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Sovereign Loropetalum

#4e38a3
Notes

Sovereign Loropetalum (#4E38A3) is a true indigo with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (252°, 49%, 43%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary yellow. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4e38a3
RGB
rgb(78, 56, 163)
HSL
hsl(252, 49%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(252 22% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(43.0% 0.164 286.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.2927 0.2231 0.6161)
HSV
hsv(252, 66%, 64%)
LAB
lab(32.02% 37.91 -54.77)
LCH
lch(32.02% 66.61 304.69)
CMYK
cmyk(52%, 66%, 0%, 36%)

Etymology

Sovereign
adjective

Old French soverain, supreme — derived from Latin super (above). As a color modifier, sovereign implies a saturated-and-royal-supremacy quality where the hue carries imperial-ruling-class register. Sits at the bold-and-imperial end of the grid, parallel to regal and imperial in tone.

Loropetalum
noun

Asian Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum) — an evergreen shrub native to southern China cultivated worldwide for its strap-like fringed flowers and burgundy foliage. Loropetalum color refers to a L. chinense flush of fringed flowers on burgundy foliage: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the velvet finish of dense ribbon-petal flowers. The genus name combines Greek loros (strap) and petalon (petal).

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#4e38a3
Original
#004ea6
Protanopia
#0048a1
Deuteranopia
#2e5268
Tritanopia
#444444
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon White
8.68:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.42:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##4E38A3
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.2927 0.2231 0.6161)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.164

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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