Android lollipop change navigation bar color

Here is how to do it programatically:

if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {                
   getWindow().setNavigationBarColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.your_awesome_color));
}

Using Compat library:

if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
    getWindow().setNavigationBarColor(ContextCompat.getColor(this, R.color.primary));
}

Here is how to do it with xml in the values-v21/style.xml folder:

<item name="android:navigationBarColor">@color/your_color</item>

It can be done inside styles.xml using

<item name="android:navigationBarColor">@color/theme_color</item>

or

window.setNavigationBarColor(@ColorInt int color)

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/Window.html#setNavigationBarColor(int)

Note that the method was introduced in Android Lollipop and won't work on API version < 21.

The second method (works on KitKat) is to set windowTranslucentNavigation to true in the manifest and place a colored view beneath the navigation bar.