diff --git a/colors.go b/colors.go
index 85f52a9..67f4a28 100644
--- a/colors.go
+++ b/colors.go
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package main
 
-import ui "github.com/gizak/termui"
+import (
+	"regexp"
+
+	ui "github.com/gizak/termui"
+)
 
 /*
 Valid colors:
@@ -38,6 +42,17 @@ var ColorMap = map[string]ui.Attribute{
 	"mbarchart.text.fg":  ui.ColorWhite,
 	"par.text.fg":        ui.ColorWhite,
 	"par.text.bg":        ui.ColorDefault,
+	"par.text.hi":        ui.ColorBlack,
 	"sparkline.line.fg":  ui.ColorGreen,
 	"sparkline.title.fg": ui.ColorWhite,
 }
+
+func InvertColorMap() {
+	re := regexp.MustCompile(".*.fg")
+	for k, _ := range ColorMap {
+		if re.FindAllString(k, 1) != nil {
+			ColorMap[k] = ui.ColorBlack
+		}
+	}
+	ColorMap["par.text.hi"] = ui.ColorWhite
+}
diff --git a/cwidgets/compact/grid.go b/cwidgets/compact/grid.go
index 899c2e4..6779cd1 100644
--- a/cwidgets/compact/grid.go
+++ b/cwidgets/compact/grid.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import (
 	ui "github.com/gizak/termui"
 )
 
-var header = NewCompactHeader()
+var header *CompactHeader
 
 type CompactGrid struct {
 	ui.GridBufferer
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ type CompactGrid struct {
 }
 
 func NewCompactGrid() *CompactGrid {
+	header = NewCompactHeader() // init column header
 	return &CompactGrid{}
 }
 
diff --git a/cwidgets/compact/text.go b/cwidgets/compact/text.go
index 7f83da5..b8bc8cf 100644
--- a/cwidgets/compact/text.go
+++ b/cwidgets/compact/text.go
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ func NewTextCol(s string) *TextCol {
 }
 
 func (w *TextCol) Highlight() {
-	w.TextFgColor = ui.ColorBlack
+	w.TextFgColor = ui.ThemeAttr("par.text.hi")
 	w.TextBgColor = ui.ThemeAttr("par.text.fg")
 }
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index fbbab9e..5965651 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ func main() {
 	var activeOnlyFlag = flag.Bool("a", false, "show active containers only")
 	var sortFieldFlag = flag.String("s", "", "select container sort field")
 	var reverseSortFlag = flag.Bool("r", false, "reverse container sort order")
+	var invertFlag = flag.Bool("i", false, "invert default colors")
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	if *versionFlag == true {
@@ -72,6 +73,9 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// init ui
+	if *invertFlag == true {
+		InvertColorMap()
+	}
 	ui.ColorMap = ColorMap // override default colormap
 	if err := ui.Init(); err != nil {
 		panic(err)