Color #B5A8CC Color / Colour Code #B5A8CC
This page shows the hex color code for color #b5a8cc (#B5A8CC). The colour is a purple tone with 26% saturation and 73% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #B5A8CC against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#B5A8CC paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 232, 262, and 292 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 262, 22, and 142 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #B5A8CC
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 262 and saturation at 26%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 262 to 307 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 262 with its complement at 82 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #B5A8CC
Lightness variations at hue 262 and 26% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #B5A8CC
Design Use Cases for #B5A8CC
Muted Accent Color
With 26% saturation, #B5A8CC has a subtle, sophisticated quality. This level of desaturation works well for secondary buttons, inactive states, subtle borders, and backgrounds that need a hint of color without being distracting. Muted colors communicate restraint and professionalism.
Light Background Tint
#B5A8CC at 73% lightness creates a gentle tinted background. Use it for section backgrounds, alert banners, or card surfaces that need to stand out from a white page without strong contrast. It adds color personality while keeping the design light and open.
Creativity & Premium Positioning
#B5A8CC falls in the purple spectrum (hue 262). Purple communicates creativity, wisdom, and luxury. It is effective for premium product highlights, creative portfolio accents, meditation app interfaces, and rewards program branding. Purple occupies a unique space between the energy of red and the calm of blue.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #B5A8CC (hue 262) to its complement at hue 82. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 292. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b5a8cc, #bfcca8);
CSS Code for #B5A8CC
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #B5A8CC based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #B5A8CC across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #B5A8CC (#B5A8CC)
#B5A8CC is a purple color (colour) with RGB channel values of 181 red, 168 green, and 204 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 262 degrees with 26% saturation and 73% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #B5A8CC is 176/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This is a medium-brightness color that can work with either dark or light text depending on font weight and size. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 11% cyan, 18% magenta, 0% yellow, and 20% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #B5A8CC against white is 2.23:1 and against black is 9.44:1. This does not meet AA requirements on white. Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 9.44:1, or use it exclusively for decorative purposes.
The complementary colour #BFCCA8 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #B5A8CC. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #A8ADCC and #C7A8CC, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #B5A8CC
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #B5A8CC?
- #B5A8CC is Color #B5A8CC, a purple color (colour) with RGB(181, 168, 204), HSL(262, 26%, 73%), and CMYK(11%, 18%, 0%, 20%). Its perceived brightness is 176/255.
- Is #B5A8CC accessible for text?
- Against white, #B5A8CC has a contrast ratio of 2.23:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 9.44:1 (passes AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #B5A8CC?
- The complementary colour is #BFCCA8 (hue 82). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #A8ADCC and #C7A8CC. The triadic palette adds #CCB5A8 and #A8CCB5 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #B5A8CC in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #b5a8cc; or rgb(181, 168, 204); or hsl(262, 26%, 73%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 262 26% 73%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.