Pantone Color of the Year 2016
The Pantone Color of the Year 2016 is Rose Quartz (13-1520), selected alongside Serenity (15-3919). Its HEX approximation is #F7CAC9. A gentle, pale pink that Pantone paired with Serenity to signal gender fluidity and emotional balance — the first paired COTY.
Paired with Serenity
In 2016, Pantone broke from its usual single-color format and announced two Colors of the Year — Rose Quartz and Serenity. The pairing was deliberate: the two shades together represented gender fluidity and emotional balance, blurring the boundary between warm and cool.
About Rose Quartz
A gentle, pale pink that Pantone paired with Serenity to signal gender fluidity and emotional balance — the first paired COTY.
Pantone announced Rose Quartz as its Color of the Year 2016 in December 2015, following the program's annual cadence. The announcement placed the shade within the broader cultural conversation of the year — from fashion and interiors to graphics and packaging — and was accompanied by coordinated product releases from partner brands who had pre-adopted the color. Like every Pantone Color of the Year, Rose Quartz is a TCX reference (13-1520) rather than a Solid Coated (C) code, reflecting the program's textile-focused selection framework.
In practical design terms, Rose Quartz translates to a screen HEX of #F7CAC9 and a CMYK print approximation of 0/18/19/3. The precise printed result depends on paper, ink, and proof conditions. For brand-critical work that references Rose Quartz, the safest approach is to specify the 13-1520 TCX reference directly to your printer or textile supplier, and to verify with a printed proof on the target stock before committing to production.
Closest Solid Coated match
If you need to reproduce Rose Quartz with a Solid Coated (C) reference, the closest match in our catalog is 503 C (#E9C5C7), with a perceptual difference of ΔE 2000 = 3.09. This is a reasonable match, but you should verify against a physical Pantone chip before production.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Pantone Color of the Year 2016?
The Pantone Color of the Year 2016 is Rose Quartz (13-1520). Pantone announced it as the shade that its Color of the Year Committee believed would best reflect the cultural mood and design trends of 2016. Its HEX approximation is #F7CAC9. It was selected alongside a second color, Serenity (15-3919).
What is the HEX code for Rose Quartz?
Rose Quartz is a Pantone TCX reference (13-1520), not a HEX color. Its closest screen approximation is #F7CAC9 in the sRGB color space, with RGB channels 247, 202, 201 and CMYK print approximation 0/18/19/3. These values are approximations and should not be treated as authoritative — the Pantone code is the actual specification.
What Pantone Solid Coated code is closest to Rose Quartz?
The closest match in our Solid Coated catalog to Rose Quartz (13-1520) is 503 C at #E9C5C7, with a perceptual difference of approximately ΔE 2000 = 3.09. This is a reasonable match but you may want to verify against a physical Pantone chip before using it in production.
How do I use Rose Quartz in my design?
For digital design, use the HEX value #F7CAC9 — it will render correctly across browsers. For print design, specify the Pantone TCX reference 13-1520 to your printer, or convert to the closest Solid Coated (C) code (503 C). For textile and fashion applications, the TCX code itself is the standard — no conversion is necessary if your manufacturer works with Pantone textile references.