It can be done using <item name="android:navigationBarColor">@color/theme_color</item> or window.setNavigationBarColor(@ColorInt int color) http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/Window.html#setNavigationBarColor(int) Note that the method was introduced in Android Lollipop and won't work on API version < 21. The second method (works on KitKat) is to set windowTranslucentNavigation to true in the manifest and place a colored view beneath the navigation bar.