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Iris Bloom Pure
Color detail

Iris Bloom Pure

Blue · Hue 240
Metrics
S 92% · L 76%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white3:1Failon black7:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Iris Bloom Pure (#8989FA) belongs to the blue family — hue 240°, 92% saturation, 76% 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-iris-bloom-pure: #8989FA;
  --colorarchive-iris-bloom-pure-hsl: hsl(240, 92%, 76%);
  --colorarchive-iris-bloom-pure-rgb: rgb(137, 137, 250);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

SereneTrustworthyClean
Common in

Social Media · Cloud Storage · Baby Products

Pairs well with

Light gray for tech minimalism, peach for friendly warmth

Design tip

The default choice for tech and social platforms for good reason. Light blue backgrounds reduce anxiety and increase trust.

Cultural context ▶

Light blue represents peace, sky, and openness. It's the most universally liked color, making it safe for global brands.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is one of the hardest colors for nature to make with pigment — and, historically, one of the most expensive to paint with. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan, could cost as much as gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer used it lavishly. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) quickly gave painters a cheap alternative to ultramarine; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized blue.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for centuries. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In America, IBM's blue logo helped earn it the nickname 'Big Blue'; in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — in one ten-country survey it led every other color by 8 to 18 points.

In the wild

Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is blue because he is red-green colorblind. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for years before the 2023 rebrand to X scrapped it. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue tends to recede — the eye focuses blue light slightly in front of the retina, which can make blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

An almost luminous high-key tone — at this saturation and brightness, the color borders on neon. Use sparingly; it overpowers most companions.

Lightness band: At this lightness the hue almost recedes into the surface around it — useful for backgrounds, hover states, and any surface where the color should suggest a mood without competing with content.

Saturation band: At this saturation the color is doing work. It reads as a brand statement, a sport accessory, or a UI signal. It should be used in small, deliberate doses against quieter neighbors; large fields at this saturation will exhaust the eye.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #8989FA.

  • Redditsecondary
    Periwinkle · #7193FF
    →
  • Anthropicaccent
    Anthropic Blue · #6A9BCC
    →
  • PlayStationaccent
    Square Purple · #A363D9
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #8989FA.

  • MoroccoChefchaouen Blue
    #7BAFD4 · Painted medina walls (Rif mountains)
    →
  • France (Paris)Seine Steel
    #7E8A93 · River reflectivity in winter
    →
  • China (Traditional)Jade Green (碧玉)
    #5F9EA0 · Hetian and Burmese jadeite
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

HistoryIndigo: The Color That Built Trade Routes and Made Blue CheapBrand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemDesign SystemsDesign Token Architecture for Color: Building Scalable, Maintainable Systems

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
Iris Pearl Pure
#B1B1FC · hsl(240, 92%, 84%)
Darker companion
Iris Silk Pure
#6262F8 · hsl(240, 92%, 68%)
Complementary counterpoint
Citrine Bloom Pure
#FAFA89 · hsl(60, 92%, 76%)
Analogous lead
Orchid Bloom Pure
#AF89FA · hsl(260, 92%, 76%)
Analogous echo
Cobalt Bloom Pure
#89AFFA · hsl(220, 92%, 76%)
Triadic +120°
Crimson Bloom Pure
#FA8989 · hsl(0, 92%, 76%)
Triadic +240°
Emerald Bloom Pure
#89FA89 · hsl(120, 92%, 76%)
Split-comp +150°
Coral Bloom Pure
#FAC289 · hsl(30, 92%, 76%)
Split-comp +210°
Lime Bloom Pure
#C2FA89 · hsl(90, 92%, 76%)
Export preview
Base: Iris Bloom Pure #8989FA
Lighter companion: Iris Pearl Pure #B1B1FC
Darker companion: Iris Silk Pure #6262F8
Complementary counterpoint: Citrine Bloom Pure #FAFA89
Analogous lead: Orchid Bloom Pure #AF89FA
Analogous echo: Cobalt Bloom Pure #89AFFA
Triadic +120°: Crimson Bloom Pure #FA8989
Triadic +240°: Emerald Bloom Pure #89FA89
Split-comp +150°: Coral Bloom Pure #FAC289
Split-comp +210°: Lime Bloom Pure #C2FA89

Compare

See how Iris Bloom Pure compares side by side with related colors.

vsIris Pearl PurevsIris Silk PurevsCitrine Bloom PurevsOrchid Bloom PurevsCobalt Bloom PurevsCrimson Bloom Pure

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Iris Bloom Bright
#8E8EF5 · hsl(240, 84%, 76%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Bloom Pure
#9389FA · hsl(245, 92%, 76%)
Nearby match
Iris Silk Pure
#6262F8 · hsl(240, 92%, 68%)
Nearby match
Iris Pearl Pure
#B1B1FC · hsl(240, 92%, 84%)
Nearby match
Iris Bloom Vivid
#9595EF · hsl(240, 74%, 76%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Bloom Bright
#978EF5 · hsl(245, 84%, 76%)

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
AA5:1
Citrine Ink Faint
#272720
AA4.9:1
Citrine Ink Muted
#2A2A1D
AA4.7:1
Citrine Ink Dust
#2D2D1A
AA4.5:1
Citrine Ink Soft
#303018
AA5:1
Canary Ink Faint
#272720
AA4.9:1
Canary Ink Muted
#2A291D

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#8989E0
Protanopia
#8989E5
Tritanopia
#89D3CF
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Iris Bloom Faint#BCBCC8 · hsl(240, 10%, 76%)Iris Bloom Muted#B7B7CD · hsl(240, 18%, 76%)Iris Bloom Dust#B2B2D2 · hsl(240, 26%, 76%)Iris Bloom Soft#ADADD7 · hsl(240, 34%, 76%)Iris Bloom Clear#A1A1E3 · hsl(240, 54%, 76%)Iris Bloom Vivid#9595EF · hsl(240, 74%, 76%)Iris Bloom Bright#8E8EF5 · hsl(240, 84%, 76%)Iris Bloom Pure#8989FA · hsl(240, 92%, 76%)
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