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Aristocratic Flurry Violet

#b856f4
Notes

Aristocratic Flurry Violet (#B856F4) is a true indigo with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (277°, 88%, 65%) 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 lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#b856f4
RGB
rgb(184, 86, 244)
HSL
hsl(277, 88%, 65%)
HWB
hwb(277 34% 4%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.4% 0.232 309.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6732 0.3589 0.9254)
HSV
hsv(277, 65%, 96%)
LAB
lab(55.46% 64.86 -63.09)
LCH
lch(55.46% 90.49 315.79)
CMYK
cmyk(25%, 65%, 0%, 4%)

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.

Flurry
modifier

Imitative origin, quick-burst-of-snow. As a color modifier, flurry implies a quick-burst-of-snow-and-light-and-fluttering quality, the visual register of Adirondack-and-Vermont-flurry hand-quick-burst-of-snow-and-light-and-fluttering Adirondack-and-Vermont-flurry-and-New-England-snow flurry-and-quick-burst-of-snow surfaces under Adirondack-and-Vermont-flurry-and-New-England-snow Adirondack-and-Green-Mountains-and-White-Mountains New-England-snow-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to slush and thaw 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.

#b856f4
Original
#0081f9
Protanopia
#3f86f0
Deuteranopia
#b0769e
Tritanopia
#767676
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).
AA Largeon White
3.70:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
5.68:1

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
##B856F4
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6732 0.3589 0.9254)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.232

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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