0. For any color operation Ästart_color()Ä must be called: start_color(); 8-bit: For displaying 8 bit colors, Ncurses works with so called Äcolor-pairsÄ. Color-pairs must be defined/"initialized" before usage and then must be applied as an attribute. Each color-pair has a unique number (on conflict the newer over writes the old one) and which is used for addressing. 1. Creating a color-pair: { initpair(1, COLOR_MAGENTA, COLOR_GREEN); } 2. Turning the attibute on: { wattron(myWindow, COLOR_PAIR(1)); } Now anything printed will appear with the set colors. You may turn the attribute off as you turned it on: ({ wattroff(myWindow, COLOR_PAIR(1)) }) NOTE: naming the color pair via a define is recommended