Electric Violet
A vivid violet halfway between blue and magenta on the RGB colour wheel
Electric Violet is a bright violet shade found halfway between blue and magenta on the RGB colour wheel. It closely matches the colour of light at about 417 nanometers and is sometimes called near violet or colour wheel violet.
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- Sits halfway between blue and magenta on the RGB colour wheel
- Matches light at about 417 nanometers wavelength
- Also called colour wheel violet and near violet
- Mainly used in digital and web design
What colour is Electric Violet?
Electric Violet is a vivid, highly saturated shade of violet that sits exactly between blue and magenta on the RGB colour wheel. It is a tertiary colour, meaning it is made by mixing equal parts of a primary and a secondary colour—in this case, blue and magenta. The colour is close to the hue of light with a wavelength of about 417 nanometers, which is just before the indigo range in the visible spectrum.
Where does Electric Violet come from?
The name Electric Violet refers to its bright, glowing appearance on digital screens, where it is defined by the RGB value #8F00FF. It is also called colour wheel violet because it marks the precise midpoint between blue and magenta on the HSV or RGB colour wheel. The term near violet is sometimes used for this shade, as it approximates the colour violet as seen in the spectrum.
How Electric Violet is defined
On screens and in digital design, Electric Violet is created by setting the red, green, and blue (RGB) values to 143, 0, and 255, respectively. This produces a strong, pure violet that cannot be exactly matched by mixing physical pigments, but is easily displayed on electronic devices.
Where Electric Violet is used
Electric Violet is mainly used in digital media, web design, and graphics where precise and vivid colours are needed. Its intense hue makes it stand out for highlights, accents, and visual effects on screens. It is not commonly found in traditional painting or textiles due to the difficulty of matching its brightness with physical pigments.
Purple around the world
What the purple and violet family means from country to country.
In Holy Week, members of religious brotherhoods walk in procession in robes and pointed hoods, many of them purple, the colour of penance. A purple band also marked the flag of the Second Republic.
Sacred and holyPolitics and protestSource: Holy Week in SpainSuffragettes campaigning for women's votes wore purple, white and green: purple for dignity, white for purity and green for hope.
Politics and protestCourageSource: SuffragetteA child born to a reigning Byzantine emperor was called porphyrogennetos, born in the purple. The birth took place in a palace room lined with purple stone.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Born in the purpleIn the elections of 2005, voters dipped a finger in purple ink to prevent double voting. The stained finger, held up for cameras, became a sign of the vote.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Election inkPurple dye from the murasaki plant was costly and hard to make. In the court rank system set up under Prince Shotoku, the highest officials wore purple caps.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Twelve Level Cap and Rank SystemThe Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon made Tyrian purple from sea snails. The dye was so costly that it became the colour of kings and Roman emperors.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Tyrian purpleShades and relatives of Electric Violet
Electric Violet is sometimes confused with indigo, but indigo is usually defined as a separate spectral colour with a wavelength between 420 and 450 nanometers, making it slightly more blue. Other related shades include magenta and blue-violet, which sit nearby on the colour wheel.
Colours that go with Electric Violet
Harmonies are worked out from the value #8F00FF. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Electric Violet
What colour is Electric Violet?
Electric Violet is a bright, vivid violet that appears halfway between blue and magenta on the RGB colour wheel. It is a strong, glowing hue often seen on digital screens.
Where does the name Electric Violet come from?
The name comes from its intense, luminous appearance on digital screens, and its position on the RGB colour wheel. It is also known as colour wheel violet and near violet.
How is Electric Violet made?
Electric Violet is created digitally by setting the RGB values to 143, 0, and 255. This combination produces its distinctive, saturated violet hue.
Is Electric Violet the same as indigo?
No, Electric Violet is slightly before indigo in the spectrum. Indigo is usually defined as having a wavelength between 420 and 450 nanometers, while Electric Violet matches about 417 nanometers.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Shades of violet" (the section "Color wheel violet"), written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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