In Western cultures, plum often signifies luxury and creativity, while in some Eastern traditions, it symbolizes prosperity and good fortune. The color’s duality reflects both earthy richness and whimsical charm, making it versatile across various contexts.
The term 'plum' originates from the Old English 'plume', which has been used since the 14th century. Historically, plum dyes were utilized in medieval textiles, making the color a symbol of wealth and status among the elite.
Ranked by CIE76 ΔE — the perceptual distance from Plum. Lower ΔE means a closer match (below ~2 is barely distinguishable).
All 31 Purples →Nine steps of Plum by lightness — from #735373 (darkest) to #EDCEED (lightest). Click any to copy.
Sitting opposite Plum at 120° on the color wheel, these give the highest-contrast pairings.
Curated 5-color combinations featuring Plum.
A 50–900 tonal scale with Plum anchored at 500 — ready to drop into a design system. Click any step to copy.
Works well as text on dark backgrounds; fails on light.
Thresholds: AA needs 4.5:1 (normal text) / 3:1 (large); AAA needs 7:1 / 4.5:1. Large = 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold.
Copy-ready values for CSS, screen and print, plus the extra conversions designers reach for.
color: plum; color-mix(in srgb, plum 70%, white) 300°, 28%, 87% 0, 28, 0, 13 14524637 #CC99CC How Plum appears to viewers with the three main types of color blindness (~1 in 12 men, 1 in 200 women). Simulated approximations.