A useful argument, labelcolor, was introduced in version 3.3.0 for the textual labels in legends. This allows users to color these labels with the same color as the underlying line/marker, which in turn, allows user to remove the line/marker handle/icon in favor of the colored text label.

In settings where figures are produced in a very standardized manner and that manner requires the color of the legend labels standing in for the line/marker colors of the figure, a more compact representation, the requested feature would reduce coding burden for individuals, and more importantly reduce the burden among collaborators.

Proposed Solution

A logical extension of this great addition to plt.legend would be to (if possible) include the labelcolor option/argument in the matplotlib style sheet. Allowing legend.labelcolor: linecolor along with the various other options available to labelcolor in plt.legend() into the stylesheet could reduce some coding overhead and coordination issues where legends of this type (label color standing in as line/marker) are needed, especially in teams.

Additional context and prior art