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Princely Column Violet

#af0056
Notes

Princely Column Violet (#AF0056) 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 (331°, 100%, 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#af0056
RGB
rgb(175, 0, 86)
HSL
hsl(331, 100%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(331 0% 31%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.7% 0.196 2.4)
HSV
hsv(331, 100%, 69%)
LAB
lab(37.46% 63.76 2.93)
LCH
lch(37.46% 63.83 2.64)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 100%, 51%, 31%)

Etymology

Princely
adjective

Latin prīnceps, first / chief — adjectival suffix -ly. As a color modifier, princely implies a saturated-and-royal-secondary quality, the deep-rich color of European crown-prince coronet-and-livery vestment. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to lordly and regal in usage.

Column
modifier

Latin columna, column. As a color modifier, column implies a vertical-Doric-and-Ionic-and-Corinthian quality, the visual register of Greek-and-Roman-Column hand-cut Doric-Ionic-Corinthian fluted-and-capital classical-column architectural surfaces under Greek-and-Roman classical-column architectural light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to pillar and plinth 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

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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.

#af0056
Original
#3d4457
Protanopia
#676352
Deuteranopia
#bf0031
Tritanopia
#2b2b2b
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
7.10:1
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
2.96:1

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