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Violet Ink Clear
Color detail

Violet Ink Clear

Purple · Hue 250
Hex
#171037
RGB
rgb(23, 16, 55)
HSL
hsl(250, 54%, 14%)
CMYK
cmyk(58%, 71%, 0%, 78%)
Metrics
S 54% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
18:1AA
on black
1.2:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Violet Ink Clear (#171037) belongs to the purple family — hue 250°, 54% saturation, 14% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-violet-ink-clear: #171037;
  --colorarchive-violet-ink-clear-hsl: hsl(250, 54%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-violet-ink-clear-rgb: rgb(23, 16, 55);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

MysteriousOpulentDeep
Common in

Luxury Cosmetics · Night Entertainment · Premium Gaming

Pairs well with

Gold, bright cyan, or warm amber for striking contrast

Design tip

Excellent for dark themes in entertainment and luxury. Deep purple as a background creates an immersive, premium feel.

Cultural context ▶

Deep purple evokes mystery, power, and the cosmos. Associated with wisdom, the occult, and premium experiences.

Color Origins

Purple family

The color of empire, twilight, and tech-luxury.

Heritage

Tyrian purple, extracted from the murex snail in Phoenicia, took 12,000 snails to dye one toga and was the literal definition of expense — Roman law restricted who could wear it. Mauve, the world's first synthetic dye, was discovered by accident in 1856 by an 18-year-old chemistry student trying to make quinine — the discovery launched the chemical-dye industry that funded the modern pharmaceutical industry. Quinacridone violet is the modern fade-resistant standard.

Across cultures

In Catholic liturgy purple marks Lent and Advent — penance and preparation. In Japan murasaki (a deep violet) was the highest court color in the Heian period; The Tale of Genji's Lady Murasaki takes her name from it. In Thailand purple is the mourning color for widows. Across Western culture purple is associated with royalty (because of Tyrian's cost), creativity (because of its rarity), and from the 1960s onward with rock and psychedelia.

In the wild

Cadbury's purple has been trademarked since 2008 (and hard-fought in court). Yahoo, Twitch, Discord, and Linear all use saturated purples as primary brand colors — the choice signals creative-tech where blue would signal corporate-tech. Prince's purple was so associated with him that his estate has trademark issues with the broader color. Stripe's signature indigo (#635BFF) helped redefine fintech away from trust-blue. The Lakers, the Vikings, and most NBA teams' second jerseys use purple to claim a color lane that no other major team owns.

How it reads

Purple sits at the boundary of warm and cool — biologically, our eyes process it as a blend rather than a single hue, which is why it can feel slightly unstable or magical. It reads as premium, creative, slightly counterculture. Light purples (lavender, lilac) read as gentle and feminine in Western convention. Saturated purples read as luxurious, electronic, or theatrical. Deep purples read as nocturnal, regal, or somber. It is one of the colors most commonly avoided by traditional finance and most embraced by creative tools.

This particular tone

A deep, weighted version of the hue — formal, considered, and pairs especially well with off-white and warm metallic accents.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The clear, mid-saturation register is the most common identity sweet spot — saturated enough to register as a 'real' color, restrained enough not to fight typography or photography placed over it.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #171037.

  • Didi 滴滴neutral
    Didi Navy · #0E1733
    →
  • Canvaneutral
    Charcoal · #0E1318
    →
  • GitHubprimary
    GitHub Black · #181717
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #171037.

  • IcelandBasalt Black
    #1A1B1F · Reynisfjara basalt columns
    →
  • JapanSumi Black (墨)
    #1A1A1A · Pine-soot stick ink
    →
  • AustraliaSouthern Sky Navy
    #0C1E3F · Outback night sky
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Violet Nocturne Clear
#21174F · hsl(250, 54%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Honey Ink Clear
#313710 · hsl(70, 54%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Plum Ink Clear
#241037 · hsl(270, 54%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Indigo Ink Clear
#101737 · hsl(230, 54%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Ruby Ink Clear
#371710 · hsl(10, 54%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Mint Ink Clear
#103717 · hsl(130, 54%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Apricot Ink Clear
#372A10 · hsl(40, 54%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Moss Ink Clear
#1D3710 · hsl(100, 54%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Violet Ink Clear #171037
Lighter companion: Violet Nocturne Clear #21174F
Complementary counterpoint: Honey Ink Clear #313710
Analogous lead: Plum Ink Clear #241037
Analogous echo: Indigo Ink Clear #101737
Triadic +120°: Ruby Ink Clear #371710
Triadic +240°: Mint Ink Clear #103717
Split-comp +150°: Apricot Ink Clear #372A10
Split-comp +210°: Moss Ink Clear #1D3710

Compare

See how Violet Ink Clear compares side by side with related colors.

vsViolet Nocturne ClearvsHoney Ink ClearvsPlum Ink ClearvsIndigo Ink ClearvsRuby Ink ClearvsMint Ink Clear

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Violet Nocturne Clear
#21174F · hsl(250, 54%, 20%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Ink Clear
#141037 · hsl(245, 54%, 14%)
Nearby match
Violet Ink Soft
#1C1830 · hsl(250, 34%, 14%)
Nearby match
Violet Ink Vivid
#12093E · hsl(250, 74%, 14%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Nocturne Clear
#1C174F · hsl(245, 54%, 20%)
Nearby match
Violet Shadow Clear
#2E216E · hsl(250, 54%, 28%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA17.2:1
Honey Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA17.4:1
Honey Veil Muted
#FBFBF9
AAA17.4:1
Honey Veil Dust
#FBFBF9
AAA17.5:1
Honey Veil Soft
#FBFCF8
AAA17.6:1
Honey Veil Clear
#FCFDF7
AAA17.7:1
Honey Veil Vivid
#FCFEF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#15152F
Protanopia
#141431
Tritanopia
#172B29
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