Purplish Brown Color
Purplish Brown is a red color with hex code #6B4247. This page covers its meaning, all color values, harmonies, colors that go with purplish brown, shades, tints, similar colors, CSS examples, FAQs, and WCAG contrast ratios.
Purplish Brown Color Values
What Does Purplish Brown Mean?
Purplish Brown belongs to the red family of colors. Reds grab attention faster than anything else on the spectrum. It's why clearance tags, warning signs, and buy buttons lean on red tones, and why painters reach for red when a focal point has to carry a composition. Reds also advance visually, stepping forward while cooler hues recede into the background. Being on the dark side, Purplish Brown adds weight and depth. It suits text, shadows, and grounding elements more than wide-open backgrounds.
In the ISCC-NBS color naming system, Purplish Brown is classified as a brown (nearest centroid: grayish reddish brown, #674C47).
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Colors That Go With Purplish Brown
Purplish Brown and #426C67 are complements, parked opposite each other on the wheel. Together they hit maximum contrast, so a rough 70/30 split keeps the pairing from shouting.
Analogous neighbors — #6C425C and #6C5242, which sit beside purplish brown on the wheel. Pairings like this feel calm and settled, which suits backgrounds and gradients.
For an energetic three-color palette, pair purplish brown with triadic partners #476C42 and #42476C. All three sit evenly spaced around the wheel, so the scheme stays lively without clashing.
Build and test these combinations in our Color Wheel Tool or check text readability with the Contrast Checker.
Tints and Shades
Tints (lighter)
Shades (darker)
Similar Colors
- Purple Brown —
#673A3F(Delta E 4) - Brownish Purple —
#76424E(Delta E 6) - Ferra —
#704F50(Delta E 6) - Congo Brown —
#593737(Delta E 7) - Eggplant —
#614051(Delta E 9)
CSS Examples
.text { color: #6B4247; }
.background { background-color: #6B4247; }
.border { border: 2px solid #6B4247; }
.shadow { box-shadow: 0 4px 6px #6B424740; }WCAG Contrast
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hex code for purplish brown?
Purplish Brown has the hex code #6B4247. In RGB notation it is rgb(107, 66, 71), in HSL it is hsl(353, 24%, 34%), and its OKLCH value is 0.428, 0.057, 11.8.
What does the color purplish brown mean?
Red-family colors like purplish brown carry distinct psychological associations. Purplish Brown belongs to the red family of colors. Reds grab attention faster than anything else on the spectrum. It's why clearance tags, warning signs, and buy buttons lean on red tones, and why painters reach for red when a focal point has to carry a composition. Reds also advance visually, stepping forward while cooler hues recede into the background. Being on the dark side, Purplish Brown adds weight and depth. It suits text, shadows, and grounding elements more than wide-open backgrounds.
What colors go with purplish brown?
Purplish Brown has three easy routes: its complement #426C67 for punch, its neighbors #6C425C and #6C5242 for something calmer, or triadic partners #476C42 and #42476C when you want energy.
Is purplish brown a standard web color?
No — Purplish Brown is not a CSS keyword. Use its hex value #6B4247 or any RGB/HSL equivalent in your stylesheets.
How do I make purplish brown lighter or darker?
To lighten purplish brown, add white to create tints; to darken it, add black to create shades. The tints and shades table above shows five computed steps of each, from #EADCDE (lightest tint) to #130C0C (darkest shade).
About Purplish Brown
Purplish Brown is classified as a Brown in the ISCC-NBS color naming system, within the Red hue family. It has The color is recognized by XKCD, meodai.
Use our Color Converter to convert #6B4247 to any other color format, or explore the Color Wheel to find harmonious color combinations.