Tailwind CSS v3 color
Tailwind purple-500 #A855F7
Tailwind CSS v3's purple-500 is #A855F7. It is a vivid violet in the violet family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.627, chroma 0.233 and hue 303.9°. The nearest CSS named color is mediumorchid (#BA55D3), ΔE2000 7.0 away.
- Relative luminance
- 0.2154
- OKLCH L · C · h
- 0.627 · 0.233 · 303.9
- Best text
- Black 5.30:1
- Hue family
- Violet
#A855F7 color codes
- HEX
#A855F7- RGB
rgb(168, 85, 247)- HSL
hsl(271, 91%, 65%)- OKLCH
oklch(0.627 0.233 303.9)- OKLab
oklab(0.627 0.130 -0.193)- CIELAB (D65)
L* 53.53, a* 62.66, b* -67.97- XYZ (D65)
X 36.18, Y 21.54, Z 90.23- CMYK (naive)
cmyk(32%, 66%, 0%, 3%)
CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.
Legibility
Contrast: is #A855F7 accessible?
Black text on it reaches 5.30:1, passing AA. White text manages only 3.95:1, enough for large text only.
WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.
Open the Contrast System-
Black text on it
5.30:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc +37
-
White text on it
3.95:1
- AA fails
- AA large passes
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc −71
-
As text on black
5.30:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc −35
-
As text on white
3.95:1
- AA fails
- AA large passes
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc +66
Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1
-
For text on white
#9D49EB 4.57:1
Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.63 to 0.59 reaches 4.57:1 on white, keeping the hue.
-
For text on black
#A855F7 5.30:1
It already reaches 5.30:1 on black, so no change is needed.
Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.
Studio
Adjust #A855F7 live
Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.
Scale
Shades and tints of #A855F7
Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #A855F7 sits at step 500.
Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.
Tailwind CSS v3 purple scale
The real Tailwind palette, for comparison with the computed ramp above.
Gamut
How vivid #A855F7 can get
At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.250; #A855F7 uses 93% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.271 there: 8% more.
- sRGB
- Display P3
- Rec. 2020
- Dominant wavelength
- OKLCH chroma
- 0.233
- sRGB edge
- 0.250
- Display P3 edge
- 0.271
- Rec. 2020 edge
- 0.275
- Dominant wavelength
- Complementary 565 nm
- Excitation purity
- 57%
- Chromaticity
- x 0.2446, y 0.1456
- This color#A855F7
- Most vivid in sRGB#AB4EFF
- Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.627 0.271 303.9)
On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.
.accent {
color: #a855f7;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
.accent { color: color(display-p3 0.6316 0.2905 1); }
}Mixing
Mixing #A855F7
Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.
White #FFFFFF
- sRGB50%#D4AAFB
- OKLab50%#D2AFFF
- OKLCH50%#D2AFFF
Black #000000
- sRGB50%#542B7C
- OKLab50%#3F1C60
- OKLCH50%#3F1C60
Its complement #759700
- sRGB50%#8F767C
- OKLab50%#8D839C
- OKLCH50%#0099B1
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #a855f7, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #a855f7 50%, white);In use
#A855F7 in an interface
A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.
Light page
- Button labelText, 4.5:15.30:1 Passes
- Link and body-size textText, 4.5:13.95:1 Fails
- Large headingLarge text, 3:13.95:1 Passes
- Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:13.95:1 Passes
For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #9D49EB 4.57:1
Dark page
- Button labelText, 4.5:15.30:1 Passes
- Link and body-size textText, 4.5:14.73:1 Passes
- Large headingLarge text, 3:14.73:1 Passes
- Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:14.73:1 Passes
Color vision
How #A855F7 looks with color blindness
Achromatopsia changes it most, ΔE2000 30.0; tritanopia changes it least, 19.3.
Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.
Simulate a whole page What each type sees-
Protanopia
No working red (long-wavelength) cones
#007EFC ΔE2000 24.2
Distinct
Reads as vivid blue
-
Deuteranopia
No working green (medium-wavelength) cones
#1980F3 ΔE2000 25.0
Distinct
Reads as vivid blue
-
Tritanopia
No working blue (short-wavelength) cones
#99799F ΔE2000 19.3
Distinct
Reads as muted magenta
-
Achromatopsia
No cone color vision; lightness only
#808080 ΔE2000 30.0
Distinct
Reads as gray
Pairing check
Checked against its complement, #759700. Their lightness contrast is only 1.16:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.
| Vision | The pair | ΔE2000 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal vision | #A855F7 · #759700 | 82.1 | Stays distinct |
| Protanopia | #007EFC · #A08C00 | 62.3 | Stays distinct |
| Deuteranopia | #1980F3 · #9C8B1B | 59.5 | Stays distinct |
| Tritanopia | #99799F · #7B8F80 | 28.3 | Stays distinct |
| Achromatopsia | #808080 · #8B8B8B | 4.0 | Easily confused |
Harmony
Color harmonies for #A855F7
Its complement is #759700, a soft yellow.
Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.
Open the Harmony Studio- Base#A855F7
- Complement#759700
Complementary
Open in Harmony Studio- −30°#6676FF
- Base#A855F7
- +30°#D53CC1
Analogous
Open in Harmony Studio- Base#A855F7
- +120°#C27200
- +240°#009E90
Triadic
Open in Harmony Studio- Base#A855F7
- +150°#A28600
- +210°#00A359
Split-complementary
Open in Harmony StudioCode
Design tokens
Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.
:root {
--color-purple-500: #a855f7;
}// tailwind.config.js — already built in as purple-500;
// pin the v3 value explicitly like this:
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
purple: { 500: '#a855f7' },
},
},
},
};/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";
@theme {
/* v4 has its own purple-500; this pins the v3 value. */
--color-purple-500: oklch(0.627 0.233 303.9);
}{
"color": {
"purple-500": {
"$type": "color",
"$value": {
"colorSpace": "srgb",
"components": [0.6588, 0.3333, 0.9686],
"hex": "#a855f7"
},
"$description": "Tailwind CSS v3 purple-500"
}
}
}import SwiftUI
enum Palette {
static let purple500 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.659, green: 0.333, blue: 0.969, opacity: 1)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
object Palette {
val Purple500 = Color(0xFFA855F7)
}Matches
The nearest match in each system
The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.
Tools
Open #A855F7 in the tools
Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.
- Color InspectorEvery format, its names, contrast and color vision in one panel.
- Contrast SystemBlack and white text on this color, with fixes in both directions.
- Harmony StudioPalettes built from this color, walked to a contrast target if you ask.
- Color Space ConverterThe same color in 34 notations, with its gamut headroom.
- Color Name FinderThe nearest of 1,055 color names by ΔE2000.