diff --git a/debug_toolbar/panels/__init__.py b/debug_toolbar/panels/__init__.py
index a53ba6652..49fbd4ded 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/panels/__init__.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/panels/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from django.utils.functional import classproperty
 
 from debug_toolbar import settings as dt_settings
-from debug_toolbar.utils import get_name_from_obj
+from debug_toolbar.utils import HealthLevel, get_name_from_obj
 
 
 class Panel:
@@ -129,6 +129,19 @@ def scripts(self):
         """
         return []
 
+    @property
+    def health_level(self):
+        """
+        Returns the health level of the panel as a `ToolbarHealthLevel` enum value.
+
+        This property is used by the toolbar to determine the overall health status of each panel.
+        The default implementation returns `ToolbarHealthLevel.NONE`, indicating no issues.
+
+        Subclasses should override this property to provide custom health logic, returning
+        `ToolbarHealthLevel.WARNING` or `ToolbarHealthLevel.ERROR` as appropriate based on panel-specific conditions.
+        """
+        return HealthLevel.NONE
+
     # Panel early initialization
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py b/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
index 030ca1ee1..53204c96f 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/panels/alerts.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 
 from debug_toolbar.panels import Panel
-from debug_toolbar.utils import is_processable_html_response
+from debug_toolbar.utils import HealthLevel, is_processable_html_response
 
 
 class FormParser(HTMLParser):
@@ -92,6 +92,16 @@ def nav_subtitle(self):
         else:
             return ""
 
+    @property
+    def health_level(self):
+        """
+        Return the health level of the panel based on the alerts.
+        """
+        if not self.get_stats().get("alerts"):
+            return HealthLevel.NONE
+
+        return HealthLevel.CRITICAL
+
     def add_alert(self, alert):
         self.alerts.append(alert)
 
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/panels/sql/panel.py b/debug_toolbar/panels/sql/panel.py
index 45143ef94..5c84c8768 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/panels/sql/panel.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/panels/sql/panel.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     is_select_query,
     reformat_sql,
 )
-from debug_toolbar.utils import render_stacktrace
+from debug_toolbar.utils import HealthLevel, render_stacktrace
 
 
 def get_isolation_level_display(vendor, level):
@@ -186,6 +186,21 @@ def title(self):
             count,
         ) % {"count": count}
 
+    @property
+    def health_level(self):
+        """
+        Return the health level of the SQL panel.
+        This is determined by the number of slow queries recorded.
+        """
+        stats = self.get_stats()
+        slow_queries = len([1 for q in stats.get("queries", []) if q.get("is_slow")])
+        if slow_queries > 10:
+            return HealthLevel.CRITICAL
+        elif slow_queries > 0:
+            return HealthLevel.WARNING
+
+        return super().health_level
+
     template = "debug_toolbar/panels/sql.html"
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/static/debug_toolbar/css/toolbar.css b/debug_toolbar/static/debug_toolbar/css/toolbar.css
index 43b432069..714b06ae6 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/static/debug_toolbar/css/toolbar.css
+++ b/debug_toolbar/static/debug_toolbar/css/toolbar.css
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@
     --djdt-button-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
     --djdt-pre-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
     --djdt-raw-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
+
+    --djdt-health-background-color-1: #4b3f1b;
+    --djdt-health-color-1: #ffe761;
+    --djdt-health-border-color-1: #ffcc00;
+    --djdt-health-background-color-2: #5a2327;
+    --djdt-health-color-2: #ffb3b3;
+    --djdt-health-border-color-2: #ff0000;
 }
 
 #djDebug[data-theme="dark"] {
@@ -56,6 +63,13 @@
     --djdt-button-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
     --djdt-pre-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
     --djdt-raw-border-color: var(--djdt-table-border-color);
+
+    --djdt-health-background-color-1: #4b3f1b;
+    --djdt-health-color-1: #ffe761;
+    --djdt-health-border-color-1: #ffcc00;
+    --djdt-health-background-color-2: #5a2327;
+    --djdt-health-color-2: #ffb3b3;
+    --djdt-health-border-color-2: #ff0000;
 }
 
 /* Debug Toolbar CSS Reset, adapted from Eric Meyer's CSS Reset */
@@ -377,6 +391,29 @@
     animation: spin 2s linear infinite;
 }
 
+/* Panel and Toolbar hidden button health states */
+#djDebug .djdt-health-1 {
+    /* The background can be shadowed by #djDebugToolbar li.djdt-active a:hover */
+    background: var(--djdt-health-background-color-1) !important;
+    color: var(--djdt-health-color-1);
+}
+
+#djDebug .djdt-health-2 {
+    /* The background can be shadowed by #djDebugToolbar li.djdt-active a:hover */
+    background: var(--djdt-health-background-color-2) !important;
+    color: var(--djdt-health-color-2);
+}
+
+#djDebug .djdt-toolbarhandle-health-1 {
+    /* The border-color is shadowed by the default #djShowToolBarButton border */
+    border-color: var(--djdt-health-border-color-1) !important;
+}
+
+#djDebug .djdt-toolbarhandle-health-2 {
+    /* The border-color is shadowed by the default #djShowToolBarButton border */
+    border-color: var(--djdt-health-border-color-2) !important;
+}
+
 @keyframes spin {
     0% {
         transform: rotate(0deg);
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/base.html b/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/base.html
index b7562ecba..110d12589 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/base.html
+++ b/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/base.html
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
     </ul>
   </div>
   <div class="djdt-hidden" id="djDebugToolbarHandle">
-    <div title="{% translate 'Show toolbar' %}" id="djShowToolBarButton">
+    <div title="{% translate 'Show toolbar' %}" id="djShowToolBarButton" class="{% if toolbar.health_level %} djdt-toolbarhandle-health-{{ toolbar.health_level }}{% endif %}">
       <span id="djShowToolBarD">D</span><span id="djShowToolBarJ">J</span>DT
     </div>
   </div>
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/includes/panel_button.html b/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/includes/panel_button.html
index bc6f03ad9..68232ec09 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/includes/panel_button.html
+++ b/debug_toolbar/templates/debug_toolbar/includes/panel_button.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 
-<li id="djdt-{{ panel.panel_id }}" class="djDebugPanelButton">
+<li id="djdt-{{ panel.panel_id }}" class="djDebugPanelButton{% if panel.health_level %} djdt-health-{{ panel.health_level }}{% endif %}">
   <input type="checkbox" data-cookie="djdt{{ panel.panel_id }}" {% if panel.enabled %}checked title="{% translate "Disable for next and successive requests" %}"{% else %}title="{% translate "Enable for next and successive requests" %}"{% endif %}>
   {% if panel.has_content and panel.enabled %}
     <a href="#" title="{{ panel.title }}" class="{{ panel.panel_id }}">
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py b/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
index 6ebc74234..ff77329ef 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/toolbar.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 from debug_toolbar import APP_NAME, settings as dt_settings
 from debug_toolbar.store import get_store
+from debug_toolbar.utils import HealthLevel
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -72,6 +73,17 @@ def csp_nonce(self):
         """
         return getattr(self.request, "csp_nonce", None)
 
+    @property
+    def health_level(self):
+        """
+        Return the maximum health level across all panels.
+        This is used to color the toolbar hidden button.
+        """
+        if not self.panels:
+            return HealthLevel.NONE
+
+        return max(panel.health_level for panel in self.enabled_panels)
+
     def get_panel_by_id(self, panel_id):
         """
         Get the panel with the given id, which is the class name by default.
diff --git a/debug_toolbar/utils.py b/debug_toolbar/utils.py
index f4b3eac38..2047196ef 100644
--- a/debug_toolbar/utils.py
+++ b/debug_toolbar/utils.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import sys
 import warnings
 from collections.abc import Sequence
+from enum import IntEnum
 from pprint import PrettyPrinter, pformat
 from typing import Any
 
@@ -401,3 +402,18 @@ def is_processable_html_response(response):
         and content_encoding == ""
         and content_type in _HTML_TYPES
     )
+
+
+class HealthLevel(IntEnum):
+    """
+    Represents the health or alert level for a panel or the toolbar as a whole.
+
+    Used to indicate the severity of issues detected by panels, allowing the UI to reflect
+    warning or critical states (e.g., via colorization). Panels should return one of these
+    levels from their `health_level` property. The toolbar will aggregate the maximum level
+    across all panels to determine the overall toolbar health state.
+    """
+
+    NONE = 0
+    WARNING = 1
+    CRITICAL = 2