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Praetorian Mira Violet

#a3185c
Notes

Praetorian Mira Violet (#A3185C) 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 (331°, 74%, 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
#a3185c
RGB
rgb(163, 24, 92)
HSL
hsl(331, 74%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(331 9% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.5% 0.178 357.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.5864 0.1559 0.3564)
HSV
hsv(331, 85%, 64%)
LAB
lab(36.39% 57.87 -2.78)
LCH
lch(36.39% 57.94 357.25)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 85%, 44%, 36%)

Etymology

Praetorian
adjective

Latin praetōriānus, of the praetor — adjectival suffix, referring to the Roman-Imperial elite guard-cohorts. As a color modifier, praetorian implies a saturated-and-elite-and-imperial-guard quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Praetorian-Guard elite-imperial-bodyguard scarlet-tunic-and-bronze-armor military-formation. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and imperial.

Mira
modifier

Latin mira, wonderful-or-marvelous. As a color modifier, mira implies a variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous quality, the visual register of Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-the-Wonder hand-variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-and-Hevelius-discovery mira-and-variable-pulsing-and-red-giant-and-wondrous surfaces under Cetus-Whale-and-variable-Mira-and-Hevelius-discovery 332-day-cycle-and-deep-red-pulse pulsing-stellar-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to nova and pulsar 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.

#a3185c
Original
#3b455e
Protanopia
#605f59
Deuteranopia
#b10039
Tritanopia
#3a3a3a
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
7.39:1
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
2.84:1

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
##A3185C
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.5864 0.1559 0.3564)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.178

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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