Birth announcement trends 2026: the colours and styles card shops pick
Three card shops published birth announcement trend pages for 2026: Kaartje2go, Ma Petite Vie and Planet Cards. Ma Petite Vie and Planet Cards both list terracotta and sage green. For style, Kaartje2go tips bears and flowers and Ma Petite Vie a first name set large and bold, while Planet Cards backs watercolour and botanical drawings. On pink and blue they lean different ways: Planet Cards writes that the traditional pink and blue are supplanted, while Ma Petite Vie still lists a powder pink and an intense blue.
Which colours are in for 2026 birth announcements?
Planet Cards names four warm tones and says what they push out: "Les teintes chaudes et modernes telles que le terracotta, le beige, le vert sauge ou encore le bleu gris supplantent les traditionnels rose et bleu" (terracotta, beige, sage green and grey-blue supplant the traditional pink and blue). Ma Petite Vie's 2026 page, dated 16 March 2026, keeps pink and blue on its list, in brighter forms.
| Colour | Planet Cards | Ma Petite Vie | Closest colourway in our editor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terracotta | Yes | "Terracotta and warm natural tones" | Terracotta |
| Sage green | Yes | "Modernized sage green" | Sage |
| Blue | Grey-blue (traditional blue supplanted) | "Intense blue and contrasting sky blue" | Dusty blue, Cobalt |
| Beige | Yes | Not listed | Oat, Sand |
| Pink | Traditional pink supplanted | "Powder pink combined with brighter touches" | Blush |
So the overlap is terracotta and sage. Both also list a blue, but not the same one: grey-blue at Planet Cards, intense blue and sky blue at Ma Petite Vie. On pink, Planet Cards says the traditional pink is supplanted, while Ma Petite Vie keeps a powder pink "combined with brighter touches" and also writes "Out with the overly classic pastels". Kaartje2go, for its part, suggests a watercolour flower "vooral in combinatie met zachte pasteltinten" (especially with soft pastel shades).
Sage is also where our editor starts: a style that comes in sage opens in sage. Terracotta, dusty blue, blush, oat, sand and cobalt are colourways in the same palette.
Bears, flowers or a bold name: which style is in?
The style tips split three ways, and each has a match in our editor.
Bears. Kaartje2go's page says "In 2026 gaan we een heleboel geboortekaartjes met beren zien" (in 2026 we will see a lot of birth cards with bears), because bears stand for protection, it writes. For a second or third child it suggests a bear family. Our bear style, Ted, is one bear in a disc, and a new design in our editor starts in it. For the sibling's line, our second baby wording guide has examples.
Flowers. Kaartje2go says cards with flowers are popular this year too, and Planet Cards lists watercolour drawings, minimalist sketches and botanical motifs. Our Botanical group has four styles: Olijf (a eucalyptus sprig), Iris (the flower of the birth month), Tess (three tulips) and Puck (two toadstools). Birth flowers by month lists which flower Iris draws for each month.
A bold name. Ma Petite Vie puts typography at the centre: "The first name is no longer simply written: it is staged." It describes colour blocks and "a play of contrasts between a colored background and white typography", and calls structured minimalism the big trend for 2026. Our Finn style is built that way, the name reversed out of a deep block of colour in the colour of the paper. Mila prints the first letter as a giant initial. For Kaartje2go's "Feest van kleur" (blocks, stripes and zigzag lines, the name in large letters) the nearest of ours are the patterns Fien, Luca and Jet: stripes, waves and dots.
Terracotta and sage green are on two of the three 2026 lists; on the traditional pink and blue, those two lean different ways.
Which 2026 trend can't we print?
Kaartje2go tips a special shape, such as a heart, a wave or an arch, over the traditional rectangular card, and Planet Cards writes that formats are being reinvented as squares, circles or folding cards with more original cut-outs. We do not print shaped cards: ours come in two formats, a folded A5 card and a flat A6 postcard. If a heart is the point, pick a shop that sells shaped cards. If you are weighing the two formats we do print, folded or flat compares them.
Will a 2026 trend still look good in ten years?
Ma Petite Vie sets that bar itself: the success of a 2026 announcement is "its ability to remain beautiful in 10 years." It also lists a matching name poster and bedroom decor among the things parents want the card to fit with.
Both point the same way: pick the colour for the room the card or poster will live in, then let the trend decide between two styles you already like. Our styles are the same for every product, so a sage Ted card can have a sage Ted poster beside it. Keeping birth announcement cards covers what happens to a card after it arrives.
To see a trend on your own baby's details, open the card editor, type the name and the date, and switch between sage and terracotta.