diff --git a/THEMING.md b/THEMING.md
index c20ee570..b1ad125a 100644
--- a/THEMING.md
+++ b/THEMING.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ A theme is a folder placed in `sd:/retro-go/themes` containing the following fil
 ````
 /retro-go/themes
 └── example
+    ├── background.png
     ├── background_*.png
     ├── banner_*.png
     ├── logo_*.png
@@ -21,11 +22,12 @@ A theme is a folder placed in `sd:/retro-go/themes` containing the following fil
 
 | Name | Format | Description | Required |
 |--|--|--|--|
-| theme.json | JSON | Contains the theme metadata (description, author, colors, etc) | Yes |
-| preview.png | PNG 160x120 | Theme preview to be displayed in the theme selector | No |
-| background_X.png | PNG 320x240 | Launcher backgrounds where X is the name of the launcher tab | No |
-| banner_X.png | PNG 272x24 | Launcher banners where X is the name of the launcher tab | No |
-| logo_X.png | PNG 46x50 | Launcher logos where X is the name of the launcher tab | No |
+| `theme.json` | JSON | Contains the theme metadata (description, author, colors, etc) | Yes |
+| `preview.png` | PNG 160x120 | Theme preview to be displayed in the theme selector | No |
+| `background.png` | PNG 320x240 | Launcher's default background | No |
+| `background_<tab_name>.png` | PNG 320x240 | Launcher's per-tab backgrounds | No |
+| `banner_<tab_name>.png` | PNG 272x24 | Launcher's per-tab banners | No |
+| `logo_<tab_name>.png` | PNG 46x50 | Launcher's per-tab logos | No |
 
 
 ### theme.json
diff --git a/launcher/main/gui.c b/launcher/main/gui.c
index ef429709..f914af5a 100644
--- a/launcher/main/gui.c
+++ b/launcher/main/gui.c
@@ -400,7 +400,9 @@ void gui_draw_background(tab_t *tab, int shade)
 
     if (!tab->background)
     {
-        tab->background = gui_get_image("background", tab->name);
+        tab->background = gui_get_image("background", tab->name); // Try background_<tabname>.png
+        if (!tab->background)
+            tab->background = gui_get_image("background", NULL); // Fallback to a background.png
         tab->background_shade = 0;
         if (tab->background && (tab->background->width != gui.width || tab->background->height != gui.height))
         {
diff --git a/themes/classic/README.md b/themes/classic/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a63391cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/classic/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+This is the classic theme built into retro-go at compile time.
+
+It is meant to replicate the look of early retro-go builds.
diff --git a/themes/classic/background.png b/themes/classic/background.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d5f93815
Binary files /dev/null and b/themes/classic/background.png differ
diff --git a/themes/classic/theme.json b/themes/classic/theme.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ae669a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themes/classic/theme.json
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+{
+    "description": "Classic Retro-Go Theme",
+    "website": "https://github.com/ducalex/retro-go/",
+    "author": "ducalex",
+    "dialog": {
+        "__comment": "This section contains global dialog colors",
+        "background": "0x0010",
+        "foreground": "0xFFFF",
+        "border": "0x0010",
+        "header": "0xFFFF",
+        "scrollbar": "0xFFFF",
+        "shadow": "none",
+        "item_standard": "0xFFFF",
+        "item_disabled": "0x8410",
+        "item_message": "0xBDF7"
+    },
+    "launcher_1": {
+        "__comment": "This section contains launcher colors variant 1",
+        "background": "0x0000",
+        "foreground": "0xFFDE",
+        "list_standard_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_standard_fg": "0x8410",
+        "list_selected_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_selected_fg": "0xFFFF"
+    },
+    "launcher_2": {
+        "__comment": "This section contains launcher colors variant 2",
+        "background": "0x0000",
+        "foreground": "0xFFDE",
+        "list_standard_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_standard_fg": "0x8410",
+        "list_selected_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_selected_fg": "0x07E0"
+    },
+    "launcher_3": {
+        "__comment": "This section contains launcher colors variant 3",
+        "background": "0x0000",
+        "foreground": "0xFFDE",
+        "list_standard_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_standard_fg": "0x8410",
+        "list_selected_bg": "0xFFFF",
+        "list_selected_fg": "0x0000"
+    },
+    "launcher_4": {
+        "__comment": "This section contains launcher colors variant 4",
+        "background": "0x0000",
+        "foreground": "0xFFDE",
+        "list_standard_bg": "transparent",
+        "list_standard_fg": "0xAD55",
+        "list_selected_bg": "0xFFFF",
+        "list_selected_fg": "0x0000"
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file