diff --git a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift
index 4cb934ec..519ef0df 100644
--- a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift
+++ b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatViewModel.swift
@@ -3144,7 +3144,8 @@ class ChatViewModel: ObservableObject, BitchatDelegate {
         return hash
     }
 
-    private func colorForPeerSeed(_ seed: String, isDark: Bool) -> Color {
+    @MainActor
+    func colorForPeerSeed(_ seed: String, isDark: Bool) -> Color {
         if let cached = peerColorCache[seed] { return cached }
         var hue = Double(djb2(seed) % 360) / 360.0
         // Avoid orange (~30°) reserved for self
@@ -3175,6 +3176,21 @@ class ChatViewModel: ObservableObject, BitchatDelegate {
         return colorForPeerSeed(seed, isDark: isDark)
     }
 
+    // Public helpers for views to color peers consistently in lists
+    @MainActor
+    func colorForNostrPubkey(_ pubkeyHexLowercased: String, isDark: Bool) -> Color {
+        return colorForPeerSeed("nostr:" + pubkeyHexLowercased.lowercased(), isDark: isDark)
+    }
+
+    @MainActor
+    func colorForMeshPeer(id peerID: String, isDark: Bool) -> Color {
+        if let peer = unifiedPeerService.getPeer(by: peerID) {
+            let full = peer.noisePublicKey.hexEncodedString().lowercased()
+            return colorForPeerSeed("noise:" + full, isDark: isDark)
+        }
+        return colorForPeerSeed(peerID.lowercased(), isDark: isDark)
+    }
+
     private func trimMeshTimelineIfNeeded() {
         if meshTimeline.count > meshTimelineCap {
             let removeCount = meshTimeline.count - meshTimelineCap
diff --git a/bitchat/Views/GeohashPeopleList.swift b/bitchat/Views/GeohashPeopleList.swift
index e8604b97..69528c61 100644
--- a/bitchat/Views/GeohashPeopleList.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Views/GeohashPeopleList.swift
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ struct GeohashPeopleList: View {
     let textColor: Color
     let secondaryTextColor: Color
     let onTapPerson: () -> Void
+    @Environment(\.colorScheme) var colorScheme
 
     var body: some View {
         Group {
@@ -51,14 +52,15 @@ struct GeohashPeopleList: View {
                         }
                         let (base, suffix) = splitSuffix(from: person.displayName)
                         let isMe = person.id == myHex
+                        let assignedColor = viewModel.colorForNostrPubkey(person.id, isDark: colorScheme == .dark)
                         HStack(spacing: 0) {
-                            let rowColor: Color = isMe ? .orange : textColor
+                            let rowColor: Color = isMe ? .orange : assignedColor
                             Text(base)
                                 .font(.system(size: 14, design: .monospaced))
                                 .fontWeight(isMe ? .bold : .regular)
                                 .foregroundColor(rowColor)
                             if !suffix.isEmpty {
-                                let suffixColor = isMe ? Color.orange.opacity(0.6) : textColor.opacity(0.6)
+                                let suffixColor = isMe ? Color.orange.opacity(0.6) : rowColor.opacity(0.6)
                                 Text(suffix)
                                     .font(.system(size: 14, design: .monospaced))
                                     .foregroundColor(suffixColor)
diff --git a/bitchat/Views/MeshPeerList.swift b/bitchat/Views/MeshPeerList.swift
index 14ca6a1b..ccc62fa3 100644
--- a/bitchat/Views/MeshPeerList.swift
+++ b/bitchat/Views/MeshPeerList.swift
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ struct MeshPeerList: View {
     let onTapPeer: (String) -> Void
     let onToggleFavorite: (String) -> Void
     let onShowFingerprint: (String) -> Void
+    @Environment(\.colorScheme) var colorScheme
 
     var body: some View {
         Group {
@@ -61,7 +62,8 @@ struct MeshPeerList: View {
 
                         let displayName = isMe ? viewModel.nickname : peer.nickname
                         let (base, suffix) = splitSuffix(from: displayName)
-                        let baseColor = ((peer.favoriteStatus?.isFavorite ?? false) || peerNicknames[peer.id] != nil) ? textColor : secondaryTextColor
+                        let assigned = viewModel.colorForMeshPeer(id: peer.id, isDark: colorScheme == .dark)
+                        let baseColor = isMe ? Color.orange : assigned
                         HStack(spacing: 0) {
                             Text(base)
                                 .font(.system(size: 14, design: .monospaced))