About Purple
Purple (purple) is a dark, vivid magenta with the hex code #800080, or rgb(128, 0, 128). In HSL it sits at a hue of 300°, 100% saturation and 25% lightness. It is one of the 148 named colors every browser understands, so you can write color: purple; instead of the hex value.
Using Purple for text and backgrounds
| Pairing | Contrast ratio | WCAG |
|---|---|---|
| Purple text on white | 9.42 : 1 | AAA |
| Purple text on black | 2.23 : 1 | fails |
On a purple background, use white text (9.42 : 1). WCAG asks for at least 4.5 : 1 for body text and 3 : 1 for large text. Check other pairs with the Contrast Checker.
CSS
.element {
color: purple; /* or #800080 */
background-color: #800080;
border: 1px solid rgb(128 0 128 / 50%);
}Similar named colors
Dark Magenta (#8b008b), Indigo (#4b0082), Rebecca Purple (#663399), Medium Violet Red (#c71585), Dark Slate Blue (#483d8b), Dark Violet (#9400d3).
Color Name FinderPaste a HEX code to get its closest human-readable name and clean token names for your CSS, SCSS, JavaScript or Tailwind config.
Open the tool Frequently asked questions
What is the hex code for purple?
#800080 — that is rgb(128, 0, 128) and hsl(300, 100%, 25%). In CSS you can also just write purple.
Is purple text readable on white?
Its contrast ratio on white is 9.42 : 1, which passes WCAG AA for normal text.
What colors go well with purple?
Its complementary color is #008000; analogous colors #400080 and #800040 sit next to it on the color wheel.