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Certain Morganite

#8a0b78
Notes

Certain Morganite (#8A0B78) is a deep violet with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (309°, 85%, 29%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary green. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#8a0b78
RGB
rgb(138, 11, 120)
HSL
hsl(309, 85%, 29%)
HWB
hwb(309 4% 46%)
OKLCH
oklch(43.7% 0.187 335.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4952 0.1102 0.4561)
HSV
hsv(309, 92%, 54%)
LAB
lab(31.81% 57.94 -28.11)
LCH
lch(31.81% 64.40 334.12)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 92%, 13%, 46%)

Etymology

Certain
adjective

Latin certus, fixed / sure — sharing root with English concern and certify. As a color modifier, certain implies a saturated-and-unambiguous quality where the hue declares its character without hesitation. Sits at the bold-and-confident end of the grid, parallel to assured and decisive in usage.

Morganite
noun

Pink variety of the cyclosilicate beryl — first described from the San Piero in Campo deposits of Elba in 1911 and named for the financier J.P. Morgan. The color comes from manganese-and-cesium substitution. Morganite color refers to a faceted San Piero morganite gemstone: a saturated, slightly cool deep magenta with the glassy finish of cesium-and-manganese-substituted beryl. Cooler and pinker than aquamarine.

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.

#8a0b78
Original
#0c3f7b
Protanopia
#415175
Deuteranopia
#911b46
Tritanopia
#2e2e2e
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
8.75:1
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
2.40:1

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
##8A0B78
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4952 0.1102 0.4561)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.187

This color is chromatic enough that authoring it as P3 native (instead of clamping to sRGB) gives a perceptibly more saturated render on wide-gamut displays — modern Macs, iPhones, iPads, and most recent OLED laptops.

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