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Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Configure logo, colors, and system defaults for Core UI

You can use the Basic Configuration Core UI module to brand your instance with your company logo and colors and set basic system defaults. This place is the best starting point if you are setting up your instance for the first time or if you have recently enabled Core UI.

Before you begin

Gather the following:

  • Obtain the company banner image to use in the header. The image can be high resolution, but when it displays it’s scaled based on the aspect ratio. It scales to a maximum of 20 px high.
  • Get the brand color hex or RGB numbers of your company, typically from your marketing department. Use them to decide how to configure the UI background colors.

Role required: admin

About this task

Each color selection option provides a color picker to select a color. The text box beside the color picker lets you enter the value of the color as any of the following CSS formats:

  • Name: predefined color names, such as red, green, or blue
  • RGB decimal: RGB (102, 153, 204)
  • RGB hex: #223344

Refer to HTML Color Names (W3CSchools) for information about HTML color names.

Note: This information is only applicable for instances that do not have Next Experience enabled. For theming information for Next Experience, see Working with themes in Next Experience.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to All > System Properties > Basic Configuration UI16.

  2. Complete the configuration by changing any of the following settings:

LabelPropertyDescription
Page header captionglide.product.descriptionChange the text that appears next to your logo.
Browser tab titleglide.product.nameChange the text that appears on the browser tab.
System timezone for all users unless overridden in the user's recordglide.sys.default.tzSelect the time zone in the list.Select Configure available time zones to select the time zones that your users can select from in user preferences.
Banner image for Core UIglide.product.image.lightSelect + next to the image and upload your logo.
Date formatTime formatglide.sys.date\_formatglide.sys.time\_formatSelect the date and time format from the choice lists.
Header background colorcss.$navpage-header-bgSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: HeaderBGColor.png
Header background
This color is also used as part of the theme preview on the Themes tab under system settings.
Banner text colorcss.$navpage-header-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: BannerTextColor.png
Banner text color
This color is also used as part of the theme preview on the Themes tab under system settings.
Header divider stripe colorcss.$navpage-header-divider-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: BannerDividerColor.png
Header divider striper
Navigation header/footercss.$navpage-nav-bgSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: NavigationBGColor.png
Navigation
Navigation background expanded itemscss.$subnav-background-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: ExpandedBackgroundColor.png
Application with expanded modules to show the difference in color
Module text color for the Core UI application navigatorcss.$navpage-nav-color-subSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: ModuleTextColor.png
Favorites, Connect list
Navigation selected tab background colorcss.$navpage-nav-selected-bgSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: NavigationSelectedTabBGColor.png
Selected tab
Navigation selected tab divider bar colorcss.$nav-highlight-bar-active
Image omitted: NavBarActive.png
Application navigator with the All Applications tab selected and an arrow indicating the fact that the line under the tab is blue
This color is also used as part of the theme preview on the Themes tab under system settings.
Navigation unselected tab divider bar colorcss.$nav-highlight-bar-inactive
Image omitted: NavBarInactive.png
Application navigator with the All Applications tab selected and an arrow point to the other tabs to indicate that the line is a different color
Navigation separator colorcss.$nav-hr-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: NavigationSeparatorColor.png
Separators
Background for navigator and sidebarscss.$navpage-nav-bg-subSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: FavoritesConnectBGColor.png
Navigator, sidebars
Currently selected Navigation tab icon color for Core UIcss.$navpage-nav-selected-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: NavigationIconColor.png
Navigation icon
Unselected navigation tab icon and favorite icons colorcss.$navpage-nav-unselected-colorSelect or enter the color.
Image omitted: UnselectedNavIconColor.png
Unselected favorites icon
Border color for Core UIcss.$navpage-nav-borderSelect or enter the color. Also affects the border of the Filter conversations search box in the Connect Chat sidebar.
Image omitted: BorderColor.png
Filter navigator</td></tr><tr><td>
Selected base theme
glide.ui.base\_theme.selected\_themeSwitches the main content \(everything other than the application navigator and the header\) between the La Jolla and Cobalt themes.
For most of the settings, as you make changes, the page refreshes with a preview of the change. Only you see these changes. Some settings require you to log out and log back in again to see the change.
  1. Select Save at the top or bottom of the page.

Result

After you save the configuration changes, all users who select the System theme in their UI personalization options see the new configuration colors.

Parent Topic:Customizing instance appearance

La Jolla and cobalt theme comparison

The La Jolla theme is the new brand theme for ServiceNow. When you upgrade to Madrid, your theme is automatically upgraded to the La Jolla theme. Any customizations you have made to the system theme will not be upgraded. Use the styles in the list below to upgrade or revert any styles to the new or old theme.

Make changes to any of these styles by navigating to System Properties > Basic Configuration UI16.

PropertyLa Jolla styleCobalt style
Header background color css.$navpage-header-bg\#ffffff\#303a46
Header divider stripe color css.$navpage-header-divider-color\#5a7f71\#455464
Navigation header/footer css.$navpage-nav-bg\#293e40\#303A46
Navigation background expanded itemscss.$subnav-background-color\#213234\#303a46
Module text color for UI16 css.$navpage-nav-color-sub\#bec1c6\#bec1c6
Navigation selected tab background colorcss.$navpage-nav-selected-bg\#2f4fe\#4b545f
Navigation selected tab divider bar colorcss.$nav-highlight-bar-active\#82c9b8\#278efc
Navigation unselected tab divider bar colorcss.$nav-highlight-bar-inactive\#213234\#81878e
Navigation separator color css.$nav-hr-color\#293e40\#303a46
Background for navigator and sidebarscss.$navpage-nav-bg-sub\#293e40\#455464
Currently selected Navigation tab icon color for UI16 css.$navpage-nav-selected-color\#82c9b8\#ffffff
Unselected navigation tab icon and favorite icons color css.$navpage-nav-unselected-color\#bec1c6\#bec1c6
Border color for UI16 css.$navpage-nav-border\#7a828a\#ddd
Selected Base Themeglide.ui.base\_theme.selected\_themeLa Jolla SysID: c92c1ee153002300dda1ddeeff7b125bCobalt SysID: 6f3c9ae153002300dda1ddeeff7b124a