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CSS color
<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="keywords" content="CSS color, property, colour, colors, text, foreground, background, example, examples, stylesheets"> <meta name="Description" content="CSS color - CSS property for setting the color of elements."> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.quackit.com/css/properties/css_color.cfm"> <title>CSS color</title> <script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/pix/favicon96.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/pix/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin> <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Lato:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="/common/css/master.45.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <script async src="https://cdn.fuseplatform.net/publift/tags/2/3499/fuse.js"></script> <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-Q3H025ZKLN"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-Q3H025ZKLN'); </script> </head> <body> <header class="site-header"> <div class="site-header-base"> <div class="site-logo"> <a title="Quackit Homepage" target="_top" href="/"><img src="/pix/quackit_logo_watermark.png" width="87" height="33" alt="Quackit Logo"></a> </div> <button id="site-nav-toggler" class="site-nav-toggler" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="site-nav"> <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span> ☰ </button> </div> <nav id="site-nav" class="site-nav"> <div class="site-links"> <ul> <li><a href="/"><i class="fa fa-home"></i> <span class="sr-only">Home</span></a></li> <li><a href="/html/">HTML</a></li> <li><a href="/css/">CSS</a></li> <li><a href="/scripting/">Scripting</a></li> <li><a href="/database/">Database</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="site-search-top"> <form action="/search/" id="cse-search-box-bottom" class="site-search"> <div> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-pub-6331358926293806:98x0fk-bbgi"> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:10"> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1"> <input type="text" name="q" size="20" class="site-search-input"> <button type="submit" name="sa" class="site-search-button"><i class="fa fa-search"></i></button> </div> </form> </div> </nav> </header> <div class="main"> <article class="content"> <h1 class="page-title">CSS color</h1> <div class="ad ad-top"> <!-- GAM 71161633/QCKIT_quackit/article_header --> <div data-fuse="23059883623"></div> </div> <script src="/common/js/codemirror/lib/codemirror.js"></script> <script src="/common/js/codemirror/mode/css/css.js"></script> <div class="code-only"> <textarea id="example1" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false"><!doctype html>
<title>Example</title>
<style>
 p {
 color: darkorange;
 font-size: 1.5em;
 padding: 20px;
 border-style: double;
 }
</style>
<p>The 'color' property is for the foreground color of an element's text content, but it is also used as the default color for borders.</p></textarea> <p> <a class="btn btn-default" href="/html/html_editors/scratchpad/?example=/css/properties/css_color" target="_blank" title="Full-page editor. Opens this example in the full-page editor."><i class="fa fa-pencil-square-o"></i> View Output</i></a> </p> </div> <script> var exampleCode1 = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById("example1"), { mode: "text/css", tabMode: "indent", styleActiveLine: false, lineNumbers: false, lineWrapping: true, theme: "q-dark" }); </script> <p class="lead">The CSS <code>color</code> property is used for setting the foreground color of an element's text content.</p> <p>The <code>color</code> property can be used in conjunction with the <a href="/css/properties/css_background-color.cfm"><code>background-color</code></a> property to set the foreground and background colors respectively.</p> <p>The <code>color</code> property is used for text content, but its value is also applied to other properties, such as borders, if a color hasn't been specified for those. </p> <div class="ad"> <!-- GAM 71161633/QCKIT_quackit/article_incontent_1 --> <div data-fuse="23059883629"></div> </div> <aside class="tip"> <p>You can use the <a href="/css/color/values/css_currentcolor_keyword.cfm"><code>currentColor</code></a> keyword to set any property that accepts a <a class="css-data-type" href="/css/data_types/css_color_data_type.cfm">color</a> value to the current value of the <code>color</code> property.</p> </aside> <h2>Syntax</h2> <script src="/common/js/codemirror/mode/text/css/text/css.js"></script> <div class="code-only"> <textarea id="example2" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false">color: <color></textarea> </div> <script> var exampleCode2 = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById("example2"), { mode: "text/css", tabMode: "indent", styleActiveLine: false, lineNumbers: false, lineWrapping: true, theme: "q-dark" }); </script> <h2>Possible Values</h2> <dl> <dt><dfn><a class="css-data-type" href="/css/data_types/css_color_data_type.cfm">color</a></dfn></dt> <dd>The <a class="css-data-type" href="/css/data_types/css_color_data_type.cfm">color</a> data type allows for many different ways of specifying a color. For example, you can use the <a href="/css/color/values/css_hex_color_notation_6_digits.cfm">hex value</a>, <a href="/css/color/values/css_rgba_function.cfm"><code>rgba()</code></a> functional notation, a <a href="/css/color/values/css_named_colors.cfm">named color</a>, a keyword such as <a href="/css/color/values/css_transparent_keyword.cfm"><code>transparent</code></a>, or any of the other choices available.</dd> </dl> <p>In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value: </p> <dl> <dt><code>initial</code></dt> <dd>Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.</dd> <dt><code>inherit</code></dt> <dd>Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.</dd> <dt><code>unset</code></dt> <dd>This value acts as either <code>inherit</code> or <code>initial</code>, depending on whether the property is inherited or not. In other words, it sets all properties to their parent value if they are inheritable or to their initial value if not inheritable.</dd> </dl> <h2>General Information</h2> <div class="specifications"> <dl> <dt>Initial Value</dt> <dd>Depends on the user agent. For example, your browser sets its own default colors for different elements.</dd> <dt>Applies To</dt> <dd>All elements</dd> <dt>Inherited?</dt> <dd>Yes</dd> <dt>Media</dt> <dd>Visual</dd> <dt>Animatable</dt> <dd>Yes (<a href="/html/html_editors/scratchpad/?example=/css/css3/animations/animatable_properties/css_color" target="_blank">see example</a>)</dd> </dl> </div> <h2>Example Code</h2> <div class="code-only"> <textarea id="example3" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false">color: red;
color: #ff0000;
color: rgb(255,0,0);
color: rgb(100%,0%,0%);
color: rgba(255,0,0,1);
color: hsl(0, 100%, 50%);
color: hsv(0, 100%, 100%);</textarea> </div> <script> var exampleCode3 = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById("example3"), { mode: "text/css", tabMode: "indent", styleActiveLine: false, lineNumbers: false, lineWrapping: true, theme: "q-dark" }); </script> <p>These all achieve the same result. See <a href="/css/color/">CSS color</a> for a list of color codes, charts, color converters, and more.</p> <h2>Official Specifications</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#foreground">CSS Color Module Level 3</a> (W3C Recommendation 07 June 2011)</li> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/colors.html#colors">CSS Level 2.1</a> (W3C Recommendation 07 June 2011)</li> <li><a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/CSS1/#color">CSS Level 1</a> (W3C Recommendation 17 Dec 1996)</li> </ul> </article> <div class="sidebar"> <nav> <ul> <li> <h3><a href="/css/properties/">CSS Properties</a></h3> <ul> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_animation.cfm">animation</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_background.cfm">background</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_bleed.cfm">bleed</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_border-radius.cfm">border-radius</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_border.cfm">border</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_box-shadow.cfm">box-shadow</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_box-sizing.cfm">box-sizing</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_clear.cfm">clear</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_clip.cfm">clip</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_color.cfm">color</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_columns.cfm">columns</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_content.cfm">content</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_counter-increment.cfm">counter-increment</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_cue.cfm">cue</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_cursor.cfm">cursor</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_display.cfm">display</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_filter.cfm">filter</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_flex.cfm">flex</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_float.cfm">float</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_font-family.cfm">font-family</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_font-size.cfm">font-size</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_font.cfm">font</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_height.cfm">height</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_left.cfm">left</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_list-style.cfm">list-style</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_margin.cfm">margin</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_mix-blend-mode.cfm">mix-blend-mode</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_opacity.cfm">opacity</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_outline.cfm">outline</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_overflow.cfm">overflow</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_padding.cfm">padding</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_page.cfm">page</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_pause.cfm">pause</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_perspective.cfm">perspective</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_position.cfm">position</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_rest.cfm">rest</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_right.cfm">right</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_text-align.cfm">text-align</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_text-decoration.cfm">text-decoration</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_text-shadow.cfm">text-shadow</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_top.cfm">top</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_transform.cfm">transform</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_transition.cfm">transition</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_vertical-align.cfm">vertical-align</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_visibility.cfm">visibility</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_width.cfm">width</a></li> <li><a href="/css/css3/properties/css_word-wrap.cfm">word-wrap</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/css_z-index.cfm">z-index</a></li> <li><a href="/css/properties/">All Properties <i class="fa fa-long-arrow-right" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></li> </ul> 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