diff --git a/packages/theme/src/base/index.ts b/packages/theme/src/base/index.ts
index 891d0bd275..45b8326f2e 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/base/index.ts
+++ b/packages/theme/src/base/index.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 export { createBaseThemeOptions } from './createBaseThemeOptions';
 export type { BaseThemeOptionsInput } from './createBaseThemeOptions';
 export { colorVariants, genPageTheme, pageTheme, shapes } from './pageTheme';
+export { palettes } from './palettes';
 export type {
   BackstagePaletteAdditions,
   PageTheme,
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/base/palettes.ts b/packages/theme/src/base/palettes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f049237f60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/theme/src/base/palettes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Built-in Backstage color palettes.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export const palettes = {
+  light: {
+    type: 'light' as const,
+    mode: 'light' as const,
+    background: {
+      default: '#F8F8F8',
+    },
+    status: {
+      ok: '#1DB954',
+      warning: '#FF9800',
+      error: '#E22134',
+      running: '#1F5493',
+      pending: '#FFED51',
+      aborted: '#757575',
+    },
+    bursts: {
+      fontColor: '#FEFEFE',
+      slackChannelText: '#ddd',
+      backgroundColor: {
+        default: '#7C3699',
+      },
+      gradient: {
+        linear: 'linear-gradient(-137deg, #4BB8A5 0%, #187656 100%)',
+      },
+    },
+    primary: {
+      main: '#1F5493',
+    },
+    banner: {
+      info: '#2E77D0',
+      error: '#E22134',
+      text: '#FFFFFF',
+      link: '#000000',
+      closeButtonColor: '#FFFFFF',
+      warning: '#FF9800',
+    },
+    border: '#E6E6E6',
+    textContrast: '#000000',
+    textVerySubtle: '#DDD',
+    textSubtle: '#6E6E6E',
+    highlight: '#FFFBCC',
+    errorBackground: '#FFEBEE',
+    warningBackground: '#F59B23',
+    infoBackground: '#ebf5ff',
+    errorText: '#CA001B',
+    infoText: '#004e8a',
+    warningText: '#000000',
+    linkHover: '#2196F3',
+    link: '#0A6EBE',
+    gold: '#FFD600',
+    navigation: {
+      background: '#171717',
+      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
+      color: '#b5b5b5',
+      selectedColor: '#FFF',
+      navItem: {
+        hoverBackground: '#404040',
+      },
+      submenu: {
+        background: '#404040',
+      },
+    },
+    pinSidebarButton: {
+      icon: '#181818',
+      background: '#BDBDBD',
+    },
+    tabbar: {
+      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
+    },
+  },
+  dark: {
+    type: 'dark' as const,
+    mode: 'dark' as const,
+    background: {
+      default: '#333333',
+    },
+    status: {
+      ok: '#71CF88',
+      warning: '#FFB84D',
+      error: '#F84C55',
+      running: '#3488E3',
+      pending: '#FEF071',
+      aborted: '#9E9E9E',
+    },
+    bursts: {
+      fontColor: '#FEFEFE',
+      slackChannelText: '#ddd',
+      backgroundColor: {
+        default: '#7C3699',
+      },
+      gradient: {
+        linear: 'linear-gradient(-137deg, #4BB8A5 0%, #187656 100%)',
+      },
+    },
+    primary: {
+      main: '#9CC9FF',
+      dark: '#82BAFD',
+    },
+    secondary: {
+      main: '#FF88B2',
+    },
+    banner: {
+      info: '#2E77D0',
+      error: '#E22134',
+      text: '#FFFFFF',
+      link: '#000000',
+      closeButtonColor: '#FFFFFF',
+      warning: '#FF9800',
+    },
+    border: '#E6E6E6',
+    textContrast: '#FFFFFF',
+    textVerySubtle: '#727272',
+    textSubtle: '#CCCCCC',
+    highlight: '#FFFBCC',
+    errorBackground: '#FFEBEE',
+    warningBackground: '#F59B23',
+    infoBackground: '#ebf5ff',
+    errorText: '#CA001B',
+    infoText: '#004e8a',
+    warningText: '#000000',
+    linkHover: '#82BAFD',
+    link: '#9CC9FF',
+    gold: '#FFD600',
+    navigation: {
+      background: '#424242',
+      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
+      color: '#b5b5b5',
+      selectedColor: '#FFF',
+      navItem: {
+        hoverBackground: '#404040',
+      },
+      submenu: {
+        background: '#404040',
+      },
+    },
+    pinSidebarButton: {
+      icon: '#404040',
+      background: '#BDBDBD',
+    },
+    tabbar: {
+      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
+    },
+  },
+};
diff --git a/packages/theme/src/v4/themes.ts b/packages/theme/src/v4/themes.ts
index c63dcb591e..ad4faeeac6 100644
--- a/packages/theme/src/v4/themes.ts
+++ b/packages/theme/src/v4/themes.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import { createV4Theme } from './baseTheme';
-import { pageTheme } from '../base/pageTheme';
-import { yellow } from '@material-ui/core/colors';
+import { palettes } from '../base';
 
 /**
  * The default Backstage light theme.
@@ -24,76 +23,7 @@ import { yellow } from '@material-ui/core/colors';
  * @public
  */
 export const lightTheme = createV4Theme({
-  palette: {
-    type: 'light',
-    background: {
-      default: '#F8F8F8',
-    },
-    status: {
-      ok: '#1DB954',
-      warning: '#FF9800',
-      error: '#E22134',
-      running: '#1F5493',
-      pending: '#FFED51',
-      aborted: '#757575',
-    },
-    bursts: {
-      fontColor: '#FEFEFE',
-      slackChannelText: '#ddd',
-      backgroundColor: {
-        default: '#7C3699',
-      },
-      gradient: {
-        linear: 'linear-gradient(-137deg, #4BB8A5 0%, #187656 100%)',
-      },
-    },
-    primary: {
-      main: '#1F5493',
-    },
-    banner: {
-      info: '#2E77D0',
-      error: '#E22134',
-      text: '#FFFFFF',
-      link: '#000000',
-      closeButtonColor: '#FFFFFF',
-      warning: '#FF9800',
-    },
-    border: '#E6E6E6',
-    textContrast: '#000000',
-    textVerySubtle: '#DDD',
-    textSubtle: '#6E6E6E',
-    highlight: '#FFFBCC',
-    errorBackground: '#FFEBEE',
-    warningBackground: '#F59B23',
-    infoBackground: '#ebf5ff',
-    errorText: '#CA001B',
-    infoText: '#004e8a',
-    warningText: '#000000',
-    linkHover: '#2196F3',
-    link: '#0A6EBE',
-    gold: yellow.A700,
-    navigation: {
-      background: '#171717',
-      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
-      color: '#b5b5b5',
-      selectedColor: '#FFF',
-      navItem: {
-        hoverBackground: '#404040',
-      },
-      submenu: {
-        background: '#404040',
-      },
-    },
-    pinSidebarButton: {
-      icon: '#181818',
-      background: '#BDBDBD',
-    },
-    tabbar: {
-      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
-    },
-  },
-  defaultPageTheme: 'home',
-  pageTheme,
+  palette: palettes.light,
 });
 
 /**
@@ -102,78 +32,5 @@ export const lightTheme = createV4Theme({
  * @public
  */
 export const darkTheme = createV4Theme({
-  palette: {
-    type: 'dark',
-    background: {
-      default: '#333333',
-    },
-    status: {
-      ok: '#71CF88',
-      warning: '#FFB84D',
-      error: '#F84C55',
-      running: '#3488E3',
-      pending: '#FEF071',
-      aborted: '#9E9E9E',
-    },
-    bursts: {
-      fontColor: '#FEFEFE',
-      slackChannelText: '#ddd',
-      backgroundColor: {
-        default: '#7C3699',
-      },
-      gradient: {
-        linear: 'linear-gradient(-137deg, #4BB8A5 0%, #187656 100%)',
-      },
-    },
-    primary: {
-      main: '#9CC9FF',
-      dark: '#82BAFD',
-    },
-    secondary: {
-      main: '#FF88B2',
-    },
-    banner: {
-      info: '#2E77D0',
-      error: '#E22134',
-      text: '#FFFFFF',
-      link: '#000000',
-      closeButtonColor: '#FFFFFF',
-      warning: '#FF9800',
-    },
-    border: '#E6E6E6',
-    textContrast: '#FFFFFF',
-    textVerySubtle: '#727272',
-    textSubtle: '#CCCCCC',
-    highlight: '#FFFBCC',
-    errorBackground: '#FFEBEE',
-    warningBackground: '#F59B23',
-    infoBackground: '#ebf5ff',
-    errorText: '#CA001B',
-    infoText: '#004e8a',
-    warningText: '#000000',
-    linkHover: '#82BAFD',
-    link: '#9CC9FF',
-    gold: yellow.A700,
-    navigation: {
-      background: '#424242',
-      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
-      color: '#b5b5b5',
-      selectedColor: '#FFF',
-      navItem: {
-        hoverBackground: '#404040',
-      },
-      submenu: {
-        background: '#404040',
-      },
-    },
-    pinSidebarButton: {
-      icon: '#404040',
-      background: '#BDBDBD',
-    },
-    tabbar: {
-      indicator: '#9BF0E1',
-    },
-  },
-  defaultPageTheme: 'home',
-  pageTheme,
+  palette: palettes.dark,
 });