Lilac Color Meaning | Connotations & Hex Codes
#E6A3FF
If pale pink feels a bit too sugary and lavender’s a little too cool or subdued, lilac could be the color with the personality you’re looking for.
With just the faintest dash of red coming through in its rosy undertone, lilac is one of the warmer, more characterful shades of pale purple.
You can extract the color codes from an image with a lilac color scheme you like using Quillbot’s free online Color Palette Generator.
Key takeaways
- Lilac is a pale, pink-leaning purple that feels warmer and more expressive than lavender, making it a soft but characterful color choice.
- The color often symbolizes romance, creativity, calm, nostalgia, and springtime, which makes it especially useful for gentle, elegant, or dreamy design styles.
- Lilac works well in branding for categories like skincare, wellness, florals, stationery, and lifestyle goods as well as in interiors for bedrooms, nurseries, bathrooms, and relaxing spaces.
- Pair lilac with colors like soft apricot, blush pink, mauve, plum gray, ivory, or cream to create palettes that feel imaginative, refined, romantic, or soothing.
What color is lilac?
The color name lilac typically describes a pale shade of pinkish purple that’s more pink than mauve and less blue than a light lavender.
To work with the colors shown in the graphic above in a color tool, like Quillbot’s free online Color Wheel, enter the hex code #E6A3FF for lilac, #CEA3FF for mauve, and #C5B2FF for light lavender.
What does lilac symbolize?
Lilac is a soft, pale shade of purple associated with gentleness, romance, springtime, nostalgia, creativity, and calm.
In branding design, you can use lilac to:
- Project a soft, elegant brand identity that feels imaginative and approachable
- Create a sophisticated, delicate look for product categories such as skincare, wellness, florals, greeting cards, wedding invitations, journals, and lifestyle goods
- Convey a subtle romantic or dreamy quality
In interior design, you can use lilac to:
- Create a peaceful, soothing atmosphere in bedrooms, nurseries, bathrooms, or relaxation spaces
- Add a soft decorative accent that’s a more colorful alternative to neutral tones
- Give a room a fresh, springlike feel, especially when used on walls, textiles, bedding, curtains, or small decor pieces
Color conversion
#E6A3FF| Format | Value |
|---|---|
| HEX | E6A3FF |
| RGB | 230, 163, 255 |
| RGB Percent | 90%, 64%, 100% |
| CMYK | 0.1, 0.36, 0, 0 |
| HSL | 284°, 100%, 82% |
Lilac hex code
Lilac is not a named CSS color, but some commonly used lilac color codes include:
- #E6A3FF
- #D891EF
- #C8A2C8
- #B666D2
Lilac vs lavender
People often use the color names lilac and lavender interchangeably to describe light shades of purple. However, when these color names are used more precisely, lilac describes a purple with a pinkish undertone, while lavender describes a purple with a bluish undertone.
Color variations
Tints
- #efc2ff • Click to copy
- #f7e0ff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
- #faebff • Click to copy
Shades
- #de85ff • Click to copy
- #d666ff • Click to copy
- #ce47ff • Click to copy
- #c629ff • Click to copy
- #be0aff • Click to copy
- #ac00eb • Click to copy
- #9600cc • Click to copy
- #7f00ad • Click to copy
Tones
- #8e00c2 • Click to copy
- #9508c9 • Click to copy
- #9c12ce • Click to copy
- #a21dd3 • Click to copy
- #a829d6 • Click to copy
- #a93fcf • Click to copy
- #aa54c9 • Click to copy
- #ac68c4 • Click to copy
Lilac color palette
Below are some lilac color combinations to help you build a lilac color palette for your project.
Lilac, soft apricot, light blue, and ivory white for imaginative and approachable
If you want to view and refine these colors in Quillbot’s Color Wheel tool, enter #E6A3FF for lilac, #FFD7B5 for soft apricot, #AFCBFF for light blue, and #FFF8EF for ivory white.
Lilac, dusty rose, plum gray, and off-white for soft, refined, and delicate
If you want to view and refine these colors in Quillbot’s Color Wheel tool, enter #E6A3FF for lilac, #D8B7C8 for dusty rose, #5F5266 for plum gray, and #FFF8F2 for off-white.
Lilac, blush pink, mauve, and cream for romantic or dreamy
If you want to view and refine these colors in Quillbot’s Color Wheel tool, enter #E6A3FF for lilac, #F7C6D9 for blush pink, #BFA7E8 for mauve, and #FFF4EA for cream.
- Mono
- Analogous
- Complementary
Frequently asked questions about the color lilac
- How do you define lilac?
-
If you define lilac as the color of lilac flowers, then it is a color that sits between light magenta and light violet on the color wheel and looks pinker than mauve or lavender.
However, in everyday language, the color name lilac is used to describe quite a wide range of purple shades. This is reflected in Merriam-Webster’s definition of the color lilac as “a variable color averaging a moderate purple.”
Extract the color codes from an image with a lilac color scheme using Quillbot’s free online Color Palette Generator.
- What is a soft purple color?
-
Names for a soft purple color include:
- Lilac (example hex code: #E6A3FF)
- Lavender (#B57EDC)
- Mauve (#CEA3FF)
- Periwinkle (#CCCCFF)
You can find the perfect soft purple color for your project with the help of Quillbot’s free Color Wheel tool. Just enter the hex codes above and adjust using the color pointer and lightness slider.
- What is a pastel lilac color?
-
The following hex codes all produce a pastel lilac color:
- #F2D9FF
- #EECFFF
- #EAC4FF
- #E6B8FF
Use Quillbot’s free online Color Palette Generator to extract the color codes from an image with a pastel lilac color scheme you like.
Other interesting articles
If you want to know more about colors, letters, or the meaning of emojis, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.