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Hefty Sway violet

#a21a69
Notes

Hefty Sway violet (#A21A69) 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 (325°, 72%, 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a21a69
RGB
rgb(162, 26, 105)
HSL
hsl(325, 72%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(325 10% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.9% 0.182 351.4)
P3
color(display-p3 0.5829 0.1600 0.4038)
HSV
hsv(325, 84%, 64%)
LAB
lab(36.82% 58.49 -10.46)
LCH
lch(36.82% 59.42 349.86)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 84%, 35%, 36%)

Etymology

Hefty
adjective

Old English hefig, heavy — adjectival suffix -y. As a color modifier, hefty implies a saturated-and-substantial-and-weighty quality where the hue carries the visual heft of a hand-cast pig-iron object. Sits at the bold-and-weighty end of the grid, parallel to substantial and weighty in usage.

Sway
modifier

Middle English swēven, to-move-side-to-side. As a color modifier, sway implies a side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic quality, the visual register of willow-branch-and-tall-grass-sway hand-side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic willow-branch-and-tall-grass-and-pendulum-clock swayed-and-side-to-side-and-rocking-and-rhythmic surfaces under willow-branch-and-tall-grass-and-pendulum-clock breeze-rocked-and-pendulum-and-cradle riverbank-meadow-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to drift and float in usage.

violet
noun

Viola odorata, the European sweet violet — small, fragrant, and the original meaning of the color name in English (the Violet of the rainbow). The color refers to a fresh sweet violet blossom in late winter: a saturated, slightly red-shifted deep blue-purple with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than indigo, with the perfumed weight of a flower used in Roman garlands and Victorian eau de toilette.

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.

#a21a69
Original
#36476b
Protanopia
#5d5f66
Deuteranopia
#af0740
Tritanopia
#3d3d3d
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
7.27:1
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
2.89:1

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
##A21A69
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.5829 0.1600 0.4038)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.182

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.

Related Colors

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