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Sure Cordierite

#6e5d9f
Notes

Sure Cordierite (#6E5D9F) 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 (255°, 26%, 49%) places it in the muted 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 lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#6e5d9f
RGB
rgb(110, 93, 159)
HSL
hsl(255, 26%, 49%)
HWB
hwb(255 36% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(52.4% 0.103 294.4)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4205 0.3672 0.6066)
HSV
hsv(255, 42%, 62%)
LAB
lab(43.72% 22.07 -33.45)
LCH
lch(43.72% 40.08 303.42)
CMYK
cmyk(31%, 42%, 0%, 38%)

Etymology

Sure
adjective

Old French seur, certain — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as confident and stable. Sure red, sure blue: moderate saturation combined with optical commitment. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside steady and true.

Cordierite
noun

Silicate mineral marketed as the gemstone iolite — pleochroic deep-blue-violet from one viewing angle and pale-yellow from another. The Vikings reportedly used thin slices as polarizing filters to locate the sun through cloud (sólarsteinn). Cordierite color refers to a cleaved Norwegian cordierite cabochon viewed along the deep-blue axis: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the glassy finish of pleochroic gem silicate.

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.

#6e5d9f
Original
#4a68a2
Protanopia
#4c669d
Deuteranopia
#636976
Tritanopia
#656565
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
5.63:1
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
3.73:1

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
##6E5D9F
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4205 0.3672 0.6066)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.103

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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