> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.morpht.com/convivial-for-govcms/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.morpht.com/convivial-for-govcms/concepts-and-tools/palettes.md).

# Palettes

A palette is a named set of colours — background, text, link and highlight, with the lighter and darker derivatives calculated from them — that can be applied to any part of the site. Editors pick palettes; Themers define what colours they contain.

See colour palettes on the demo site: <https://govcms.convivial.io/demo/colour-palettes>

![The six palettes](https://3733701002-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3fBWwpuJPUqPpT2ulMXp%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9f97ec0b77d0e472f28b6f1a8e38b730ba4dae7d%2Fcolour-palettes.png?alt=media)

## The palettes

* **Standard** — the default; the page background and body text.
* **Alternate** — a second neutral, for banding sections without strong colour.
* **Primary**, **Secondary**, **Accent** — the brand colours, in decreasing order of how much of the page they should cover.
* **Neutral** — a grey, for footers and quiet areas.
* **Success**, **Warning**, **Error**, **Info** — used by alerts and messages; not chosen by editors.

Every palette exists twice, as a **light** and a **dark** scheme, and the site switches between them when the visitor toggles the scheme in the header. You never pick light or dark — you pick a palette and both versions come with it.

## Where a palette is applied

* The **banner** of a page, from the **Banner palette** field in the page's Header group.
* Any **component**, from the **Palette** field in its Presentation group. Applying a palette also gives the component padding, so it reads as a coloured block.
* The site's **regions** — header, footer, menu bar and so on — from the Themer's Regions settings.

Components inside a coloured component inherit its palette unless given their own, so a Section set to *Primary* colours everything inside it. Contrast between text and background is guaranteed within a palette; it is not guaranteed between two palettes side by side, so avoid stacking a dark and a light palette in overlapping components — see [Presentation](/convivial-for-govcms/content-editing/components/presentation.md).

The colours themselves, and how the derivatives are calculated, are described in [Colours](/convivial-for-govcms/theme-settings/colours.md).