Tailwind CSS v4 default palette
Tailwind purple-400: #C27AFF
In Tailwind CSS v4, purple-400 is defined as --color-purple-400: oklch(71.4% 0.203 305.504), which is #C27AFF in hex and rgb(194, 122, 255): a light, vivid violet. In Tailwind v3, purple-400 was #C084FC.
In OKLCH, purple-400 has a lightness of 71.4%, chroma 0.203 and hue 305.5°.
This OKLCH value lies outside sRGB. The hex #C27AFF is the sRGB fallback from the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm; on Display P3 screens browsers show a more saturated color, close to color(display-p3 0.7199 0.4925 0.9952).
In v3, purple-400 was #C084FC. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.7 away; v4 is darker and more saturated.
Tailwind purple is a redder, more magenta-leaning violet than violet, with very high chroma in its mid shades.
Color codes for purple-400
| Tailwind v4 token | --color-purple-400 |
|---|---|
| OKLCH (source value) | oklch(71.4% 0.203 305.504) |
| HEX | #C27AFF |
| RGB | rgb(194, 122, 255) |
| HSL | hsl(272, 100%, 74%) |
| HWB | hwb(272 48% 0%) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(24%, 52%, 0%, 0%) |
| Decimal | 12,745,471 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.7199 0.4925 0.9952) |
| Tailwind v3 hex | #C084FC |
| Utility classes | bg-purple-400, text-purple-400, border-purple-400 |
Tailwind purple scale
Contrast and accessibility
On purple-400, black text has a contrast ratio of 7.52:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 2.79:1.
WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios (success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6: AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1 and 4.5:1). APCA Lc is the lightness contrast from the APCA-W3 0.0.98G model proposed for WCAG 3; a higher absolute value is more readable, and Lc 75 is its suggested minimum for body text.
| Pair | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | AAA large | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black text on purple-400 | 7.52:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 50.6 |
| White text on purple-400 | 2.79:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −58.7 |
| Purple-400 text on white | 2.79:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 53.4 |
| Purple-400 text on black | 7.52:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −48.4 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes var(--color-purple-400) with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-purple-400), white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#c581ff - 15%
#cb8eff - 25%
#d19bff - 35%
#d7a9ff - 45%
#ddb6ff - 55%
#e4c3ff - 65%
#ead0ff - 75%
#f0deff - 85%
#f6ebff - 95%
#fcf8ff
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#b874f2 - 15%
#a568d9 - 25%
#925cbf - 35%
#7e4fa6 - 45%
#6b438c - 55%
#573773 - 65%
#442b59 - 75%
#311f40 - 85%
#1d1226 - 95%
#0a060d
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, purple-400's complementary color is #85B700 (close to yellowgreen), its analogous colors are #8696FF and #EC68D3, and its triadic partners are #EC8600 and #00BFAF. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #85b700 |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #8696ff#ec68d3 |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #ec8600#00bfaf |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #c3a000#00c668 |
Computed in OKLCH: the hue is rotated by 180° (complementary), ±30° (analogous), ±120° (triadic) and 180° ±30° (split-complementary) while lightness and chroma stay fixed. Results that fall outside sRGB are brought back with the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm. Because this uses OKLCH, the values differ from tools that rotate hue in HSL, but every color keeps the same perceived lightness.
Warm or cool?
Tailwind purple-400 is a cool color: its hue is 272° on the HSL wheel, in the green, blue and violet range that is conventionally called cool.
Nearest named and Tailwind colors
Distance is ΔE OK, the Euclidean distance in OKLab multiplied by 100. Values under about 2 are hard to tell apart side by side.
Nearest CSS named colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| orchid | #da70d6 | 8.1 |
| violet | #ee82ee | 8.9 |
| mediumorchid | #ba55d3 | 10.1 |
Nearest Tailwind v4 colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| violet-400 | #a684ff | 4.6 |
| fuchsia-400 | #ed6aff | 7.7 |
| indigo-400 | #7c86ff | 10.5 |
Code snippets
<div class="bg-purple-400 text-black">...</div>
<p class="text-purple-400 border-purple-400">...</p>.element {
color: var(--color-purple-400);
background-color: oklch(71.4% 0.203 305.504);
border-color: #c27aff;
outline-color: rgb(194 122 255);
}import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let purple400 = Color(red: 0.761, green: 0.478, blue: 1.000)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Purple400 = Color(0xFFC27AFF)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const purple400 = Color(0xFFC27AFF);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="purple_400">#C27AFF</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for Tailwind purple-400?
- In Tailwind CSS v4, purple-400 is oklch(71.4% 0.203 305.504), which converts to #C27AFF (rgb(194, 122, 255)) in sRGB after gamut mapping, because the OKLCH value is outside sRGB. In Tailwind v3 the same name was #C084FC.
- What is the difference between purple-400 in Tailwind v3 and v4?
- v3 used the hex #C084FC; v4 redefined the palette in OKLCH as oklch(71.4% 0.203 305.504). In v3, purple-400 was #C084FC. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.7 away; v4 is darker and more saturated.
- How do I use purple-400 in plain CSS?
- Tailwind v4 defines every palette color as a theme variable, so in CSS you write var(--color-purple-400). By default Tailwind only emits the variables your project uses; @theme static emits all of them.
- Can you use white text on purple-400?
- White text on purple-400 has a contrast ratio of 2.79:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 7.52:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −58.7 for white and Lc 50.6 for black.
- Which CSS named color is closest to purple-400?
- The closest is orchid (#DA70D6) at ΔE OK 8.1, followed by violet and mediumorchid.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.