diff --git a/Demo/SelectableText.js b/Demo/SelectableText.js
index bd6d5d8..23a8c04 100644
--- a/Demo/SelectableText.js
+++ b/Demo/SelectableText.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import memoize from 'fast-memoize'
 const RNSelectableText = requireNativeComponent('RNSelectableText')
 
 /**
- * numbers: array({start: int, end: int, id: string})
+ * numbers: array({start: int, end: int, id: string, highlightColor: string})
  */
 const combineHighlights = memoize(numbers => {
   return numbers
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ const combineHighlights = memoize(numbers => {
           start: prev.start,
           end: Math.max(prev.end, next.end),
           id: next.id,
+          highlightColor: prev.highlightColor
         })
       }
       return combined
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ const combineHighlights = memoize(numbers => {
 
 /**
  * value: string
- * highlights: array({start: int, end: int, id: any})
+ * highlights: array({start: int, end: int, id: any, highlightColor: string})
  */
 const mapHighlightsRanges = (value, highlights) => {
   const combinedHighlights = combineHighlights(highlights)
@@ -36,16 +37,18 @@ const mapHighlightsRanges = (value, highlights) => {
 
   const data = [{ isHighlight: false, text: value.slice(0, combinedHighlights[0].start) }]
 
-  combinedHighlights.forEach(({ start, end }, idx) => {
+  combinedHighlights.forEach(({ start, end, highlightColor }, idx) => {
     data.push({
       isHighlight: true,
       text: value.slice(start, end),
+      highlightColor: highlightColor,
     })
 
     if (combinedHighlights[idx + 1]) {
       data.push({
         isHighlight: false,
         text: value.slice(end, combinedHighlights[idx + 1].start),
+        highlightColor: '',
       })
     }
   })
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ const mapHighlightsRanges = (value, highlights) => {
   data.push({
     isHighlight: false,
     text: value.slice(combinedHighlights[combinedHighlights.length - 1].end, value.length),
+    highlightColor: '',
   })
 
   return data.filter(x => x.text)
@@ -106,14 +110,14 @@ export const SelectableText = ({
   if (usesTextComponent) {
     textValue = (
       props.highlights && props.highlights.length > 0
-        ? mapHighlightsRanges(value, props.highlights).map(({ id, isHighlight, text }) => (
+        ? mapHighlightsRanges(value, props.highlights).map(({ id, isHighlight, text, highlightColor }) => (
             <Text
               key={v4()}
               selectable
               style={
                 isHighlight
                   ? {
-                      backgroundColor: props.highlightColor,
+                      backgroundColor: highlightColor != '' ? highlightColor : props.highlightColor,
                     }
                   : {}
               }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dce39c1..5d75bff 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import { SelectableText } from "@astrocoders/react-native-selectable-text";
 // Use normally, it is a drop-in replacement for react-native/Text
 <SelectableText
   menuItems={["Foo", "Bar"]}
-  /* 
+  /*
     Called when the user taps in a item of the selection menu:
     - eventType: (string) is the label
     - content: (string) the selected text portion
@@ -77,11 +77,10 @@ import { SelectableText } from "@astrocoders/react-native-selectable-text";
 | **onSelection** | Called when the user taps in a item of the selection menu | ({ eventType: string, content: string, selectionStart: int, selectionEnd: int }) => void | () => {} |
 | **menuItems** | context menu items | array(string) | [] |
 | **style** | additional styles to be applied to text | Object | null |
-| **highlights** | array of text ranges that should be highlighted with an optional id | array({ id: string, start: int, end: int }) | [] |
-| **highlightColor** | highlight color |string | null |
+| **highlightColor** | global highlight color |string | null |
+| **highlights** | array of text ranges that should be highlighted with an optional id and a optional highlightColor that overrides the global one | array({ id: string, start: int, end: int, highlightColor: string }) | [] |
 | **onHighlightPress** | called when the user taps the highlight  |(id: string) => void | () => {} |
 | **appendToChildren** | element to be added in the last line of text | ReactNode | null |
 | **TextComponent** | Text component used to render `value` | ReactNode | <Text> |
 | **textValueProp** | text value prop for TextComponent. Should be used when passing TextComponent. Defaults to 'children' which works for <Text> | string | 'children' |
 | **textComponentProps** | additional props to pass to TextComponent | object | null |
-
diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index 97b2e90..3c2d935 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export interface SelectableTextProps {
   }) => void;
 
   menuItems?: string[];
-  highlights?: Array<{ id: string; start: number; end: number }>;
+  highlights?: Array<{ id: string; start: number; end: number; highlightColor: string }>;
   highlightColor?: string;
   style?: StyleProp<TextStyle>;
   onHighlightPress?: (id: string) => void;