In one project we use fontawesome in combination with css for this.
.mx-templategrid-item.selected .btn-icon.btn-select:before {
color: #38709f;
content: "\f00c";
font-weight: 400;
}
The button has the classes btn-icon and btn-select in a template grid and the code above will make sure the fontawesome tickmark (see content) is set when selecting a row.
The same type of solution should be possible for a listview/datagrid.
Hope this points you in the right direction.