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Spartan Sigh violet

#aa0169
Notes

Spartan Sigh violet (#AA0169) is a deep 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 (323°, 99%, 34%) 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
#aa0169
RGB
rgb(170, 1, 105)
HSL
hsl(323, 99%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(323 0% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.4% 0.200 352.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6103 0.1212 0.4038)
HSV
hsv(323, 99%, 67%)
LAB
lab(37.10% 64.20 -9.89)
LCH
lch(37.10% 64.96 351.24)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 99%, 38%, 33%)

Etymology

Spartan
adjective

Greek Spartiátēs, of Sparta — adjectival suffix referring to the Lacedaemonian warrior city. As a color modifier, spartan implies a saturated-and-disciplined-and-formal quality, the deep-rich color of Spartan-hoplite military-class crimson-and-bronze armor-and-cloak. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to austere and stern in tone.

Sigh
modifier

Middle English sighen, to-breathe-out-audibly. As a color modifier, sigh implies a breathed-out-and-released-and-wistful quality, the visual register of Romantic-poet-and-pining-lover-sigh hand-breathed-out-and-released-and-pining Romantic-poet-and-pining-lover-and-bedside-vigil sighed-and-released-and-breathed-out surfaces under Romantic-poet-and-pining-lover candle-lit-and-bedside-vigil window-and-balcony-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to yearn and brood 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.

#aa0169
Original
#33456b
Protanopia
#606166
Deuteranopia
#b8003c
Tritanopia
#2c2c2c
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
7.20:1
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
2.92:1

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
##AA0169
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6103 0.1212 0.4038)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.200

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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