Another option is to use the new support for vector drawables in the support library.
See res/xml/ic_search.xml
in blog post AppCompat — Age of the vectors
Notice the reference to ?attr/colorControlNormal
<vector xmlns:android="..."
android:width="24dp"
android:height="24dp"
android:viewportWidth="24.0"
android:viewportHeight="24.0"
android:tint="?attr/colorControlNormal">
<path
android:pathData="..."
android:fillColor="@android:color/white"/>
</vector>