Pantone has announced its highly anticipated choice for the color of the year 2026: Cloud Dancer, a “high white” that aims to “provide a calming influence in a frenetic society rediscovering the value of measured contemplation and quiet reflection.”

Behr is one of the last companies to unveil a color of the year, following in the footsteps of major paint brands like Benjamin Moore, and Sherwin-Williams.

However, it is the only company to have chosen white for 2026, a decision born out of a desire to “quiet the mind” and “encourage true relaxation,” Pantone said in a press release.

Cloud Dancer represents a future that is “more and more free,” the company said, describing it as “a bluish, balanced white with a sense of color.”

“Choosing to relax and consciously turn away from countless demands and turn inward
Recognizes that true power lies not only in doing, but also in being, “the statement continues.” Expressing our longing for the future, Cloud Dancer evokes our desire and longing for feelings of peace, unity and harmony. “

The company’s 2026 Color of the Year is the first time a white has been chosen since 1999, when Pantone first began naming a selected color for the next 12 months.

While Pantone has never shied away from neutral tones — choosing Mocha Moses in 2025, a “warming brown hue” aimed at “our desire for comfort” — this year’s choice of white signifies what the company describes as the need for a “blank canvas” in a time of “change.”

“In this time of change, as we reassess our future and our place in the world, Pantone 11-4201 Cloud Dancer is a discrete color that offers the promise of clarity,” Latrice Icemansaid executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

“The cacophony around us has become too much, making it difficult to hear the voices of our inner selves. A conscious statement of simplicity, Cloud Dancer expands our focus, providing a release from the distraction of external influences.”

Laurie Pressmanvice president of the Pantone Color Institute, added that Hue presents an opportunity to reflect how society will balance basic human interaction with increased use of technology, explaining that the company hopes that choosing a sort of blank canvas as the color of the year will inspire imagination and innovation.

“In a quest to open up space for creativity and allow new ideas to take shape, for Pantone
The color of the year 2026, Pantone will help provide the blank canvas that Cloud Dancer represents.
To create your own interpretation of inspiring and featured artists from the creative community
Pantone’s color of the year,” the press release continued.

As for the company’s choice of shade each year, Pressman previously revealed in an interview that the decision is influenced by all sorts of cultural movements, from film and TV to fashion, art and technology.

“Anything and everything that happens in our culture during the course of the year can influence our Pantone color of the year selection for the coming year with each source year having a different weight, depending on what’s happening in our culture at the time,” he said.

“For example, if you look back 15 years ago, technology would have played an infinite role. That’s not the case today. Gaming, social media, AR and physical design itself are influenced by our technology and the colors we can access in the digital environment.”

The shade chosen needs to be relevant to “all areas of design,” he said, adding that the company’s team of global color experts does not focus its efforts on choosing a particular “area of ​​design” to choose a color for.

“It’s important that we make sure the color at the moment reflects what’s happening in global culture at the moment,” he added.

“The Pantone Color of the Year is not about what the color is going to represent three years from now, or what it represented last year. It’s about what we see for the year immediately ahead.”

As in previous years, Pantone has teamed up with a number of official partners on the 2026 color of the year, including Motorola, PlayDoo, Post, and Spotify, all of whom have found a way to incorporate Cloud Dancer into their product offerings.

Pantone’s latest color of the year release comes nearly two months after Benjamin Moore unveiled its 2026, Silhouette selection, which was described as “an alluring blend of rich espresso hues with subtle notes of charcoal.”

Sherwin-Williams, meanwhile, opted for universal khaki, which it described as “earthy and timeless” and “a reliable choice for common areas”.