ColorXprez

#B8A9BC

Thistle · light cool purple

About #B8A9BC

#B8A9BC is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 72% red, 66% green and 74% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 2% cyan, 10% magenta, 0% yellow and 26% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 10.2), with Lilac the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #ADBCA9 (light sage), its complementary partner.

Because it is light, it is most useful for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Black text reads best on it at 9.44:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red184
Green169
Blue188

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 10.2
Lilac
#C8A2C8 · ΔE 13.3
Silver
#C0C0C0 · ΔE 13.6

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #B8A9BC

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B8A9BC.
2.22:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B8A9BC.
9.44:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #B8A9BC appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#B8A9BC
Protanopia (no red cones)
#A7ADBD
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#AAAEBB
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B8ABAF

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #B8A9BC?

#B8A9BC is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 72% red, 66% green and 74% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 2% cyan, 10% magenta, 0% yellow and 26% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #B8A9BC?

Use black text. Black on #B8A9BC has a contrast ratio of 9.44:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #B8A9BC?

Its complementary colour is #ADBCA9, and analogous partners are #AEA9BC and #BCA9B7.