Showa era
Cinnamon Buff & Light Mauve
Plate 23 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cinnamon Buff, Light Mauve.
#9a72aa
purple · 7 palettes
Light Mauve
About Light Mauve
Light Mauve is a mid-tone, muted purple tone. Its hex value is #9a72aa — that is
RGB 154, 114, 170, or HSL 283°, 25%, 56%.
It holds 5.4:1 contrast against dark, so Light Mauve works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 3.9:1; on black 5.4:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Light Mauve appears in 7 combinations — most often paired with Cinnamon Buff, Sulpher Yellow and Corinthian Pink.
Colours that go with Light Mauve
From a standard colour wheel, Light Mauve anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#9a72aa #82AA72
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#9a72aa #7E72AA #AA729E
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#9a72aa #AA9A72 #72AA9A
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#9a72aa #9EAA72 #72AA7E
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Light Mauve
Light Mauve is a mid-tone, muted tone (HSL 283°, 25%, 56%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (5.4:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#82AA72) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#7E72AA and #AA729E) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Light Mauve
Light Mauve appears in 7 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
See what's inside
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.