The official wallpaper for the upcoming Ubuntu 26.10 ‘Stonking Stringray’ release has been revealed, alongside artwork bearing the official mascot.
No huge surprises to see the standard formula hole. The distro’s designers have, once again, opted for a dark purple/aubergine backdrop that bears a vectorised mascot in the middle, which for this release is a stingray:
No illustrative nod to the “stonking” adjective of the codename, but as most people aren’t even aware it is a word, perfectly understandable.
There are 4 variants of the default wallpaper for Ubuntu 26.10. The colour one you see above, plus dark and a light versions, and a ‘dimmed’ one for those who like to sit in the middle:
The mascot artwork for the Stonking Stingray shows a marine ray in motion amidst a torrent of dots, its silhouetted diamond-shaped body and long tail immediately recognisable.
Here’s the “animated” build out of the mascot:
It also continues the “circular” trend of recent release mascots: the Resolute Raccoon sits in a rounded starburst, the Questing Quokka was trapped in spherical maze and, albeit with its head sticking out, the Plucky Puffin came perched on an orb.
Download Ubuntu 26.10 wallpaper
The new background will feature in Ubuntu 26.10, release on 15 October, 2026, and the beta release out later this month.
If you’re not a fan, don’t worry: a fresh set of community-sourced backgrounds will be available on-disc, though the bulk of those also largely dark with illustrated stingrays on because who needs variety, right?
Those using a Stonking daily build – even one of the new Amd64-v3 ones – will get the new background in the coming week. Those of you who love it and can’t wait can download high-resolution copies from Google Drive right now.
Like it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments – I wonder how long people can go without bringing up a certain heron…