ColorXprez

#BFB8CA

Thistle · light cool purple

About #BFB8CA

#BFB8CA is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 75% red, 72% green and 79% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 5% cyan, 9% magenta, 0% yellow and 21% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 8.6), with Silver the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #C3CAB8 (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 10.92:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red191
Green184
Blue202

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 8.6
Silver
#C0C0C0 · ΔE 10.2
Light Gray
#D3D3D3 · ΔE 13.3

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

Text on #BFB8CA

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BFB8CA.
1.92:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BFB8CA.
10.92:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #BFB8CA appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#BFB8CA
Protanopia (no red cones)
#B5BBCB
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#B6BBC9
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#BDBABE

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BFB8CA?

#BFB8CA is a light, muted purple colour. Digitally that works out to 75% red, 72% green and 79% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 5% cyan, 9% magenta, 0% yellow and 21% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #BFB8CA?

Use black text. Black on #BFB8CA has a contrast ratio of 10.92:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BFB8CA?

Its complementary colour is #C3CAB8, and analogous partners are #B8BACA and #C8B8CA.