diff --git a/docs/source/configure.rst b/docs/source/configure.rst
index 67a3ccd5..58052f34 100644
--- a/docs/source/configure.rst
+++ b/docs/source/configure.rst
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ Color and displayname
 ---------------------
 
 - You can set a color for each task list by creating a ``color`` file containing
-  a color code in the hex format: ``#RRGGBB``.
+  either a named ANSI color (such as ``red``, ``bright blue``, etc) or a color
+  code in hex format: ``#RRGGBB`` (the latter requires 24-bit color support).
 - A file named ``displayname`` indicates how the task list should be named and
   is needed when there are multiple directories sharing a name, e.g.: when using
   multiple $CloudInstances. The default is the directory name.
diff --git a/tests/test_formatter.py b/tests/test_formatter.py
index ed1ea254..b45ecf19 100644
--- a/tests/test_formatter.py
+++ b/tests/test_formatter.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 from tests.helpers import pyicu_sensitive
 from todoman.cli import cli
-from todoman.formatters import rgb_to_ansi
+from todoman.formatters import colour_to_ansi
 
 
 @pyicu_sensitive
@@ -155,12 +155,14 @@ def test_formatting_parsing_consitency(default_formatter):
     assert default_formatter.parse_datetime(formatted) == dt
 
 
-def test_rgb_to_ansi():
-    assert rgb_to_ansi(None) is None
-    assert rgb_to_ansi("#8ab6d") is None
-    assert rgb_to_ansi("#8ab6d2f") == "\x1b[38;2;138;182;210m"
-    assert rgb_to_ansi("red") is None
-    assert rgb_to_ansi("#8ab6d2") == "\x1b[38;2;138;182;210m"
+def test_colour_to_ansi():
+    assert colour_to_ansi(None) is None
+    assert colour_to_ansi("#8ab6d") is None
+    assert colour_to_ansi("#8ab6d2f") == "\x1b[38;2;138;182;210m"
+    assert colour_to_ansi("#8ab6d2") == "\x1b[38;2;138;182;210m"
+    assert colour_to_ansi("red") == "\x1b[31m"
+    assert colour_to_ansi("bright cyan") == "\x1b[36;1m"
+    assert colour_to_ansi("salmon") is None
 
 
 def test_format_multiple_with_list(default_formatter, todo_factory):
diff --git a/todoman/formatters.py b/todoman/formatters.py
index 0dc187c3..dc9aa9d4 100644
--- a/todoman/formatters.py
+++ b/todoman/formatters.py
@@ -19,12 +19,10 @@
 from todoman.model import TodoList
 
 
-def rgb_to_ansi(colour: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
+def rgb_to_ansi(colour: str) -> Optional[str]:
     """
     Convert a string containing an RGB colour to ANSI escapes
     """
-    if not colour or not colour.startswith("#"):
-        return None
 
     r, g, b = colour[1:3], colour[3:5], colour[5:7]
 
@@ -34,6 +32,30 @@ def rgb_to_ansi(colour: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
     return f"\33[38;2;{int(r, 16)!s};{int(g, 16)!s};{int(b, 16)!s}m"
 
 
+def colour_to_ansi(colour: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
+    """
+    Convert a string containing a colour (either RGB or a standard colour name)
+    """
+    if not colour:
+        return None
+    if colour.startswith("#"):
+        return rgb_to_ansi(colour)
+
+    bright = "bright" in colour
+
+    colour = colour.replace("bright ", "")
+
+    colours = ["black", "red", "green", "yellow", "blue", "magenta", "cyan", "white"]
+
+    try:
+        ansi_number = colours.index(colour)
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+
+    suffix = ";1" if bright else ""
+    return f"\33[3{ansi_number}{suffix}m"
+
+
 class DefaultFormatter:
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -227,7 +249,7 @@ def _parse_datetime_naive(self, dt: str) -> date:
 
     def format_database(self, database: TodoList):
         return "{}@{}".format(
-            rgb_to_ansi(database.colour) or "", click.style(database.name)
+            colour_to_ansi(database.colour) or "", click.style(database.name)
         )