Text Color Schemes

The theme applies colors to the em (emphasis) element, bold/strong, and definition list terms using a built-in color scheme system.

Built-in Schemes

Scheme	Description
seoul256 (default)	Dark teal for emphasis, dark amber for strong — with matching light variants for dark mode
gruvbox	Earthy aqua for emphasis, warm orange for strong — with light variants for dark mode
none	Restores standard typography — italic for em, bold for strong, no color

Selecting a Scheme

In conf.py:

html_theme_options = {
    ...
    "color_scheme": "seoul256",  # or "gruvbox" or "none"
    ...
}

For Jupyter Book projects:

sphinx:
  config:
    html_theme_options:
      color_scheme: "seoul256"

Seoul256 Colors

Element	Light Mode	Dark Mode
Emphasis (em)	#005f5f dark teal	#5fafaf medium-light teal
Bold/Strong (strong, b)	#875f00 dark amber	#d7af5f light amber-gold
Definitions (dl dt)	Inherits from bold/strong	Inherits from bold/strong

/* Seoul256 — Light Mode */
em       { color: #005f5f; }  /* dark teal */
strong   { color: #875f00; }  /* dark amber */
dl dt    { color: #875f00; }  /* inherits from strong */

/* Seoul256 — Dark Mode */
em       { color: #5fafaf; }  /* medium-light teal */
strong   { color: #d7af5f; }  /* light amber-gold */
dl dt    { color: #d7af5f; }  /* inherits from strong */

Gruvbox Colors

Element	Light Mode	Dark Mode
Emphasis (em)	#427b58 earthy aqua	#8ec07c light aqua
Bold/Strong (strong, b)	#af3a03 warm orange	#fe8019 bright orange
Definitions (dl dt)	Inherits from bold/strong	Inherits from bold/strong

/* Gruvbox — Light Mode */
em       { color: #427b58; }  /* earthy aqua */
strong   { color: #af3a03; }  /* warm orange */
dl dt    { color: #af3a03; }  /* inherits from strong */

/* Gruvbox — Dark Mode */
em       { color: #8ec07c; }  /* light aqua */
strong   { color: #fe8019; }  /* bright orange */
dl dt    { color: #fe8019; }  /* inherits from strong */

Custom Color Scheme

Place a custom_color_scheme.css file in your project’s _static/ directory. The theme will automatically detect and include it:

/* _static/custom_color_scheme.css */
:root {
  --qe-emphasis-color: #005f5f;
  --qe-strong-color: #875f00;
  --qe-definition-color: #875f00;
}
body.dark-theme {
  --qe-emphasis-color: #5fafaf;
  --qe-strong-color: #d7af5f;
  --qe-definition-color: #d7af5f;
}

Note

The color_scheme option is validated at build time. Invalid scheme names fall back to seoul256 with a warning. When using custom_color_scheme.css, the base scheme still applies — your CSS overrides take precedence.