#8B5EA1 Color

#8B5EA1 is rgb(139, 94, 161) in RGB, hsl(280, 26%, 50%) in HSL, and about cmyk(14%, 42%, 0%, 37%) in CMYK. It has no registered color name of its own — the closest is Purple Mountain Majesty (#9678B6), visibly different at ΔE 10.8. White text is the more readable choice on this background.

#8B5EA1

HEX#8B5EA1

RGBrgb(139, 94, 161)

HSLhsl(280, 26%, 50%)

HSVhsv(280, 42%, 63%)

CMYKcmyk(14%, 42%, 0%, 37%)

OKLCHoklch(55.6% 0.112 314)

LABlab(46.88% 28.19 -29.23)

LCHlch(46.88% 40.61 313.96)

What #8B5EA1 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 #8B5EA1, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Purple Mountain Majesty#9678B6ΔE 10.8 Middle Blue Purple#8B72BEΔE 11.21 French Lilac#86608EΔE 11.66 Razzmic Berry#8D4E85ΔE 11.99 Heather#9E7BB5ΔE 12.06 Lavender Purple#967BB6ΔE 12.57

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

#8B5EA1 Channel Values

How #8B5EA1 breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

Model	Channels	Notes
RGB	R 139 · G 94 · B 161	8-bit channels as sent to the display
HSL	H 280° · S 26% · L 50%	Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSV	H 280° · S 42% · V 63%	Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYK	C 14% · M 42% · Y 0% · K 37%	Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance	4.98:1 vs white · 4.21:1 vs black	WCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #8B5EA1 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 text4.98:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Fails AABlack text4.21:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #8B5EA1 in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #8B5EA1

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #8B5EA1; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base

Complementary

Analogous

Analogous

Triadic

Triadic

Split comp.

Split comp.

Tints & Shades of #8B5EA1

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

Shades

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #8B5EA1.

How #8B5EA1 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#8B5EA1

Protanopia#6767A1

Protanomaly#7764A1

Deuteranopia#6F6FA0

Deuteranomaly#7B69A0

Tritanopia#836A6A

Tritanomaly#866583

Achromatopsia#707070

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #8B5EA1 in Code

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

CSS custom property--color-8b5ea1: #8B5EA1;

CSS backgroundbackground-color: #8B5EA1;

Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-8b5ea1': '#8B5EA1' }

SwiftUIColor(red: 0.545, green: 0.369, blue: 0.631)

Android XML<color name="color_8b5ea1">#8B5EA1</color>

SVG fillfill="#8B5EA1"

More Purple Colors

#8B5EA1 sits in the purple family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

150024 fdf8ff 170b22 fdf4ff 1b0d35 faf5ff 1d0731 fae8ff 1e0033 f6cfff 20002e f3e8ff 300052 402060 541490 6600cc 7008e7 8806ce 9900cc a11fff b19cd9 c27aff cebeef e0b2eb

#8B5EA1 Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #8B5EA1?

#8B5EA1 is a mid-tone purple — rgb(139, 94, 161) in RGB and hsl(280, 26%, 50%) in HSL. It carries no registered color name of its own; the closest named color is Purple Mountain Majesty (#9678B6), which is visibly different at a CIE76 distance of 10.8.

What is the RGB value of #8B5EA1?

#8B5EA1 is rgb(139, 94, 161) — red 139, green 94, and blue 161 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #8B5EA1?

#8B5EA1 converts to approximately cmyk(14%, 42%, 0%, 37%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #8B5EA1 be black or white?

White text is the more readable choice. #8B5EA1 scores 4.98:1 against white and 4.21:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #8B5EA1 as a CSS color keyword?

No. #8B5EA1 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 22.45, which is visibly different.

Open #8B5EA1 in a Tool

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