ColorXprez

#BDB8CC

Thistle · light cool purple

About #BDB8CC

#BDB8CC is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 74% red, 72% green and 80% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 7% cyan, 10% magenta, 0% yellow and 20% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 8.8), with Silver the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #C7CCB8 (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 10.89:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red189
Green184
Blue204

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 8.8
Silver
#C0C0C0 · ΔE 11.1
Dusty Blue
#8CA3B8 · ΔE 13.8

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

Text on #BDB8CC

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BDB8CC.
1.93:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BDB8CC.
10.89:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #BDB8CC appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#BDB8CC
Protanopia (no red cones)
#B4BBCD
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#B5BACB
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#BBBBBE

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BDB8CC?

#BDB8CC is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 74% red, 72% green and 80% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 7% cyan, 10% magenta, 0% yellow and 20% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #BDB8CC?

Use black text. Black on #BDB8CC has a contrast ratio of 10.89:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BDB8CC?

Its complementary colour is #C7CCB8, and analogous partners are #B8BDCC and #C7B8CC.