ColorXprez

#BCB6DA

Thistle · light cool purple

About #BCB6DA

With the hex code #BCB6DA, this is a light purple with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 74% red, 71% green and 85% blue, while a printer would mix 14% cyan, 17% magenta, 0% yellow and 15% black. It reads as a cool colour.

If you had to name it, it is similar to Thistle — a ΔE of 10.1 — followed by Periwinkle. For maximum hue contrast, pair it with its complement #D4DAB6, a light sage shade.

In design, a light colour like this works best for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Black text reads best on it at 10.84:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red188
Green182
Blue218

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 10.1
Periwinkle
#CCCCFF · ΔE 11.1
Lilac
#C8A2C8 · ΔE 12.6

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

Text on #BCB6DA

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BCB6DA.
1.94:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BCB6DA.
10.84:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #BCB6DA appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#BCB6DA
Protanopia (no red cones)
#AEBBDC
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#AFBAD9
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B6BBC2

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BCB6DA?

With the hex code #BCB6DA, this is a light purple with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 74% red, 71% green and 85% blue, while a printer would mix 14% cyan, 17% magenta, 0% yellow and 15% black. It reads as a cool colour.

›What text colour should I use on #BCB6DA?

Use black text. Black on #BCB6DA has a contrast ratio of 10.84:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BCB6DA?

Its complementary colour is #D4DAB6, and analogous partners are #B6C2DA and #CEB6DA.