Why does the keyboard indicator show my custom keyboard on a dark gray background?

Question

I am using Ubuntu 14.10 with the Unity interface, and I have created a custom keyboard layout by manually creating an xkb symbols file. I put the file in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ and I have also edited /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/evdev.xml to include a reference to my layout. Everything worked fine: at the Text Entry settings dialog I added my layout and I am now typing this question with it.

But the keyboard indicator (the rectangle on the top bar that shows which input source is currently active) shows my layout on a dark gray background, whereas the "normal" layouts are displayed on a brighter background.

Is that behavior normal or does it indicate some problem? What do I need to do in order for my keyboard layout to be treated like the others?

Answer 1

It seems the reason was my short description was not a recognised language code. When I changed it to one (even a code for a language not listed as one of the supported languages for the keyboard layout) it became the same colour as the other layouts.

Edit: By now I've found out the indications are kept as svg files in /usr/share/icons/ubuntu-mono-[light|dark]/status/22 (I don't know the meaning of these paths) and that I can have my own short description display the way I want it to by adding an svg icon for it there. (I haven't tried it myself; just saw the information somewhere. I'm adding it here in case someone reaches this question and finds it useful.)