Ubuntu’s default wallpaper changes every 6 months, with its official reveal forming a major part of the distro’s development cycle.
An estimated 22 million people use Ubuntu on the desktop so its choice of background image matters. With so many eyes impressed upon it, a good impression counts.
Which is why every Ubuntu release since 2004 has included its own unique desktop image(excluding one – find out which and why below). To date there have been 39 distinct default Ubuntu wallpapers.
Being a nostalgic dweeb, I decided to compile all of Ubuntu’s default wallpapers into a single post for me us to look back at, reminisce, and evaluate the evolution of Ubuntu’s rich visual history.
If you fancy a trip down memory lane, scroll on!
Default Ubuntu Wallpapers
Ubuntu 4.10 ‘Warty Warthog’
Once upon a time ubuntu was very brown and earthy — very brown and earthy. Just take a look at the very first Ubuntu wallpaper: a spiritless block of brown with a smudge and a logo. It’s hard to think that this uninspiring, pallid design is from the same distro as the one we used today.
Ubuntu 5.04 ‘Hoary Hedgehog’
First release out of the way, Ubuntu was able to deliver a more engaging design for its follow-up.
Those booting in to the stock desktop of the Hoary Hedgehog were greeted by wispy light effects overlaid on a darker, richer, and homely brown hue with an off-centre distro logo. While not a bona-fide classic, this background better represents Ubuntu’s burgeoning personality.
Ubuntu 5.10 ‘Breezy Badger’
The lighter ‘tan’ brown used in the stock Ubuntu 5.10 wallpaper helped give the desktop a much calmer, softer feeling. The use of light refractions adds a bokeh-esque effect frame around the (intentionally off-centre) logo is both elegant and impactful.
This was the last wallpaper to display the full Ubuntu logo word mark.
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS ‘Dapper Drake’
One word sums up the Dapper Drake wallpaper: dark. Swirly, curvy lines overlaid on a rich, chocolate brown background delivered a warm, luxurious, and distinctive drape. Not as instantly iconic as other entries in this list but by no means bland either!
Ubuntu 6.10 ‘Edgy Eft’
Virulent Mac haters took issue with Ubuntu 6.10 wallpaper due to its (not entirely subtle) design influence: the then-default Mac OS X 10.4 wallpaper ‘Aqua‘. Riff or rip off? Doesn’t matter: the light skin tones and intersecting arcs offered a calm, pleasing aesthetic.
Ubuntu 7.04 ‘Feisty Fawn’
When the Ubuntu 7.04 wallpaper was revealed a number of people remarked that it resembled a patch of bruised skin! I can’t quite see that but, given it’s an indistinct illustration, it’s hard to see much. Whatever aim lay behind the design appeared to have got lost in translation…
Ubuntu 7.10 ‘Gutsy Gibbon’
Ubuntu 7.10 saw a return to the rich brown tones from the Dapper Drake era after a couple of releases favouring fleshy tones. As Gutsy Gibbon was the first version of Ubuntu I ever used I do have a real nostalgic bias looking this. It is quintessentially “Ubuntu” to me.
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS ‘Hardy Heron’
The Ubuntu 8.04 ‘Hardy Heron’ wallpaper is considered by most to be Ubuntu’s best wallpaper, bar none. It’s hard to argue. An illustration of the release mascot (a first) that’s intricate, colourful, and imaginative. This presentation personified the distro’s popularity at the time.
Ubuntu 8.10 ‘Intrepid Ibex’
The Intrepid Ibex also featured its titular mascot in abstract style. Too abstract perhaps as some claimed to see a coffee stain rather than a charging ibex! Regardless, 8.10’s wallpaper was distinctive, different, and dripping in personality – which can’t be said about some of the art that followed it…
Ubuntu 9.04 ‘Jaunty Jackalope’
It was back to basics with the Ubuntu 9.04 wallpaper. Imaginatively rendered mascots were ditched, and simple gradients, swooshy lines, and lighting effects brought back. This design was, for most of us at the time, something of a let down given the originality of the previous 2 releases.
Ubuntu 9.10 ‘Karmic Koala’
Long-time Ubuntu users booting into Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” for the first time were surprised to see a distinct lack of brown. The earthy tones that had been a staple of the distro’s identify were replaced by vivid orange.
It’s fair to say this wallpaper gives off warm and inviting vibes. Plus the texture and focus blur (I still can’t tell if it’s a macro photograph or a digital effect) gave the desktop a truly tactile, tangible feel.
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS ‘Lucid Lynx’
With the launch of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS came a striking new era for the distribution’s visual identity: new colour scheme, new logo, and a new theme and icon set were introduced. Orange and brown out, orange and purple in.
The design reboot naturally carried through to the Lucid Lynx wallpaper. It boasts a striking new purple/pink gradient overlaid with lens flares and blurry artefacts. The result made for a literally-lucid, dreamy default wallpaper – a world away from what came before.
Ubuntu 10.10 ‘Maverick Meerkat’
Ubuntu planned an ambitious wallpaper for Ubuntu 10.10 that would automatically evolve during the day.
Alas, time ran out to make it happen (and the idea subsequently abandoned). The fixed, substitute image made for a competent stand in. Ethereal strobes intersecting across an orange, purple and pink vista. Far from a maverick choice, it give the release an otherworldly vibe.
Ubuntu 11.04 ‘Natty Narwhal’
Ubuntu 11.04 saw the start of a new era of wallpaper designs where only subtle changes would be made between releases. Opting for a more consistent, iterative approach did generate less excitement among long-time fans during artwork drops but, looking back, there’s method to the blandness.
Ubuntu 11.10 ‘Oneiric Ocelot’
Remember how I said the new era would only make subtle changes? I really meant it — the Ubuntu 11.10 wallpaper is barely distinguishable from the one in 11.04. If you switch between them really quickly you can see the changes, but they’re incredibly slight…
Ubuntu 12.04 ‘Precise Pangolin’
As the default background in Ubuntu 12.04 would be seen for 5 years (LTS releases were previously supported for 3 years) Ubuntu’s design team swapped the steely cold purple tones used in the previous 3 wallpapers for a warmer, more welcoming hue — same design, but less austere.
Ubuntu 12.10 ‘Quantal Quetzal’
After 5 years of barely distinguishable drapes the default wallpaper in Ubuntu 12.10 was a shock. It wasn’t a thematic departure as such (still an orange and purple gradient) but it had a dark splodge in it. A few folks likened this to a close-up photo of someone’s nostril…
Ubuntu 13.04 ‘Raring Ringtail’
Unusually the Ubuntu 13.04 background was revealed super early in the development cycle. Was there a reason for it? Some suggested it was the 12.10 wallpaper flipped vertically. Either way, the “nostril” (as it became unaffectionately known) is better best forgotten…
Ubuntu 13.10 ‘Saucy Salamander’
The Ubuntu 13.10 wallpaper looked less like a blurry nostrils, but continued with the indistinct “smudge” era. At least there was a luxuriously rich purple and aubergine hue. I didn’t think much of the wallpaper at the time – it was just kind of there – but I think more of it, looking back.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS ‘Trusty Tahr’
Smudge out, paper folds in. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS started a new era in Ubuntu wallpaper designs, and the background shipped in the release was the first to reflect the origami-inspired “Suru” design language being developed for the Ubuntu Phone project.
Ubuntu 14.10 ‘Utopic Unicorn’
There was no new wallpaper in Ubuntu 14.10. Instead, the distro re-used the preceding design. To date, this is the only Ubuntu releases to have its own unique background — a rare occurrence, somewhat fitting for a release named after a mythical unicorn…
Ubuntu 15.04 ‘Vivid Vervet’
For a release called ‘Vivid’ the desktop wallpaper was certainly that! it made an immediate impact by being the darkest default wallpaper the distro has used. The Suru folds/lines remain present, albeit shifted towards the right, and a small orange “glow” emanates from the lower corner.
Ubuntu 15.10 ‘Wily Werewolf’
With a werewolf around, the lights were turned on for the default wallpaper. The Suru design motifs were refashioned for an ordered, geometric style, and the brightness bumped to provide more of a “dusk” than “inky night” vibe.
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS ‘Xenial Xerus’
The Ubuntu 16.04 wallpaper was the brightest, lightest entry for several years. The rich, royal purples were swapped for pinker hues, and more orange introduced. The faceted geometric sectioning lends this design a spiders’ web-like appearance.
Ubuntu 16.10 ‘Yakkety Yak’
The higher, brighter theme continued in 16.10 with the inclusion of more orange. The geometry in the overlaid lines continued to shift and expand.
Ubuntu 17.04 ‘Zesty Zapus’
The Ubuntu 17.04 wallpaper isn’t a major departure over the previous one. The orange purple gradient remains virtually unchanged though the area of geometric interest shifts towards the righthand side of the screen.
Ubuntu 17.10 ‘Artful Aardvark’
The Ubuntu 17.10 ‘Artful Aardvark’ wallpaper was the first to feature artwork of the codename animal since 2008. The aardvark (Ubuntu went back to the start of the alphabet for codenames) is rendered using bisecting circles and is overlaid on the (now) familiar gradient.
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS ‘Bionic Beaver’
For Ubuntu 18.04 the mascot revival continued. The default background boasts a giant beaver motif which, like the aardvark in the preceding entry, is created using intersecting circles and arcs. Very clever, and very cool.
Ubuntu 18.10 ‘Cosmic Cuttlefish’
The Ubuntu 18.10 wallpaper re-introduced a darker purple and orange gradient and continued to construct its central mascot motif using (mostly) circles. Cosmic? Rather.
Ubuntu 19.04 ‘Disco Dingo’
The Ubuntu 19.04 wallpaper depicted a diligently designed dingo donning headphones atop a deep purple gradient. What do you think he’s listening to, GNU-metal? Notable, this was the first wallpaper since 2005 to include the Ubuntu logo on it.
Ubuntu 19.10 ‘Eoan Ermine’
The Ubuntu 19.10 wallpaper boasts a round stoat motif created (like the aardvark, beaver, and cuttlefish) from using circles and arcs. It sits atop an orange-ier and pink-ier gradient.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS ‘Focal Fossa’
Ubuntu’s design team returned to line-art for the Ubuntu 20.04 wallpaper, giving the fossa (it’s a type of cat) extra flair by adding ‘focal lines’ to its eyes — though most saw it as a feline firing lasers!
Ubuntu 20.10 ‘Groovy Gorilla’
Ubuntu 20.10’s colourful codename was always going to result in a characterful mascot and users got exactly that on their desktops: a polygon gorilla boasting a pair of slick Ubuntu-branded shades!
Ubuntu 21.04 ‘Hirsute Hippo’
Hmm, so we arrive at the Ubuntu 21.04 wallpaper. A hairy codename that Ubuntu’s designers took heed of in their design. But in an echo of the “coffee or ibex” optical illusion of 2007, not everyone sees a hippo in this design: some see a pair of hairy… Let’s say coconuts!
Ubuntu 21.10 ‘Impish Indri’
A symmetrical indri framed in by intersecting lines on a purple gradient. Very stare-y. Admittedly an indri doesn’t lend itself that well to interpretative illustrations (too much ear fluff) so it’s a fair approach even if it does feel a bit basic compared to the preceding crop.
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ‘Jammy Jellyfish’
A glorious geometric jellyfish serves as the centrepiece in the Ubuntu 22.04 wallpaper, flanked by some eye-catching new 3D elements. This design marked the first major update to the background since 2023, with the angular protrusions adding real visual interest.
Ubuntu 22.10 ‘Kinetic Kudu’
The Ubuntu 22.10 wallpaper came with a leaping kudu, adding a dynamism to the default wallpaper that was reflective of the codename if not, alas, the release itself (which was rather sedate).
Ubuntu 23.04 ‘Lunar Lobster’
In the Ubuntu 23.04 wallpaper Canonical’s designers took the celestial codename and ran with it, giving us a star-studded background replete with half moon, and an eye-catching lobster constellation in the center — truly epic.
Ubuntu 23.10 ‘Mantic Minotaur’
Ubuntu 23.10’s wallpaper makes an intricate maze the focal piece. The walls of the maze make up the ‘minotaur’ mascot motif itself, which is very clever. This is classically classy wallpaper and the first background to feature the “new” version of the Ubuntu logo.
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS ‘Noble Numbat’
For the ‘Noble Numbat’, Ubuntu’s design team lean heavily on the royal and regal connotations the codename offers. A pair of numbats straddle a crown bearing the Ubuntu logo. The symmetry makes for a stately and striking drape, don’t you think?
Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’
For its 20th anniversary release, codenamed ‘Oracular Oriole’, the creatives at Canonical have chosen a circular concept for the mascot artwork centrepiece. The rest of the background gains a slightly darker purple gradient, and the triangular framing adjusted.
Ubuntu 25.04 ‘Plucky Puffin’
A new year, another avian: Ubuntu 25.04 is named ‘Plucky Puffin’. For the default wallpaper, Canonical’s designers embraced the release’s nautical motif by perching a puffin emblem atop swirling waters. This, it says, adds ‘energy and a sense of adventure’.
