Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year revealed — and it will relax you

It’s hardly a colorful choice.

Since 1999, Pantone, the global color authority and provider of professional color language standards and digital solutions for the design community, has announced their Color of the Year on the first Thursday in December.

This year is no exception, with the company unveiling its choice for 2026 early this morning: PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer.

The bland off-white shade is hardly exciting, but Pantone says it’s emphasizing rest and a move away from the “relentless demands” of society, claiming that “true strength lies not just in doing, but also in being.”

Cloud Dancer serves as a symbol of calm in a hectic society that’s rediscovering the worth of “measured consideration and quiet reflection” and opening the door to new approaches and experiences, the company noted in a press release.

“At this time of transformation, when we are reimagining our future and our place in the world, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is a discrete hue offering a promise of clarity,” Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement.

“The cacophony that surrounds us has become overwhelming, making it harder to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplification, Cloud Dancer enhances our focus, providing release from the distraction of external influences.”

Cloud Dancer is an expression of Pantone’s desire for a future free of overindulgence and full of contentment, peace and unity.

“We are living in a transitional time where people are seeking truth, possibility and a new way of
living,” Laurie Pressman, Vice-President, Pantone Color Institute, added.

The ethereal hue represents a desire for a fresh start — like a blank canvas — that encourages relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and make room for creativity and innovation.

According to Pressman, Cloud Dancer “exemplifies our search for balance between our digital future and
our primal need for human connection.”

For those with a designer mind wondering the RBG and CMYK values for the color set to define 2026, it should be noted that Pantone doesn’t use these values since they created the Pantone Matching System.

The Pantone color code — PANTONE 11-4201, in this case — is the only code that will get you the exact color when working with production.