Tints & Shades
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Scale from white (50) through Lavender (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #E6E6FA
- RGB
- rgb(230, 230, 250)
- HSL
- hsl(240, 67%, 94%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.931 0.027 286)
- CMYK
- cmyk(8%, 8%, 0%, 2%)
--color-lavenderbg-[#E6E6FA]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
1.23:1
On Black (#000)
17.06:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
1.13:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #E6E6FA
color: #E6E6FA
bg-[#E6E6FA] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #E6E6FA
Color Harmonies
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Lavender is purple at its most gentle — associated with the French herb used for generations as a sleep aid. It is the softest purple, used in everything from spa packaging to romantic stationery. Its light blue-purple quality bridges calm and sweetness, making it uniquely approachable for a purple.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Lavender is applied in professional design.
- Sleep and relaxation product packaging
- Aromatherapy and spa brands
- Feminine wellness products
- Baby shower and gentle occasions
- French Provence tourism and lifestyle
- Meditation and mindfulness app design
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Lavender is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (17.06:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #E6E6FA;Text
color: #E6E6FA;Border
border: 2px solid #E6E6FA;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #E6E6FA40;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6E6FA, #ffffff);Tailwind-style
--color-lavender: #E6E6FA;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Lavender without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#E6E6FA]Text
text-[#E6E6FA]Border
border-[#E6E6FA]Ring
ring-[#E6E6FA]Fill
fill-[#E6E6FA]From (gradient)
from-[#E6E6FA]Via (gradient)
via-[#E6E6FA]To (gradient)
to-[#E6E6FA]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Lavender design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-lavender: #E6E6FA;
--color-lavender-rgb: 230, 230, 250;
--color-lavender-hsl: 240, 67%, 94%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-lavender: #E6E6FA; $color-lavender-rgb: 230, 230, 250; $color-lavender-hsl: 240, 67%, 94%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'lavender': '#E6E6FA',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-lavender: #E6E6FA;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"lavender": {
"value": "#E6E6FA",
"type": "color",
"description": "Lavender — #E6E6FA"
}
}Related Palettes & Combinations
Color Combinations
Accessible Color Pairs
More purple colors
View all →What Does Lavender Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
Purple's psychological power is historical and earned. For most of human civilization, true purple dye was rarer than gold—accessible only to royalty and clergy. Lavender (#E6E6FA) inherits this heritage, reading as wisdom not by accident but by the accumulated weight of thousands of years of cultural association.
- Purple's historical scarcity (Tyrian purple was worth more than gold) embedded it permanently in the Western imagination as a royal, noble, and exclusive color. In contemporary design it bridges luxury (its historic connotation) and creativity (its association with the imagination and alternative thinking).
- In Japan, purple (murasaki) has been associated with nobility and spiritual power for centuries, and the tradition continues in contemporary culture. In Thai mourning traditions, purple is worn by widows—one of the few cultures where it carries grief rather than luxury associations.
- Lavender's pale lightness (94%) shifts its psychological register: Lavender and lilac tones soften purple's intensity into a dreamy, romantic, and approachable quality—widely used in beauty, wellness, and feminine lifestyle branding.
- At 67% saturation, Lavender reads as moderately saturated—neither overwhelming nor passive, landing in the luxury, creativity, mystery, and wisdom zone with measured confidence.
Lavender is a commitment color—use it fully or not at all. Half measures produce neither luxury nor creativity.
How to Use Lavender in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
Lavender rewards bold usage. Timid deployment—a small accent in an otherwise neutral palette—undersells its power. Used with commitment, it creates the kind of brand distinction that no other hue achieves.
- UI components: premium feature highlights, creative mode indicators, luxury tier badges—Lavender performs reliably in all these roles with its pale tonal character.
- Brand & identity: premium branding, creative agency identities, beauty packaging—contexts where Lavender's moderately saturated quality creates the right register.
- Typography: Lavender as text requires a dark background; its 94% lightness means it provides 1.2:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
- Lavender creates strong legibility with black text overlays (17.1:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Proportional use: Lavender's moderately saturated saturation (67%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
Lavender is a commitment color—use it fully or not at all. Half measures produce neither luxury nor creativity.
Lavender Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Lavender (#E6E6FA) achieves a 17.06:1 contrast ratio with black text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 80.3%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 1.23:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 17.06:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Lavender background: Black (#000000) at 17.06:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 80.3% — high-luminance (near-white)—it provides excellent readability for dark text overlays and integrates naturally into light design systems
- Lavender qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.
Always verify Lavender at its final intended size and weight using a real contrast checker—font weight and rendering environment affect perceived legibility beyond what raw ratios capture.
Lavender in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Across industry research, purple-family tones consistently outperform competitors in categories built on luxury, creativity, mystery, and wisdom. Lavender is a pale expression of this advantage—best positioned in Beauty & Cosmetics and adjacent markets.
- Beauty & Cosmetics: Purple is the second most common color in beauty branding, projecting luxury, femininity, and transformative aspiration. It signals that a product is special, premium, and designed for moments of indulgence. (examples: Glossier, Fenty Beauty, Rare Beauty) Lavender tones work for accessible beauty; deep violet and plum for luxury skincare and perfume.
- Creative & Agency Services: Creative studios, design agencies, and advertising firms use purple to signal imagination, unconventional thinking, and creative authority. It differentiates them from the blue-dominated corporate world while retaining enough gravitas to command respect. Works best when paired with a strong neutral (black, charcoal, or cream) to prevent it from reading as whimsical.
- Gaming & Entertainment: Purple dominates gaming, streaming, and digital entertainment branding because it signals the threshold between the ordinary world and an imaginative one. It's the color of portals, magic systems, and premium digital experiences. (examples: Spotify, Netflix, Hulu) Twitch's purple brand has made the color synonymous with live streaming culture—worth considering in adjacent spaces.
- Brand positioning: Lavender is best suited for brands projecting distinction, wisdom, imagination. Categories outside this positioning—mainstream corporate environments where it reads as unconventional—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Lavender works effectively in cryptocurrency projects, gaming UIs, spiritual and wellness platforms—contexts where mystery serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
Lavender earns its strongest ROI in industries where trust and recognition compound over time: Beauty & Cosmetics, Creative & Agency Services, Gaming & Entertainment. Use it to build the kind of brand recognition that decades reinforce.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Lavender? ▾
- The hex code for Lavender is #E6E6FA. Its RGB values are rgb(230, 230, 250) and its HSL values are hsl(240, 67%, 94%).
- What does Lavender mean in design? ▾
- Lavender is purple at its most gentle — associated with the French herb used for generations as a sleep aid. It is the softest purple, used in everything from spa packaging to romantic stationery. Its light blue-purple quality bridges calm and sweetness, making it uniquely approachable for a purple.
- Is Lavender WCAG accessible? ▾
- Lavender (#E6E6FA) does not pass WCAG AA on white (1.23:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 17.06:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Lavender? ▾
- Lavender pairs well with its complementary color Yellow (#FFFF00). Analogous colors like Bleu de France and Royal Blue also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Lavender used for? ▾
- Lavender is commonly used for: Sleep and relaxation product packaging; Aromatherapy and spa brands; Feminine wellness products; Baby shower and gentle occasions; French Provence tourism and lifestyle.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Lavender? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #E6E6FA` or `background-color: #E6E6FA`. The CSS custom property is `--color-lavender: #E6E6FA`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#E6E6FA]` for backgrounds or `text-[#E6E6FA]` for text.