A Brief History of the Pantone Color of the Year
In 1962, Lawrence Herbert founded Pantone to solve a problem he noticed while working at a commercial printing company: There was no standard language to describe different shades of color. The printer he worked for specialized in color charts for the cosmetics and fashion industries, but there was no easy way to match the specific hues that designers needed. For instance, the printer created color swatches for customers to use to match their skin tones with pantyhose, yet ink manufacturers defined shades such as beige and cream differently. Recognizing the need for a universal language of color, Herbert set out to create a graphic standards system that could be used for color matching worldwide.
The Pantone Matching System Is Born
Herbert drew on his chemistry background to hand-mix his own combinations of color tones, developing a series of shades that were each given a unique name — descriptors such as "Greenery" or "Tangerine Tango" — and a number (15-4020, 19-1664, and so on). The result was the Pantone Matching System, which was presented as a book of swatches that fanned out to showcase a rainbow of standardized colors. A name and number combination would consistently yield the same results because each color tone contained an exact ink formula. By the 1970s, Pantone had sold more than 100,000 swatch books and expanded into the industrial, plastics, and fashion markets. The Pantone process was digitized in the 1980s, and the Pantone Color Institute was founded in 1986 to educate designers about color, the way it’s described, and, in more recent years, the psychology that helps determine the Pantone Color of the Year.
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The First Pantone Color of the Year
In 1999, the Pantone Color Institute chose Cerulean as the Color of the Year. Meant to represent the new millennium, Cerulean was inspired by the blue sky and the energy gleaned from spending an afternoon outside. It also represented the limitlessness of a new century — a clean, bright shade that was meant to inspire, but familiar enough not to overwhelm. The Color of the Year project was part of the institute’s larger goal of linking color and culture. Though it was only intended as a one-off event to mark the millennium, the concept took off, and in 2023, the Pantone Color of the Year celebrated its 25th anniversary.
How Pantone Chooses the Color of the Year
Choosing the Pantone Color of the Year is a long and thought-out process. Each year, a team of global color experts is tasked with applying the Pantone Color Institute’s lessons on color psychology to draw parallels between upcoming trends in entertainment, fashion, design, and travel, and the feelings evoked by particular hues. Appointees spend the year in close communication to select a color that embodies the year’s cultural or political landscape.
True Red was chosen in 2002 to represent the devastation of the 9/11 attacks, while 2008’s Blue Iris was meant to inspire calm amid the turmoil brought on by economic recession. In 2016, Pantone announced two colors: Rose Quartz and Serenity, a dusty pink and gentle blue thought to bring on peace, tranquility, and a reprieve from the pandemonium of modern life. The institute followed suit in 2021 and selected two colors amid the global pandemic: Illuminating and Ultimate Gray represented sunny optimism enforced by resilience and stability.
Every Pantone Color of the Year
In 2024, Pantone picked “Peach Fuzz” as the Color of the Year, to represent themes of nurturing, connection, and the enrichment of the body, mind, and soul. Here are the 25 colors Pantone has chosen to reflect the last quarter century:
• 2000: Cerulean, 15-4020
• 2001: Fuchsia Rose, PQ-17-2031
• 2002: True Red, 19-1664
• 2003: Aqua Sky, 14-4811
• 2004: Tigerlily, 17-1456
• 2005: Blue Turquoise, 15-5217
• 2006: Sand Dollar, 13-1106
• 2007: Chili Pepper, 19-1557
• 2008: Blue Iris, 18-3943
• 2009: Mimosa, 14-0848
• 2010: Turquoise, 15-5519
• 2011: Honeysuckle, 18-2120
• 2012: Tangerine Tango, 17-1463
• 2013: Emerald, 17-5641
• 2014: Radiant Orchid, 18-3224
• 2015: Marsala, 18-1438 TCX
• 2016: Rose Quartz, 13-1520, and Serenity, 15-3919
• 2017: Greenery, 15-0343
• 2018: Ultra Violet, 18-3838
• 2019: Living Coral, 16-1546
• 2020: Classic Blue, 19-4052
• 2021: Illuminating, 13-0647, and Ultimate Gray, 17-5104
• 2022: Very Peri, 17-3938
• 2023: Viva Magenta, 18-1750
• 2024: Peach Fuzz, 13-1023
