I realize now that I forgot to mention I run a container build, based on https://github.com/OSC/ondemand/blob/master/Dockerfile (with some minor additions for our system), so I do re-generate the portal each time i restart my container, and yes, the color changed.
I just saw 'data-filepicker: true' doesn't show 'choose path' button - #2 by mustafaarif and realized i have the exact same situation, so I’m starting to suspect perhaps this container is missing some vital parts, as I don’t seem to be getting any “form.js” anywhere in my container.