Two White-handed Gibbons with a dark fur, and white fur on their hands as well as a white rim around their hairless, black face. White-handed Gibbons may vary in colour from almost black, through dark brown, to cream-coloured (fig.) or pale buff, yet they can always be identified to their white or buff hands.

Unlike some gibbon species that are sexually dimorphic in colour, the colours of White-handed Gibbons are not related to sex, and animals of either colour can be found together in the same family group.