I'm running into the same behavior.

The following worked for me inside my UITabBarController: if #available(iOS 13.0, *) { let appearance = tabBar.standardAppearance.copy() setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance) setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.inlineLayoutAppearance) setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.compactInlineLayoutAppearance) tabBar.standardAppearance = appearance if #available(iOS 15.0, *) { tabBar.scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance } @available(iOS 13.0, *) private func setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(_ itemAppearance: UITabBarItemAppearance) { itemAppearance.normal.badgeBackgroundColor = UIColor.green }