Mauve Color: Hex Code #E0B0FF, RGB & What Makes It Pink-Purple
Everything about mauve color—hex #E0B0FF, RGB(224,176,255), eight shades, palette pairings, and why mauve sits between pink and purple.
Mauve
Plum
Deep mauve
Mauve is a soft, muted pink-purple color with hex code #E0B0FF and RGB value of (224, 176, 255). It sits between pink and purple on the color spectrum, leaning more toward purple. The name comes from the French word for the mallow flower.
Mauve = #E0B0FF
Soft pink-purple — copy hex, RGB, or HSL for CSS and design tokens.
Is Mauve Pink or Purple?
Mauve is closer to purple than pink, but it lives in the pink-purple borderland. On the RGB color wheel, mauve (#E0B0FF) has high blue (255) and moderate red (224)—more blue channel activity than hot pink (#FF69B4), which is red-heavy. Compared to magenta (#FF00FF), mauve is lighter, dustier, and less saturated.
Visually: if you place mauve beside blush pink, mauve reads cooler and more violet. Beside deep purple (#800080), mauve reads softer and more pastel. That is why designers use mauve for editorial backgrounds and beauty packaging—it signals femininity without the aggression of neon pink or the weight of royal purple.
For the full list of pink-purple names including magenta, fuchsia, and orchid, see our pink-purple colour names guide.
Mauve Hex Code and Color Values
Every format for canonical mauve #E0B0FF—each with its own copy button for handoff to CSS, Figma, or print specs.
Shades of Mauve
Eight stops from pale mauve to deep violet-mauve. Copy any hex for backgrounds, borders, or UI tokens.
| Swatch | Shade | Hex |
|---|---|---|
| Pale mauve | #F5E6FF | |
| Light mauve | #E8D4FF | |
| Soft mauve | #E0C8FF | |
| Mauve | #E0B0FF | |
| Medium mauve | #D49FE8 | |
| Dusty mauve | #C48FD9 | |
| Deep mauve | #A875C4 | |
| Dark mauve | #8B5A9E |
What Colors Go with Mauve?
Four mauve palette combinations with copy-ready hex codes—charcoal editorial, cream luxury, sage botanical, and navy creative.
Mauve + Charcoal + White
Mauve section bands (#E0B0FF), charcoal body copy (#374151) on white cards—clean editorial for magazines, skincare lookbooks, and lifestyle blogs.
Mauve + Cream + Gold
Cream backgrounds (#FFF8F0) with mauve accents and muted gold rules (#C9A227) suit wedding stationery, luxury beauty, and invitation design.
Mauve + Sage + Blush
Sage (#B2AC88) grounds airy mauve fields; dusty blush (#E8B4B8) adds warmth for botanical and wellness brands without neon pink.
Mauve + Navy + Lavender
Navy headers (#000080) with mauve highlights and lavender (#E6E6FA) content wells—creative confidence for portfolios and beauty SaaS.
Mauve in Fashion and Design
Mauve exploded into fashion after the first synthetic dye—mauveine—was discovered in 1856. Today the mauve colour still signals vintage elegance: dusty, slightly melancholic, and more sophisticated than bubblegum pink. On the web, #E0B0FF works for skincare hero bands, wedding landing pages, and creative portfolios where you want softness without losing structure.
In UI, treat mauve as a surface color—not default body text. Charcoal (#374151) on pale mauve (#F5E6FF) passes contrast for paragraphs; white on mid-tone mauve often fails at 14px. Reserve deeper mauve rows (#A875C4, #8B5A9E) for navigation, tags, and illustration accents. Pair with lavender #E6E6FA when you need an even airier wash, or Purple Dream ramps when you need saturated violet CTAs.
British teams searching mauve colour use the same hex as US mauve color—only spelling changes. Document #E0B0FF once in your style guide and derive tints programmatically in the palette generator so hover and disabled states stay on the same hue angle.
Print and textile mauves often skew pinker than screen #E0B0FF; note CMYK approximations (C:12 M:31 Y:0 K:0) in vendor specs so packaging does not surprise brand reviewers. When stakeholders say “dusty purple,” show mauve first, then plum (#DDA0DD) and thistle (#D8BFD8) from the shade table as lighter companions.
FAQ
- What is the mauve hex code?
- The standard mauve hex code is #E0B0FF, which is RGB(224, 176, 255) and HSL(276, 100%, 85%). Lighter mauves use #F5E6FF or #E8D4FF; deeper accents use #A875C4 or #8B5A9E.
- Is mauve pink or purple?
- Mauve is both and neither—it sits between pink and purple on the color wheel, leaning more toward purple. It has more blue than hot pink (#FF69B4) but is lighter and dustier than magenta (#FF00FF) or deep violet.
- What is the mauve RGB value?
- Canonical mauve #E0B0FF has RGB value (224, 176, 255)—red 224, green 176, blue 255. In CSS write rgb(224, 176, 255) or the compact form RGB(224,176,255) in design handoffs.
- What colors go with mauve?
- Charcoal (#374151), cream (#FFF8F0), sage green (#B2AC88), navy (#000080), and gold (#C9A227) pair reliably with mauve. Always verify text and button contrast with a WCAG checker.
Related colors
- Pink-Purple Colour Names — mauve, magenta, fuchsia and more
- Lavender Hex Code — airier violet wash for wellness UI
- Purple Dream Palette — full violet ramp from #7C3AED to #EDE9FE
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