Pantone Color of the Year
The Pantone Color of the Year is an annual announcement by the Pantone Color Institute, made every December for the following year. Since 2000, twenty-seven colors have been chosen — two of them (2016 and 2021) as pairs. The 2026 Color of the Year is Cloud Dancer (11-4201); the 2025 pick was Mocha Mousse (17-1230). Every pick below includes the official Pantone code plus HEX, RGB, and CMYK approximations.
All Colors of the Year, 2000–2026
What is Pantone Color of the Year?
Pantone Color of the Year is a marketing campaign, a forecast, and a cultural conversation rolled into one. Each December, the Pantone Color Institute — the consulting arm of Pantone LLC — announces a single color (or occasionally a pair) that its committee believes captures the cultural mood of the coming year. The announcement is accompanied by a press release, a story about the color's meaning, and coordinated product releases from partner brands who have pre-adopted the shade.
The first Color of the Year was announced in late 1999 for the year 2000 — Cerulean Blue (15-4020), a calm sky blue that opened the millennium with a tone of quiet optimism. Over the twenty-six years since, the program has selected colors across the entire spectrum, from the vivid (Tangerine Tango 2012, Very Peri 2022) to the muted (Sand Dollar 2006, Peach Fuzz 2024) to the near-white (Cloud Dancer 2026). Two years have featured paired colors: 2016 (Rose Quartz and Serenity) and 2021 (Illuminating and Ultimate Gray).
How the color is chosen
The Pantone Color of the Year Committee includes colorists, designers, trend forecasters, and representatives from across the design industries. Their selection process is not fully publicly documented, but the announcement materials consistently reference cultural trends across fashion, interiors, graphic design, technology, travel, film, and socio-economic conditions. The committee begins deliberating months before the announcement and typically reviews runway collections, art exhibitions, consumer sentiment studies, and partner briefs.
This is not a purely scientific process — the selection is a forecast grounded in qualitative judgment, and Pantone has been open about the fact that the announcement is meant to start a conversation as much as to predict a trend. Some years have landed with outsized cultural effect (Marsala, Ultra Violet, Classic Blue) and others with less impact, but the announcement itself generates significant earned media every December regardless. The campaign is widely considered one of the most successful ongoing color-marketing programs in history.
What the codes mean
Each Color of the Year is specified with a Pantone TCX code — a Fashion, Home + Interiors reference like 17-1230 (Mocha Mousse) or 11-4201 (Cloud Dancer). These are not Solid Coated (C) codes; the Color of the Year is typically a textile-oriented code chosen because it reads the same across fabric, paper, paint, and plastic contexts. The format is XX-YYYY, where the first two digits encode lightness (11 is very light, 19 is very dark) and the four digits encode hue and chroma.
Designers who need to reproduce a Color of the Year in print should convert the TCX reference to the closest Solid Coated (C) equivalent, or use the HEX / RGB values from the year pages on this site. Exact color values depend heavily on paper, ink, and the reference Pantone chip — the digital HEX values below are approximations, not Pantone guarantees.
Timeline table
| Year | Color | Code | HEX | Swatch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Cloud Dancer | 11-4201 | #F0EEE9 | |
| 2025 | Mocha Mousse | 17-1230 | #A47864 | |
| 2024 | Peach Fuzz | 13-1023 | #FFBE98 | |
| 2023 | Viva Magenta | 18-1750 | #BE3455 | |
| 2022 | Very Peri | 17-3938 | #6667AB | |
| 2021 | Illuminating + Ultimate Gray | 13-0647 / 17-5104 | #F5DF4D / #939597 | |
| 2020 | Classic Blue | 19-4052 | #0F4C81 | |
| 2019 | Living Coral | 16-1546 | #FF6F61 | |
| 2018 | Ultra Violet | 18-3838 | #5F4B8B | |
| 2017 | Greenery | 15-0343 | #88B04B | |
| 2016 | Rose Quartz + Serenity | 13-1520 / 15-3919 | #F7CAC9 / #92A8D1 | |
| 2015 | Marsala | 18-1438 | #955251 | |
| 2014 | Radiant Orchid | 18-3224 | #B163A3 | |
| 2013 | Emerald | 17-5641 | #009473 | |
| 2012 | Tangerine Tango | 17-1463 | #DD4124 | |
| 2011 | Honeysuckle | 18-2120 | #D94F70 | |
| 2010 | Turquoise | 15-5519 | #45B5AA | |
| 2009 | Mimosa | 14-0848 | #F0C05A | |
| 2008 | Blue Iris | 18-3943 | #5A5B9F | |
| 2007 | Chili Pepper | 19-1557 | #9B1B30 | |
| 2006 | Sand Dollar | 13-1106 | #DECDBE | |
| 2005 | Blue Turquoise | 15-5217 | #53B0AE | |
| 2004 | Tigerlily | 17-1456 | #E2583E | |
| 2003 | Aqua Sky | 14-4811 | #7BC4C4 | |
| 2002 | True Red | 19-1664 | #BF1932 | |
| 2001 | Fuchsia Rose | 17-2031 | #C74375 | |
| 2000 | Cerulean | 15-4020 | #9BB7D4 |
Frequently asked questions
What is Pantone Color of the Year?
Pantone Color of the Year is an annual announcement made by the Pantone Color Institute since 2000. A committee of color experts selects a shade that they believe will influence the coming year across fashion, interiors, graphic design, and packaging. The choice is not tied to a specific product launch — it is a forecast and a conversation-starter, and it regularly shapes brand palettes, editorial coverage, and product design across the following twelve months.
Who chooses the Color of the Year?
The Pantone Color Institute — a consulting arm of Pantone LLC — makes the selection through its Color of the Year Committee. The committee includes colorists, designers, trend forecasters, and representatives from across the design industries. Their decision draws on global cultural trends, runway fashion, film, art, travel, technology, and socio-economic conditions, though the exact selection process is not publicly documented in detail.
When is the Color of the Year announced?
The announcement is typically made in early December of the preceding year — usually the first week. For example, the 2026 Color of the Year (Cloud Dancer) was announced in December 2025. The announcement is accompanied by press materials, a Pantone code (e.g. 17-1230 TCX), and cross-industry partner releases from brands that have pre-adopted the color.
Has any year had two colors?
Yes. In 2016, Pantone selected a pair — Rose Quartz (13-1520) and Serenity (15-3919) — as a joint Color of the Year, referencing gender fluidity and emotional balance. In 2021, Pantone again selected a pair — Illuminating (13-0647) and Ultimate Gray (17-5104) — to signal resilience and hope after the pandemic. Every other year has had a single Color of the Year.
How is Color of the Year different from other Pantone colors?
Technically, it is not — a Color of the Year is an ordinary Pantone code (usually from the Fashion, Home + Interiors TCX library) that has been singled out for an annual marketing campaign. The color itself is reproducible like any other Pantone code. What makes it special is the narrative: Pantone frames each pick with a story that ties it to the cultural mood of the moment, and that story is what drives its influence across the design industries.
Does the Color of the Year actually influence design?
Yes, though the effect is more diffuse than the marketing suggests. In the months after the announcement, fashion, beauty, and packaging brands frequently add products in or near the chosen color. Interior design and hospitality follow more slowly. The strongest effect is in editorial and marketing coverage — the announcement itself generates significant earned media every year, which is part of the reason Pantone invests in the campaign.