Nearest-color comparison

Heather vs Lilac

Heather #B7A1C7 vs Lilac #C8A2C8: RGB distance 17.1 and contrast 1.06:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.

Heather and Lilac are very close, with an RGB distance of 17.1. Lilac is lighter by 0.0261, and Lilac is more saturated by 1 percentage points. Their mutual contrast is 1.06:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Heather#B7A1C7

Lilac#C8A2C8

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Heather and Lilac across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance17.1

Pair contrast1.06:1

Luminance delta0.0261

Hue delta25 deg

Lighter colorLilac

More saturatedLilac

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

purple color

Heather

Heather is #B7A1C7, a cool purple with hue 275°, saturation 25% and luminance 0.3968. Beside Lilac, it is darker and less saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 8.94:1.

HEX#B7A1C7 RGB183, 161, 199 HSL275, 25, 71 CMYK8, 19, 0, 22 Luminance0.3968 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

pink color

Lilac

Lilac is #C8A2C8, a warm pink with hue 300°, saturation 26% and luminance 0.4229. Beside Heather, it is lighter and more saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 9.46:1.

HEX#C8A2C8 RGB200, 162, 200 HSL300, 26, 71 CMYK0, 19, 0, 22 Luminance0.4229 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Heather or Lilac

Choose HeatherChoose Heather when the design calls for muted purple color at #B7A1C7, with cool temperature and 71% HSL lightness.

Choose LilacChoose Lilac when #C8A2C8, its muted pink character, or its 71% HSL lightness is the closer match.

Use togetherTreat them as tonal alternatives or adjacent palette steps, not as text and background. Their contrast is only 1.06:1. They share muted tone characteristics.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyHeatherLilac

HEX#B7A1C7#C8A2C8

RGB183, 161, 199200, 162, 200

HSL275, 25, 71300, 26, 71

CMYK8, 19, 0, 220, 19, 0, 22

FamilyPurplePink

TemperatureCoolWarm

ToneMutedMuted

Luminance0.39680.4229

Black contrast8.94:19.46:1

White contrast2.35:12.22:1

Shared tonesMuted

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Heatherblack text - 8.94:1

Lilacblack text - 9.46:1

Downloadable color comparison infographic

Heather vs Lilac Color Comparison Infographic

Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.

1200 × 800

Heather vs Lilac color comparison infographic showing both HEX colors, RGB and HSL values, color distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance. — Heather vs Lilac color comparison infographic generated from the canonical dataset values shown on this page.

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Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Heather#B7A1C7

Lilac#C8A2C8

#E4DCEA#E4DCEA

#EADCEA#EADCEA

#B2C8A3#B2C8A3

#A2C8A2#A2C8A2

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "heather",
    "name": "Heather",
    "hex": "#B7A1C7",
    "rgb": [
      183,
      161,
      199
    ],
    "hsl": [
      275,
      25,
      71
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      8,
      19,
      0,
      22
    ],
    "family": "purple",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "muted"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.3968,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 8.94,
      "white": 2.35
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.94
    },
    "description": "Heather is #B7A1C7, a cool purple color with muted character. Compared with Lilac, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for beauty branding, creative systems, and premium accents, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/heather/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/heather.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "lilac",
    "name": "Lilac",
    "hex": "#C8A2C8",
    "rgb": [
      200,
      162,
      200
    ],
    "hsl": [
      300,
      26,
      71
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      19,
      0,
      22
    ],
    "family": "pink",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "muted"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.4229,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 9.46,
      "white": 2.22
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.46
    },
    "description": "Lilac is #C8A2C8, a warm pink color with muted character. Compared with Heather, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for beauty branding, creative systems, and premium accents, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/lilac/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lilac.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 17.1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.06,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 25,
    "saturation": 1,
    "lightness": 0
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0261,
  "sameFamily": false,
  "sameTemperature": false,
  "sharedTones": [
    "muted"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Lilac",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Lilac"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.06,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Heather",
      "background": "#B7A1C7",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.94
    },
    {
      "color": "Lilac",
      "background": "#C8A2C8",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 9.46
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Heather is better when the design needs muted purple character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #B7A1C7.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Lilac is better when the design needs muted pink character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C8A2C8.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/heather-vs-lilac.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/heather.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lilac.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "heather-vs-lilac",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Heather vs Lilac",
  "verdict": "Heather and Lilac are very close colors. Lilac is the lighter option. Lilac reads warmer. Their mutual contrast is 1.06:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Heather and Lilac are different purple and pink colors with HEX values #B7A1C7 and #C8A2C8. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 17.1, their contrast ratio is 1.06:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 17.1,
  "contrastRatio": 1.06,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "heather",
      "name": "Heather",
      "hex": "#B7A1C7",
      "rgb": [
        183,
        161,
        199
      ],
      "hsl": [
        275,
        25,
        71
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        8,
        19,
        0,
        22
      ],
      "family": "purple",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "muted"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.3968,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 8.94,
        "white": 2.35
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.94
      },
      "description": "Heather is #B7A1C7, a cool purple color with muted character. Compared with Lilac, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for beauty branding, creative systems, and premium accents, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/heather/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/heather.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "lilac",
      "name": "Lilac",
      "hex": "#C8A2C8",
      "rgb": [
        200,
        162,
        200
      ],
      "hsl": [
        300,
        26,
        71
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        19,
        0,
        22
      ],
      "family": "pink",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "muted"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.4229,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 9.46,
        "white": 2.22
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.46
      },
      "description": "Lilac is #C8A2C8, a warm pink color with muted character. Compared with Heather, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for beauty branding, creative systems, and premium accents, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/lilac/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lilac.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 17.1,
    "contrastRatio": 1.06,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 25,
      "saturation": 1,
      "lightness": 0
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0261,
    "sameFamily": false,
    "sameTemperature": false,
    "sharedTones": [
      "muted"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Lilac",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Lilac"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.06,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Heather",
        "background": "#B7A1C7",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.94
      },
      {
        "color": "Lilac",
        "background": "#C8A2C8",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 9.46
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Heather is better when the design needs muted purple character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #B7A1C7.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Lilac is better when the design needs muted pink character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C8A2C8.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/heather-vs-lilac.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/heather.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/lilac.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/heather-vs-lilac/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/heather-vs-lilac.json"
}