X-Rite, a supplier of color measurement instruments and software, purchased Pantone for US$180 million in October 2007,[2] and was itself acquired by Danaher Corporation in 2012.

[3] At the end of September 2023, Danaher spun-off its Environmental and Applied Solutions segment as Veralto Corporation.

[5][6] In 1956, its founders, both advertising executives, hired recent Hofstra University graduate Lawrence Herbert as a part-time employee.

Herbert used his chemistry knowledge to systematize and simplify the company's stock of pigments and production of colored inks; by 1962, Herbert was running the ink and printing division at a profit, while the commercial-display division was US$50,000 in debt; he subsequently purchased the company's technological assets from the Levine Brothers for US$50,000 (equivalent to $520,000 in 2024) and renamed them "Pantone".

[7] The company's primary products include the Pantone Guides, which consist of a large number of small (approximately 6×2 inches or 15×5 cm) thin cardboard or plastic sheets, printed on one side with a series of related color swatches and then bound into a small "fan deck".

Pantone recommends that PMS Color Guides be purchased annually, as their inks become yellowish over time.

The Pantone system also later allowed for many special colors to be produced, such as metallics, fluorescents (neons) and pastels.

Other 6 were in the system before: Yellow 012, Orange 021, Rubine Red, Green, Process Blue and Black that in Goe were named Medium Yellow, Bright Orange, Strong Red, Bright Green, Medium Blue and Neutral Black.

Countries such as Canada and South Korea and organizations such as the FIA have also chosen to refer to specific Pantone colors to use when producing flags.

Hexachrome was discontinued by Pantone in 2008 when Adobe Systems stopped supporting their HexWare plugin software.

Pantone Color Manager allows for users of the Adobe Creative Suite and Creative Cloud as well as other software to import the most up to date information inclusive of L*a*b* numbers as well as CMYK and sRGB representations of all the various palettes (including chromatic adaptation under default D50 or D65 with 2 degree or 10 degree observer or even any ICC profile).

Support is being phased out in favour of Pantone Connect plugin from Adobe Exchange of Creative Cloud.

Twice a year the company hosts, in a European capital, a secret meeting of representatives from various nations' color standards groups.

2000CeruleanPantone 15-4020#9BB7D4 2001Fuchsia RosePantone 17-2031#C74375 2002True RedPantone 19-1664#BF1932 2003Aqua SkyPantone 14-4811#7BC4C4 2004TigerlilyPantone 17-1456#E2583E 2005Blue TurquoisePantone 15-5217#53B0AE 2006Sand DollarPantone 13-1106#DECDBE 2007Chili PepperPantone 19-1557#9B1B30 2008Blue IrisPantone 18-3943#5A5B9F 2009MimosaPantone 14-0848#F0C05A 2010TurquoisePantone 15-5519[31]#45B5AA 2011HoneysucklePantone 18-2120[32]#D94F70 2012Tangerine TangoPantone 17-1463[33]#DD4124 2013EmeraldPantone 17-5641[34]#009473 2014Radiant OrchidPantone 18-3224[35]#B163A3 2015MarsalaPantone 18-1438[36]#955251 2016Rose QuartzPantone 13-1520[37]#F7CAC9 2016SerenityPantone 15-3919[37]#92A8D1 2017GreeneryPantone 15-0343[38]#88B04B 2018Ultra VioletPantone 18-3838[39]#5F4B8B 2019Living CoralPantone 16-1546[40]#FF6F61 2020Classic BluePantone 19-4052[41]#0F4C81 2021Ultimate GrayPantone 17-5104[42]#939597 2021IlluminatingPantone 13-0647[42]#F5DF4D 2022Very PeriPantone 17-3938[43]#6667AB 2023Viva MagentaPantone 18-1750[44]#BB2649 2024Peach FuzzPantone 13-1023[45]#FFBE98 2025Mocha MoussePantone 17-1230#A47864 In 2012, the color of the year, Tangerine Tango, was used to create a makeup line, in partnership with Sephora.

[46] The product line, named Sephora + Pantone Universe collection, features Tangerine Tango–embellished false lashes, nail lacquers, cream, glitters, and high-pigment lip glosses.

In this case, Radiant Orchid descends from the purple family, which is kind of a magical color that denotes creativity and innovation.