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Saturated Bellflower

#5e48b6
Notes

Saturated Bellflower (#5E48B6) 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°, 43%, 50%) 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
#5e48b6
RGB
rgb(94, 72, 182)
HSL
hsl(252, 43%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(252 28% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.6% 0.166 287.7)
HSV
hsv(252, 60%, 71%)
LAB
lab(38.54% 37.36 -55.44)
LCH
lch(38.54% 66.85 303.98)
CMYK
cmyk(48%, 60%, 0%, 29%)

Etymology

Saturated
adjective

From the Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare, to fill. A technical color term in modern usage — saturation is one of the three axes of HSL (with hue and lightness). As a modifier, saturated implies that the hue is at or near its maximum chromatic intensity. Sits at the bold-and-bright top of the grid.

Bellflower
noun

The genus Campanula — Latin for little bell — small to mid-sized perennials whose bell-shaped blue or violet flowers fill rock gardens and herbaceous borders across temperate climates. The color refers to a fresh Campanula medium canterbury bell: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted blue with the matte finish of a single bell-form flower. Cooler than periwinkle, warmer than larkspur, with the cottage-garden weight of a plant that names an entire genus and color.

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

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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.

#5e48b6
Original
#005dba
Protanopia
#0058b4
Deuteranopia
#406178
Tritanopia
#555555
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).
AAon White
6.82:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
3.08:1

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