diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 950e314..09621bb 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python3
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import os
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
diff --git a/src/wireviz/Harness.py b/src/wireviz/Harness.py
index c54f4dc..10ba4b8 100644
--- a/src/wireviz/Harness.py
+++ b/src/wireviz/Harness.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class Harness:
         font = 'arial'
         dot.attr('graph', rankdir='LR',
                  ranksep='2',
-                 bgcolor=wv_colors.default_bknd_color,
+                 bgcolor='white',
                  nodesep='0.33',
                  fontname=font)
         dot.attr('node', shape='record',
@@ -204,7 +204,6 @@ class Harness:
                     html = f'{html}<td>{bla}</td>'
                 html = f'{html}</tr>'
 
-
                 bgcolors = ['#000000'] + get_color_hex(connection_color) + ['#000000']
                 html = f'{html}<tr><td colspan="{len(p)}" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" port="w{i}" height="{(2 * len(bgcolors))}"><table cellspacing="0" cellborder="0" border = "0">'
                 for j, bgcolor in enumerate(bgcolors[::-1]):  # Reverse to match the curved wires when more than 2 colors
@@ -225,7 +224,6 @@ class Harness:
                         for attrib in wireidentification:
                             html = f'{html}<td>{attrib}</td>'
                         html = f'{html}</tr></table></td></tr>'
-                # html = html + '</table></td></tr>'
 
             if cable.shield:
                 p = ['<!-- s_in -->', 'Shield', '<!-- s_out -->']
@@ -252,8 +250,8 @@ class Harness:
                 if isinstance(connection_color.via_port, int):  # check if it's an actual wire and not a shield
                     dot.attr('edge', color=':'.join(['#000000'] + wv_colors.get_color_hex(cable.colors[connection_color.via_port - 1]) + ['#000000']))
                 else:  # it's a shield connection
-                    dot.attr('edge', color='#000000')
-
+                    # shield is shown as a thin tinned wire
+                    dot.attr('edge', color=':'.join(['#000000', wv_colors.get_color_hex('SN')[0], '#000000']))
                 if connection_color.from_port is not None:  # connect to left
                     from_ferrule = self.connectors[connection_color.from_name].category == 'ferrule'
                     port = f':p{connection_color.from_port}r' if not from_ferrule else ''
diff --git a/src/wireviz/wv_colors.py b/src/wireviz/wv_colors.py
index e401fc6..0231619 100644
--- a/src/wireviz/wv_colors.py
+++ b/src/wireviz/wv_colors.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
 import sys
 
 COLOR_CODES = {
@@ -22,15 +23,8 @@ COLOR_CODES = {
     'T568B': ['WHOG', 'OG', 'WHGN', 'BU', 'WHBU', 'GN', 'WHBN', 'BN'],
 }
 
-default_color = '#ffffff'
-
-# default_bkgnd_color = '#ffffff' # white
-default_bknd_color = '#fffbf8'  # off-white beige-ish
-
 # Convention: Color names should be 2 letters long, to allow for multicolored wires
 
-shield_color = '#aaaaaa' # Tinned wire
-
 _color_hex = {
     'BK': '#000000',
     'WH': '#ffffff',
@@ -45,16 +39,10 @@ _color_hex = {
     'VT': '#8000ff',
     'BN': '#895956',
     'SL': '#708090',
-    # Faux-copper look, for bare CU wire
-    'CU': '#d6775e',
-    # Silvery look for tinned bare wire
-    'SN': '#aaaaaa',
-    # Darker silver for silvered wire
-    'AG': '#84878c',
-    # Golden color for gold
-    'AU': '#ffcf80',
-    # Yellow-green PE wire (matching actual wire colors, should prevent confusion with a yellow-green dual color wire
-    'PE': '#54aa85:#f7f854:#54aa85',
+    'CU': '#d6775e',  # Faux-copper look, for bare CU wire
+    'SN': '#aaaaaa',  # Silvery look for tinned bare wire
+    'AG': '#84878c',  # Darker silver for silvered wire
+    'AU': '#ffcf80',  # Golden color for gold
 }
 
 _color_full = {
@@ -75,10 +63,8 @@ _color_full = {
     'SN': 'tinned copper',
     'AG': 'silver wire',
     'AU': 'gold wire',
-    'PE': 'earth'
 }
 
-# TODO Help wanted: can someone check the german translation?
 _color_ger = {
     'BK': 'sw',
     'WH': 'ws',
@@ -92,28 +78,20 @@ _color_ger = {
     'BU': 'bl',
     'VT': 'vi',
     'BN': 'br',
-    # To the best of my ability, likely incorrect:
-
-    # Slate --> Schieferfarbe --> SI ??
-    'SL': 'si',
-    # Copper
-    'CU': 'cu',
-    # Tinned
-    'SN': 'sn',
-    # Silver
-    'AG': 'ag',
-    # Gold
-    'AU': 'au',
-    # Earth
-    'PE': 'pe'
+    'SL': 'si',  # Slate/Schiefer?
+    'CU': 'ku',  # Copper/Kupfer
+    'SN': 'vz',  # Tinned/verzinkt
+    'AG': 'ag',  # Silver
+    'AU': 'au',  # Gold
 }
 
 
+color_default = '#ffffff'
+
 
 def get_color_hex(input, pad=True):
     if input is None or input == '':
-        # print('Unspecified color requested', file=sys.stderr)
-        return [default_color]
+        return [color_default]
     if len(input) == 4:  # give wires with EXACTLY 2 colors that striped/banded look
         input = input + input[:2]
     # hacky style fix: give single color wires a triple-up so that wires are the same size
@@ -122,16 +100,14 @@ def get_color_hex(input, pad=True):
     try:
         output = [_color_hex[input[i:i + 2]] for i in range(0, len(input), 2)]
     except KeyError:
-        print("Unknown Color Specified", file=sys.stderr)
-        output = [default_color]
-        # raise Exception('Unknown Color Name')
+        print("Unknown color specified")
+        output = [color_default]
     return output
 
 
 def translate_color(input, color_mode):
     if input == '' or input is None:
-        # print('Unspecified color requested', file=sys.stderr)
-        return default_color
+        return color_default
     upper = color_mode.isupper()
     if not (color_mode.isupper() or color_mode.islower()):
         raise Exception('Unknown color mode capitalization')
@@ -151,4 +127,3 @@ def translate_color(input, color_mode):
         return output.upper()
     else:
         return output.lower()
-