Showa era
Pansy Purple & Olive Ocher +1
Plate 157 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pansy Purple, Olive Ocher, Olympic Blue.
#7d133a
purple · 2 palettes
Pansy Purple
About Pansy Purple
Pansy Purple is a deep, vivid purple tone. Its hex value is #7d133a — that is
RGB 125, 19, 58, or HSL 338°, 74%, 28%.
It holds 10.4:1 contrast against white, so Pansy Purple works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 10.4:1; on black 2.0:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Pansy Purple appears in 2 combinations — most often paired with Olive Ocher, Olympic Blue and Hermosa Pink.
Colours that go with Pansy Purple
From a standard colour wheel, Pansy Purple anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#7d133a #137D56
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#7d133a #7D136F #7D2113
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#7d133a #3A7D13 #133A7D
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#7d133a #137D21 #136F7D
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Pansy Purple
Pansy Purple is a deep, vivid tone (HSL 338°, 74%, 28%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (10.4:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#137D56) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#7D136F and #7D2113) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Pansy Purple off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this one is going decides what it needs next.
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...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Listed on Amazon as Pantone GP6102B Color Bridge Guide Set Coated & Uncoated, Multi-Colour
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...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
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...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Listed on Amazon as Strathmore 300 Series Tape Bound Watercolor Pad, 140 lb. Cold Press, 11 X 15 inches, White, 12 Sheets (360-111)
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Palettes with Pansy Purple
Pansy Purple appears in 2 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
Questions about Pansy Purple
- What is the hex code for Pansy Purple?
- Pansy Purple is #7d133a. It appears in 2 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Pansy Purple look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Pansy Purple (#7d133a) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 10.36:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 2.03:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Pansy Purple come from?
- Pansy Purple is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued purple pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Pansy Purple in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#7d133a) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
From the archive
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- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
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- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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