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Aristocratic Khmer Violet

#a80952
Notes

Aristocratic Khmer Violet (#A80952) 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 (332°, 90%, 35%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a80952
RGB
rgb(168, 9, 82)
HSL
hsl(332, 90%, 35%)
HWB
hwb(332 4% 34%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.5% 0.187 3.0)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6034 0.1316 0.3203)
HSV
hsv(332, 95%, 66%)
LAB
lab(36.24% 60.75 3.57)
LCH
lch(36.24% 60.85 3.36)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 95%, 51%, 34%)

Etymology

Aristocratic
adjective

Greek aristokratía, rule by the best — adjectival suffix -ic. As a color modifier, aristocratic implies a saturated-and-noble-and-hereditary quality, the deep-rich color of pre-modern European aristocracy hereditary-class livery-and-armorial-bearings. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to patrician and lordly.

Khmer
modifier

Sanskrit Khmer, Cambodian. As a color modifier, khmer implies an Angkorian-and-temple-complex quality, the visual register of Angkor-Wat-and-Bayon Khmer-Empire hand-built sandstone-and-laterite temple-and-jungle-overgrown-stonework surfaces under Angkor-Wat-and-Bayon Cambodian-jungle-canopy filtered tropical light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to toltec and median 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.

#a80952
Original
#3c4353
Protanopia
#645f4f
Deuteranopia
#b70030
Tritanopia
#303030
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
7.43:1
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
2.83:1

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
##A80952
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6034 0.1316 0.3203)
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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