

Hex to RGBHex to HSLHex to CMYKHex to OKLCHHex to PantoneBuild a paletteMake a gradient

Keep exploring: every purple in the color library, the guide to shades of purple, or the full color library.