Era and hardware
Era: 1981 · Hardware: IBM CGA / monochrome amber/green
Key facts
- CGA mode 1 used the legendary cyan/magenta/white/black combo
- Amber phosphor monitors displayed everything in #ffb000 over black
- Green phosphor (the other Hercules) used #33ff33 over black
How to use this palette for cursor design
For period accuracy, use either the CGA palette or pure phosphor amber/green. Mixing them is not historically right.
Open your pixel editor of choice (Aseprite, Piskel, or LibreSprite), import the palette, and follow the five-pass cursor design tutorial: silhouette, outline, fill, highlight, accent. The palette will impose its own discipline — that is the entire point. For deeper background on retro palettes in general, see the retro palette guide.
Cursor packs already in this palette
If you would rather download than design, browse the collections page — collections are organized by palette family and several map directly to the historic palettes documented here.