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Dominant Heliotrope

#9e1f79
Notes

Dominant Heliotrope (#9E1F79) is a true magenta 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 (317°, 67%, 37%) 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 green. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#9e1f79
RGB
rgb(158, 31, 121)
HSL
hsl(317, 67%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(317 12% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.3% 0.184 343.0)
HSV
hsv(317, 80%, 62%)
LAB
lab(37.17% 58.16 -20.07)
LCH
lch(37.17% 61.53 340.96)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 80%, 23%, 38%)

Etymology

Dominant
adjective

Latin dominārī, to rule — present-participle of dominate. As a color modifier, dominant implies a saturated-and-leading quality where the hue claims visual precedence over neighboring colors in the surrounding palette. Sits at the bold-and-imperative end of the grid, parallel to commanding and authoritative.

Heliotrope
noun

The genus Heliotropium — the cherry pie plant, named in Greek for its supposed habit of tracking the sun (heliotropism). The color refers to a fresh garden heliotrope cluster in late summer: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep purple-blue with the matte finish of densely packed forget-me-not-style flowers. Cooler than mauve, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower whose vanilla-cherry scent fills a greenhouse.

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.

#9e1f79
Original
#2e4a7b
Protanopia
#565f76
Deuteranopia
#a8204a
Tritanopia
#404040
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
7.18:1
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
2.93:1

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