highlight clear SignColumn isn't respected in .vimrc

[ghost]

I've recently setup with git gutter and am having issues with the SignColumn. The last lines in my .vimrc are

let g:gitgutter_set_sign_backgrounds = 0 
let g:gitgutter_sign_added = '++'
let g:gitgutter_sign_modified = '~~'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed = '--'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed_first_line = '^^'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed_above_and_below = '^v'
let g:gitgutter_sign_modified_removed = 'vv'

highlight GitGutterAdd    guifg=#00CC00 ctermfg=2
highlight GitGutterChange guifg=#CCCC00 ctermfg=3
highlight GitGutterDelete guibg=#11FF22 ctermfg=1

highlight clear SignColumn

But the SignColumn always has its grey background when launching into vim. If I source my .vimrc directly after launch, it gets cleared, but it is always there on boot. I've tried adding highlight! link SignColumn LineNr and let g:gitgutter_sign_allow_clobber = 1, but neither seems to work. Has anyone else had this issue?

I'm running Vim 8.2 with GitGutter at commit 18d129

[airblade]

Which colorscheme do you use?

Where in your vimrc do you set it (and possibly background) – before or after your highlight commands?

[ghost]

I don't explicitly set any color scheme. I stripped down my .vimrc to this

execute pathogen#infect()
execute pathogen#helptags()

set updatetime=100
let mapleader = "\\"

let g:gitgutter_set_sign_backgrounds = 0
let g:gitgutter_sign_added = '++'
let g:gitgutter_sign_modified = '~~'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed = '--'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed_first_line = '^^'
let g:gitgutter_sign_removed_above_and_below = '^v'
let g:gitgutter_sign_modified_removed = 'vv'

highlight GitGutterAdd    guifg=#00CC00 ctermfg=2
highlight GitGutterChange guifg=#CCCC00 ctermfg=3
highlight GitGutterDelete guibg=#11FF22 ctermfg=1

highlight clear SignColumn

And am still encountering the same issue

[airblade]

If the whole sign column has a grey background, that's the default colorscheme – gitgutter doesn't set the sign column's background.

You could try syntax enable at the top of your config.

I used your config on my Vim 8.2.3008 and it behaved as expected, i.e. the sign column's background was the same as the window's background (black). Which patch version of 8.2 are you on?

You can find out where you sign column is being configured with :verbose highlight SignColumn. What does it say?

[ghost]

syntax enable didn't manage to get the result I was looking for, but set background=dark did.

For completeness, this is what the verbose output was after 1. directly opening vim and 2. explicitly reloading my .vimrc file

Opening a file directly

:verbose highlight SignColumn
SignColumn     xxx term=standout ctermfg=14 ctermbg=242 guifg=Cyan guibg=Grey

Explicitly running :source ~/.vimrc

:verbose highlight SignColumn
SignColumn     xxx cleared
        Last set from ~/.dotfiles/vim/vimrc line 19

It appears that with the set background=dark, it does end up loading it the way I would expect.

[airblade]

It appears that with the set background=dark, it does end up loading it the way I would expect.

Good news!