diff --git a/README.asciidoc b/README.asciidoc
index d92233af..97e806ba 100644
--- a/README.asciidoc
+++ b/README.asciidoc
@@ -1046,6 +1046,7 @@ fg_color[,bg_color][+attributes]
 fg_color and bg_color can be:
 
  * A named color: `black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white`.
+ * A named bright color: `bright-black, bright-red, bright-green, bright-yellow, bright-blue, bright-magenta, bright-cyan, bright-white`.
  * `default`, which keeps the existing color
  * An rgb color: `rgb:RRGGBB`, with RRGGBB the hexadecimal value of the color.
 
diff --git a/src/color.cc b/src/color.cc
index d2335191..aef26bfa 100644
--- a/src/color.cc
+++ b/src/color.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ static constexpr const char* color_names[] = {
     "magenta",
     "cyan",
     "white",
+    "bright-black",
+    "bright-red",
+    "bright-green",
+    "bright-yellow",
+    "bright-blue",
+    "bright-magenta",
+    "bright-cyan",
+    "bright-white",
 };
 
 bool is_color_name(StringView color)
diff --git a/src/color.hh b/src/color.hh
index e4ef24cb..ae8046ab 100644
--- a/src/color.hh
+++ b/src/color.hh
@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ struct Color
         Magenta,
         Cyan,
         White,
+        BrightBlack,
+        BrightRed,
+        BrightGreen,
+        BrightYellow,
+        BrightBlue,
+        BrightMagenta,
+        BrightCyan,
+        BrightWhite,
         RGB,
     };
 
diff --git a/src/ncurses_ui.cc b/src/ncurses_ui.cc
index 9fed7b00..a1e95bd6 100644
--- a/src/ncurses_ui.cc
+++ b/src/ncurses_ui.cc
@@ -229,15 +229,23 @@ void on_term_resize(int)
 
 static const std::initializer_list<HashMap<Kakoune::Color, int>::Item>
 default_colors = {
-    { Color::Default, -1 },
-    { Color::Black,   COLOR_BLACK },
-    { Color::Red,     COLOR_RED },
-    { Color::Green,   COLOR_GREEN },
-    { Color::Yellow,  COLOR_YELLOW },
-    { Color::Blue,    COLOR_BLUE },
-    { Color::Magenta, COLOR_MAGENTA },
-    { Color::Cyan,    COLOR_CYAN },
-    { Color::White,   COLOR_WHITE },
+    { Color::Default,       -1 },
+    { Color::Black,          0 },
+    { Color::Red,            1 },
+    { Color::Green,          2 },
+    { Color::Yellow,         3 },
+    { Color::Blue,           4 },
+    { Color::Magenta,        5 },
+    { Color::Cyan,           6 },
+    { Color::White,          7 },
+    { Color::BrightBlack,    8 },
+    { Color::BrightRed,      9 },
+    { Color::BrightGreen,   10 },
+    { Color::BrightYellow,  11 },
+    { Color::BrightBlue,    12 },
+    { Color::BrightMagenta, 13 },
+    { Color::BrightCyan,    14 },
+    { Color::BrightWhite,   15 },
 };
 
 NCursesUI::NCursesUI()