diff --git a/docs/doxygen/overviews/xrc_format.h b/docs/doxygen/overviews/xrc_format.h
index e15ae5a876..235dcd927d 100644
--- a/docs/doxygen/overviews/xrc_format.h
+++ b/docs/doxygen/overviews/xrc_format.h
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ is "." regardless of the locale.
 
 @subsection overview_xrcformat_type_colour Colour
 
-Colour specification can be either any string colour representation accepted
+A single colour can be either any string colour representation accepted
 by wxColour::Set() or any wxSYS_COLOUR_XXX symbolic name accepted by
 wxSystemSettings::GetColour(). In particular, the following forms are supported:
 
@@ -231,11 +231,21 @@ wxSystemSettings::GetColour(). In particular, the following forms are supported:
 @li CSS-style "rgb(r,g,b)" and "rgba(r,g,b,a)"
 @li wxSYS_COLOUR_XXX symbolic names
 
+Moreover, a single colour definition in XRC may contain more than one colour,
+separated by `|` (pipe symbol), with the first colour used by default and the
+subsequent colours in specific situations. Currently the only supported
+alternative colour is the colour to be used in dark mode, which must be
+prefixed with "dark:".
+
+It is recommended to provide both light and dark values when not using system
+colour names (that already adapt to the dark mode), as it's rare for the same
+colour to look well in both light and dark mode.
+
 Some examples:
 @code
 <fg>red</fg>
 <fg>#ff0000</fg>
-<fg>rgb(255,0,0)</fg>
+<fg>rgb(192,192,192)|dark:#404040</fg>
 <fg>wxSYS_COLOUR_HIGHLIGHT</fg>
 @endcode
 
diff --git a/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h b/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
index fac667a5fe..8cc356b9cc 100644
--- a/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
+++ b/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
@@ -558,8 +558,12 @@ public:
     // Gets a float value from the parameter.
     float GetFloat(const wxString& param, float defaultv = 0) override;
 
-    // Gets colour in HTML syntax (#RRGGBB).
-    wxColour GetColour(const wxString& param, const wxColour& defaultv = wxNullColour) override;
+    // Gets colour from the parameter, returning one of the provided default
+    // values if it's not specified depending on whether we're using light or
+    // dark mode.
+    wxColour GetColour(const wxString& param,
+                       const wxColour& defaultLight = wxNullColour,
+                       const wxColour& defaultDark = wxNullColour) override;
 
     // Gets the size (may be in dialog units).
     wxSize GetSize(const wxString& param = wxT("size"),
diff --git a/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h b/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
index 74c0e087fb..be71ad7af9 100644
--- a/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
+++ b/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ public:
     virtual long GetLong(const wxString& param, long defaultv = 0) = 0;
     virtual float GetFloat(const wxString& param, float defaultv = 0) = 0;
     virtual wxColour GetColour(const wxString& param,
-                               const wxColour& defaultv = wxNullColour) = 0;
+                               const wxColour& defaultLight = wxNullColour,
+                               const wxColour& defaultDark = wxNullColour) = 0;
     virtual wxSize GetSize(const wxString& param = wxT("size"),
                            wxWindow *windowToUse = nullptr) = 0;
     virtual wxPoint GetPosition(const wxString& param = wxT("pos"),
@@ -301,9 +302,10 @@ protected:
         return GetImpl()->GetFloat(param, defaultv);
     }
     wxColour GetColour(const wxString& param,
-                       const wxColour& defaultv = wxNullColour)
+                       const wxColour& defaultLight = wxNullColour,
+                       const wxColour& defaultDark = wxNullColour)
     {
-        return GetImpl()->GetColour(param, defaultv);
+        return GetImpl()->GetColour(param, defaultLight, defaultDark);
     }
     wxSize GetSize(const wxString& param = wxT("size"),
                    wxWindow *windowToUse = nullptr)
diff --git a/interface/wx/xrc/xmlres.h b/interface/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
index 2fefb75a4e..ea43e57a48 100644
--- a/interface/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
+++ b/interface/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
@@ -654,10 +654,16 @@ protected:
     bool GetBool(const wxString& param, bool defaultv = false);
 
     /**
-        Gets colour in HTML syntax (\#RRGGBB).
+        Gets colour from the given parameter.
+
+        If the colour is not specified, returns @a defaultLight or @a
+        defaultDark if the application is using dark mode.
+
+        Parameter @a defaultDark is only available since wxWidgets 3.3.0.
     */
     wxColour GetColour(const wxString& param,
-                       const wxColour& defaultColour = wxNullColour);
+                       const wxColour& defaultLight = wxNullColour,
+                       const wxColour& defaultDark = wxNullColour);
 
     /**
         Returns the current file system.
diff --git a/misc/schema/xrc_schema.rnc b/misc/schema/xrc_schema.rnc
index 88c3e69d3f..cab7948175 100644
--- a/misc/schema/xrc_schema.rnc
+++ b/misc/schema/xrc_schema.rnc
@@ -458,8 +458,7 @@ t_showeffect = "wxSHOW_EFFECT_NONE" | "wxSHOW_EFFECT_ROLL_TO_LEFT" |
                "wxSHOW_EFFECT_EXPAND"
 
 t_url        = string
-t_colour     = xsd:string { pattern = "#[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z]" } |
-               xsd:string { pattern = "[^#].*" }
+t_colour     = xsd:string { pattern = "(#[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z]|[a-zA-Z0-9 ]+)(\|dark:(#[0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z][0-9a-zA-Z]|[a-zA-Z0-9 ]+))?" }
 t_position   = t_size
 t_size       = xsd:string { pattern = "(-?\d+),(-?\d+)d?" }
 t_pair_ints  = xsd:string { pattern = "(-?\d+),(-?\d+)" }
diff --git a/samples/xrc/rc/controls.xrc b/samples/xrc/rc/controls.xrc
index 638f91a167..9617db25e6 100644
--- a/samples/xrc/rc/controls.xrc
+++ b/samples/xrc/rc/controls.xrc
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ lay them out using wxSizers, absolute positioning, everything you like!
                                 <border>5</border>
                                 <object class="wxToolBar">
                                     <style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_NODIVIDER</style>
-                                    <bg>#bbbbff</bg>
+                                    <bg>#bbbbff|dark:#ffbbbb</bg>
                                     <margins>2,2</margins>
                                     <object class="tool" name="New">
                                         <bitmap stock_id="wxART_NEW"/>
diff --git a/src/xrc/xh_clrpicker.cpp b/src/xrc/xh_clrpicker.cpp
index 8f094e11d5..0f9260840d 100644
--- a/src/xrc/xh_clrpicker.cpp
+++ b/src/xrc/xh_clrpicker.cpp
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ wxObject *wxColourPickerCtrlXmlHandler::DoCreateResource()
 
    picker->Create(m_parentAsWindow,
                   GetID(),
-                  GetColour(wxT("value"), *wxBLACK),
+                  GetColour(wxT("value"), *wxBLACK, *wxWHITE),
                   GetPosition(), GetSize(),
                   GetStyle(wxT("style"), wxCLRP_DEFAULT_STYLE),
                   wxDefaultValidator,
diff --git a/src/xrc/xmlres.cpp b/src/xrc/xmlres.cpp
index 8c321f2117..af86c3efbd 100644
--- a/src/xrc/xmlres.cpp
+++ b/src/xrc/xmlres.cpp
@@ -1780,12 +1780,43 @@ static wxColour GetSystemColour(const wxString& name)
     return wxNullColour;
 }
 
-wxColour wxXmlResourceHandlerImpl::GetColour(const wxString& param, const wxColour& defaultv)
+wxColour
+wxXmlResourceHandlerImpl::GetColour(const wxString& param,
+                                    const wxColour& defaultLight,
+                                    const wxColour& defaultDark)
 {
-    wxString v = GetParamValue(param);
+    const wxString& values = GetParamValue(param);
 
-    if ( v.empty() )
-        return defaultv;
+    if ( values.empty() )
+        return wxSystemSettings::SelectLightDark(defaultLight, defaultDark);
+
+    wxStringTokenizer tk(values, "|");
+    wxString v = tk.GetNextToken();
+
+    while ( tk.HasMoreTokens() )
+    {
+        wxString altCol = tk.GetNextToken();
+        wxString altV;
+        if ( altCol.StartsWith("dark:", &altV) )
+        {
+            if ( wxSystemSettings::GetAppearance().IsDark() )
+                v = altV;
+            //else: just ignore it, it's valid but not used
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            ReportParamError
+            (
+                param,
+                wxString::Format
+                (
+                    "unrecognized alternative colour specification \"%s\"",
+                    altCol
+                )
+            );
+            return wxNullColour;
+        }
+    }
 
     wxColour clr;