Pantone Color of the Year 2026: Cloud Dancer

The experts of color have selected the Color of the Year for 2026.

Pantone has picked Cloud Dancer as the color that will represent the new year.

It is known not only by the name Cloud Dancer, but also PANTONE 11-4201.

While it is the first time a white shade has been chosen, it isn’t just “defaulting to white,” Pantone Color Institute executive director Leatrice Eiseman said, according to The Washington Post.

She said it is instead a blank canvas, “opening up new avenues and ways of thinking.”

It may have come as a shock to some who thought Pantone would go in a much different direction.

Late last month, Forbes reported that designers thought the company would choose a green shade to continue the trend of warm, natural tones.

Pantone’s vice president, Laurie Pressman, said of the Cloud Dancer shade, “This is a structural color that goes well with anything and everything. Whether you are including it with bright colors, whether you are including it with pastels, it works.”

The annual announcement has evolved over the past 25 years since it started.

What was once just a news release, Pantone’s announcements have turned into an opportunity for sponsorships and collaborations, The Washington Post reported.

There is even Play-Doh in the Cloud Dancer hue being released this year for the 70th anniversary of the toy. Plus, there is a Motorola phone, Command Strips and Post-it Notes available.

0 of 21

© 2025 Cox Media Group