diff --git a/include/wx/colour.h b/include/wx/colour.h
index aa50b349ec..7565f09162 100644
--- a/include/wx/colour.h
+++ b/include/wx/colour.h
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ public:
     virtual ChannelType Blue() const = 0;
     virtual ChannelType Alpha() const
         { return wxALPHA_OPAQUE ; }
+    
+    virtual bool IsSolid() const
+        { return true; }
 
     // implemented in colourcmn.cpp
     virtual wxString GetAsString(long flags = wxC2S_NAME | wxC2S_CSS_SYNTAX) const;
diff --git a/include/wx/osx/core/colour.h b/include/wx/osx/core/colour.h
index b862332173..d3b6ec4eb6 100644
--- a/include/wx/osx/core/colour.h
+++ b/include/wx/osx/core/colour.h
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ public:
     virtual ChannelType Blue() const wxOVERRIDE;
     virtual ChannelType Alpha() const wxOVERRIDE;
 
+    virtual bool IsSolid() const wxOVERRIDE;
+
     wxColour& operator=(const wxColour& col);
 
     // comparison
@@ -90,7 +92,10 @@ public:
     virtual CGFloat Green() const = 0;
     virtual CGFloat Blue() const = 0;
     virtual CGFloat Alpha() const = 0;
-    
+ 
+    virtual bool IsSolid() const
+        { return true; }
+
     virtual CGColorRef GetCGColor() const = 0;
     
     virtual wxColourRefData* Clone() const = 0;
diff --git a/interface/wx/colour.h b/interface/wx/colour.h
index 09c1c242a6..cd217d853a 100644
--- a/interface/wx/colour.h
+++ b/interface/wx/colour.h
@@ -182,6 +182,11 @@ public:
     */
     virtual unsigned char Red() const;
 
+    /**
+        Returns @true if the color can be described using RGB values, ie is solid,
+        @false if it is a pattern (currently only possible on macOS)
+    */
+    virtual bool IsSolid() const;
     //@{
     /**
         Sets the RGB intensity values using the given values (first overload),
diff --git a/src/osx/cocoa/colour.mm b/src/osx/cocoa/colour.mm
index d7fc6ec81d..32d6ae8c8c 100644
--- a/src/osx/cocoa/colour.mm
+++ b/src/osx/cocoa/colour.mm
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ public:
     virtual CGFloat Blue() const wxOVERRIDE;
     virtual CGFloat Alpha() const wxOVERRIDE;
     
+    virtual bool IsSolid() const wxOVERRIDE;
+
     CGColorRef GetCGColor() const wxOVERRIDE;
     
     virtual wxColourRefData* Clone() const wxOVERRIDE { return new wxNSColorRefData(*this); }
@@ -94,6 +96,11 @@ CGFloat wxNSColorRefData::Alpha() const
     return 0.0;
 }
 
+bool wxNSColorRefData::IsSolid() const
+{
+    return [m_nsColour colorUsingColorSpaceName:NSCalibratedRGBColorSpace] != nil;
+}
+
 CGColorRef wxNSColorRefData::GetCGColor() const
 {
 #if MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED >= MAC_OS_X_VERSION_10_8
diff --git a/src/osx/core/colour.cpp b/src/osx/core/colour.cpp
index 8edb7f0669..3f15e6edeb 100644
--- a/src/osx/core/colour.cpp
+++ b/src/osx/core/colour.cpp
@@ -189,6 +189,13 @@ wxColour::ChannelType wxColour::Alpha() const
     return wxRound(M_COLDATA->Alpha() * 255.0);
 }
 
+bool wxColour::IsSolid() const
+{
+    wxCHECK_MSG( IsOk(), false, "invalid colour" );
+
+    return M_COLDATA->IsSolid();
+}
+
 #if wxOSX_USE_COCOA_OR_CARBON
 void wxColour::GetRGBColor(RGBColor* col) const
 {