BBC
The BBC palette, captured from the open-source Simorgh design system that powers BBC News across services. Anchored by "Postbox" (#B80000) — the signature BBC red — the system pairs near-black on white for body content with a published gray scale, a service-neutral blue, news/sport accent colors, and the LIVE teal used for live-coverage states. Globally accessible, service-driven, with the BBC GEL (Global Experience Language) governing layout, type, and accessibility floor.
23 swatches 14 light roles 14 dark roles
Swatches
postbox
#B80000
BBC signature red — the brand's primary identity color.
postbox-30
#EAB3B3
Light tint of postbox — quiet emphasis backgrounds.
black
#000000
BBC blocks logo black; the primary text on white.
ebon
#222222
Body text on light surfaces.
midnight-black
#121212
Dark-mode canvas; the deep BBC night surface.
white
#FFFFFF
Page canvas — bright BBC background.
ghost
#FDFDFD
Faintly warm off-white — large-area canvas alternative.
chalk
#ECEAE7
Warm neutral background — the BBC paper tone.
oat-light
#F5F3F1
Lighter warm-paper tone for elevated surfaces.
lunar
#F2F2F2
Cool quiet surface; alternate page tint.
lunar-light
#F8F8F8
Lightest cool surface — quiet inset.
grey-3
#E6E8EA
Hairline divider; quiet card border.
grey-4
#B0B2B4
Disabled / decorative border weight.
grey-5
#8A8C8E
Quiet meta text on light surface.
grey-6
#545658
Secondary body text.
grey-7
#3A3C3E
Dark surface; secondary text on dark.
service-neutral
#0071F1
Service-neutral link blue.
service-neutral-dark
#0051AD
Pressed / active variant of service-neutral.
live-core
#009E9E
BBC LIVE teal — live-coverage status color.
live-light
#00CCC7
Brighter LIVE teal for dark surfaces.
sport-yellow
#FFD230
BBC Sport accent yellow.
error-core
#E51854
Error / failure state color (Simorgh standard).
success-core
#148A00
Confirmation / success state.
Mode role mappings
Light mode (14 roles)
accent
→ postbox accent-hover
→ service-neutral background
→ white border
→ grey-3 error
→ error-core primary
→ postbox primary-hover
→ service-neutral-dark success
→ success-core surface
→ chalk surface-elevated
→ white text-primary
→ ebon text-secondary
→ grey-6 text-tertiary
→ grey-5 warning
→ sport-yellow Dark mode (14 roles)
accent
→ postbox accent-hover
→ live-light background
→ midnight-black border
→ grey-6 error
→ error-core primary
→ postbox primary-hover
→ postbox-30 success
→ success-core surface
→ grey-7 surface-elevated
→ grey-6 text-primary
→ white text-secondary
→ grey-3 text-tertiary
→ grey-4 warning
→ sport-yellow Provenance
- Source
- https://github.com/bbc/simorgh/blob/latest/src/app/components/ThemeProvider/palette.ts
- License
Apache-2.0 (simorgh source); brand identity remains property of the BBC- Attribution
- The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) — palette values captured from the published Simorgh palette source at github.com/bbc/simorgh/src/app/components/ThemeProvider/ palette.ts. The BBC, the BBC blocks logo, "Postbox," and the Reith Sans / Reith Serif typefaces are property of the BBC.
- Imported
-
2026-05-19 - Notes
- Hex values captured from the Simorgh palette source on 2026-05-19. The Apache-2.0 license covers the source code; the BBC's brand identity and the Reith typeface family remain proprietary. Open-source substitute (Inter) is referenced from the brand atom; BBC GEL is documented at bbc.co.uk/gel but the documentation site was not directly reachable from this fetch context.