The standard-themes are a collection of light and dark themes for GNU Emacs. The standard-light and standard-dark emulate the out-of-the-box looks of Emacs (which technically do NOT constitute a theme) while bringing to them thematic consistency, customizability, and extensibility. Other themes are stylistic variations of those.

In practice, the Standard themes take the default style of the font-lock and Org faces, complement it with a wider and harmonious colour palette, address many inconsistencies, and apply established semantic patterns across all interfaces by supporting a large number of packages.

• Package name (GNU ELPA): standard-themes

• Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes

• Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes-changelog

• Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes-pictures

• Git repositories:

• GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/standard-themes

• GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/standard-themes

• Backronym: Standard Themes Are Not Derivatives but the Affectionately Reimagined Default … themes.

Below are the release notes.

Version 3.0.0 on 2025-11-09

This major version makes Standard build on top of my Modus themes. The latter provides extensive face/package coverage and a wide range of customisation options. As a result, the Standard themes retain their design while giving more control to the user.

These release notes are essentially the same as what I wrote earlier today for my ef-themes package, which is now also built on top of my Modus themes: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2025-11-09-emacs-ef-themes-2-0-0/.

In short:

• User options that were provided by the Standard themes are now mere aliases for their Modus counterparts.
• Commands that were defined by the Standard themes are now reduced to convenience wrappers that build on top of Modus.
• The new minor mode standard-themes-take-over-modus-themes-mode can be enabled to make all Modus commands that load a theme only consider the Standard themes. This is effectively the opposite of enabling the modus-themes-include-derivatives-mode or using one of the Standard commands to load just a Standard theme (like standard-themes-rotate).
• The manual of the Modus themes covers everything from the basics to advanced topics on how to use and customise the themes. Evaluate (info "(modus-themes) Top") or visit https://protesilaos.com/emacs/modus-themes.

You are welcome to contact me if something is unclear.