Colors of the Year for 2026: Which Color Would You Choose for Its Psychological Benefits?

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Pantone is a company devoted to “products and services to help define, communicate and control color from inspiration to realization.” One of its activities is naming the color of the year, starting in 1999.

In ancient times, color was used for chromotherapy, which was using color for its presumed therapeutic repercussions. Given that color seems so psychologically symbolic, emotionally stimulating, and even potentially divisive in terms of skin color, I wrote a December 15, 2023, column on “A Therapeutic Color for 2024.” That Pantone chosen color was “Peach Fuzz,” described as desiring to feel “gentle, heartfelt, and cozy.” My focus was on how an 8-year-old girl, Bellen Woodard, took offense to a peach-colored crayon being designated as a “skin-colored crayon” and eventually wrote the book More Than Peach.

Pantone continued on that 2024 calming therapeutic path in its just released choice for 2026. For the first time, white was chosen in its named “Cloud Dancer” white, which hopefully “acts as a whisper of calm and peace in a noisy world.”

In a way, “Peach Fuzz” was also supposed to be a gentle and nurturing shade, but this white color is also supposed to represent “the possibility of a clean slate, or a new beginning to draw upon.” Moreover, scientifically, white is all colors combined, perhaps representing unity in diversity. Although not mentioned in all this company publicity, there is an important “White Cloud Dancer” Native American kachina doll, thought to bring good fortune to the community.

On the other hand, IKEA has chosen “Rebel Pink” for their 2026 color of the year. It is described as “bold, unapologetic, full of energy,” to be used “to push boundaries and spark joy in unexpected places.”

If these colors indeed have those advertised psychological implications, what would you choose and how could they practically be used? Should we wear more clothes of these color(s), especially in our work settings? Physicians already wear a white coat, though I chose a salmon-colored one for my internship way back in 1971-72. It was in LA. Since I no longer see patients, I have taken out all my white shirts to wear more often, as well as the smaller number of pink clothes. “Real men wear pink” is a slogan related to raising money and awareness for breast color. Yes, I did wear pink shirts to work, even at a men’s medium security prison!

Would too much “Cloud Dancer” cause us to be too passive in a conflictual time needing action? Would then a more rebellious consideration that “Rebel Pink” is supposed to elicit be more psychologically indicated at times? Perhaps we need both right now.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.