color

Summary

The color property sets the foreground color of an element's text content, and its decorations. It doesn't affect any other characteristic of the element; it should really be called text-color and would have been named so, save for historical reasons and its appearance in CSS Level 1.

Note that the color value must be a uniform color, which may include a transparency value from CSS3 onwards. It can't be a <gradient> which is an <image> in CSS.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
color: currentcolor; /* Use the color of this element's direct ancestor */

/* <named-color>  values */
color: red; /* CSS Level 1 color */
color: orange; /* The only color added in CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) */
color: tan; /* CSS Color Level 3 color, sometimes called SVG or X11 color */
color: rebeccapurple; /* The only color keyword added in CSS Color Level 4 */

/* <hex-color> values */
color: #0f0; /* The color 'lime' with the 3-character notation */
color: #00ff00; /* The color 'lime' with the 6-character notation */
color: #0f0a; /* CSS Color Level 4 color in 4-character notation */
color: #00ff0080; /* CSS Color Level 4 color in 8-character notation*/

/* <rgb()> values */
color: rgb(34, 12, 64, 0.3); /* Legacy comma separated functional notation
                                with alpha value */
color: rgba(34, 12, 64, 0.3); /* Legacy comma separated functional
                                 notation */
color: rgb(34 12 64 / 0.3); /* Functional notation with spaces */
color: rgba(34 12 64 / 0.3); /* Functional notation with spaces as alias
                                for rgb() */

/* <rgb()> values */
color: hsl(30, 100%, 50%, 0.3); /* Legacy comma separated functional notation
                                   with alpha value */
color: hsla(30, 100%, 50%, 0.3); /* Legacy comma separated functional
                                    notation */
color: hsl(30 100% 50% / 0.3); /* Functional notation with spaces */
color: hsla(30 100% 50% / 0.3); /* Functional notation with spaces as alias
                                   for hsl() */

/* Global values */
color: inherit;
color: initial;
color: unset;

Values

<color>

Is a <color> value giving the color of the textual elements of the element.

Formal syntax

<color>
where 
<color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hex-color> | <named-color> | currentcolor | <deprecated-system-color>
where 
<rgb()> = rgb( [ [ <percentage>{3} | <number>{3} ] [ / <alpha-value> ]? ] | [ [ <percentage>#{3} | <number>#{3} ] , <alpha-value>? ] )
<rgba()> = rgba( [ [ <percentage>{3} | <number>{3} ] [ / <alpha-value> ]? ] | [ [ <percentage>#{3} | <number>#{3} ] , <alpha-value>? ] )
<hsl()> = hsl( [ <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ] | [ <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? ] )
<hsla()> = hsla( [ <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ] | [ <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? ] )
<named-color> = transparent | aliceblue | antiquewhite | aqua | aquamarine | azure | beige | bisque | black | blanchedalmond | blue | blueviolet | brown | burlywood | cadetblue | chartreuse | chocolate | coral | cornflowerblue | cornsilk | crimson | cyan | darkblue | darkcyan | darkgoldenrod | darkgray | darkgreen | darkgrey | darkkhaki | darkmagenta | darkolivegreen | darkorange | darkorchid | darkred | darksalmon | darkseagreen | darkslateblue | darkslategray | darkslategrey | darkturquoise | darkviolet | deeppink | deepskyblue | dimgray | dimgrey | dodgerblue | firebrick | floralwhite | forestgreen | fuchsia | gainsboro | ghostwhite | gold | goldenrod | gray | green | greenyellow | grey | honeydew | hotpink | indianred | indigo | ivory | khaki | lavender | lavenderblush | lawngreen | lemonchiffon | lightblue | lightcoral | lightcyan | lightgoldenrodyellow | lightgray | lightgreen | lightgrey | lightpink | lightsalmon | lightseagreen | lightskyblue | lightslategray | lightslategrey | lightsteelblue | lightyellow | lime | limegreen | linen | magenta | maroon | mediumaquamarine | mediumblue | mediumorchid | mediumpurple | mediumseagreen | mediumslateblue | mediumspringgreen | mediumturquoise | mediumvioletred | midnightblue | mintcream | mistyrose | moccasin | navajowhite | navy | oldlace | olive | olivedrab | orange | orangered | orchid | palegoldenrod | palegreen | paleturquoise | palevioletred | papayawhip | peachpuff | peru | pink | plum | powderblue | purple | rebeccapurple | red | rosybrown | royalblue | saddlebrown | salmon | sandybrown | seagreen | seashell | sienna | silver | skyblue | slateblue | slategray | slategrey | snow | springgreen | steelblue | tan | teal | thistle | tomato | turquoise | violet | wheat | white | whitesmoke | yellow | yellowgreen
<deprecated-system-color> = ActiveBorder | ActiveCaption | AppWorkspace | Background | ButtonFace | ButtonHighlight | ButtonShadow | ButtonText | CaptionText | GrayText | Highlight | HighlightText | InactiveBorder | InactiveCaption | InactiveCaptionText | InfoBackground | InfoText | Menu | MenuText | Scrollbar | ThreeDDarkShadow | ThreeDFace | ThreeDHighlight | ThreeDLightShadow | ThreeDShadow | Window | WindowFrame | WindowText
where 
<alpha-value> = <number>, | <percentage>
<hue> = <number> | <angle>

Examples

The following are all ways to make the element's text red:

element { color: red; }
element { color: #f00; }
element { color: #ff0000; }
element { color: rgb(255,0,0); }
element { color: rgb(100%, 0%, 0%); }
element { color: hsl(0, 100%, 50%); }

/* 50% translucent */
element { color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.5); } 
element { color: hsla(0, 100%, 50%, 0.5); }

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• The <color> data type