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border-color

The border-color CSS property is a shorthand for setting the color of the four sides of an element's border: border-top-color, border-right-color, border-bottom-color, border-left-color

Initial value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-top-color`: `currentColor` `border-right-color`: `currentColor` `border-bottom-color`: `currentColor` `border-left-color`: `currentColor`
Applies to	all elements. It also applies to `::first-letter`.
Inherited	no
Media	visual
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: If the value is translucent, the computed value will be the `rgba()` corresponding one. If it isn't, it will be the `rgb()` corresponding one. The `transparent` keyword maps to `rgba(0,0,0,0)`. `border-left-color`: If the value is translucent, the computed value will be the `rgba()` corresponding one. If it isn't, it will be the `rgb()` corresponding one. The `transparent` keyword maps to `rgba(0,0,0,0)`. `border-right-color`: If the value is translucent, the computed value will be the `rgba()` corresponding one. If it isn't, it will be the `rgb()` corresponding one. The `transparent` keyword maps to `rgba(0,0,0,0)`. `border-top-color`: If the value is translucent, the computed value will be the `rgba()` corresponding one. If it isn't, it will be the `rgb()` corresponding one. The `transparent` keyword maps to `rgba(0,0,0,0)`.
Animatable	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: yes, as a color `border-left-color`: yes, as a color `border-right-color`: yes, as a color `border-top-color`: yes, as a color
Canonical order	the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

/* border-color: color */ /* the color applies to all sides */ 
border-color: red;

/* border-color: top&bottom right&left */
border-color: red #f015ca;

/* border-color: top right&left bottom */
border-color: red yellow green;

/* border-color: top right bottom left */
border-color: red yellow green blue;

border-color: inherit;

Values

color: Is a <color> denoting the color to apply to the edges.
inherit: Is a keyword indicating that all four values are inherited from their parent's element calculated value.

Formal syntax

<color>{1,4}where 
<color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hex-color> | <named-color> | currentcolor | <deprecated-system-color>
where 
<rgb()> = rgb( <rgb-component>#{3} )
<rgba()> = rgba( <rgb-component>#{3} , <alpha-value> )
<hsl()> = hsl( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage> )
<hsla()> = hsla( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value> )
<named-color> = <ident>
<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 
<rgb-component> = <integer> | <percentage>
<alpha-value> = <number>
<hue> = <number>

Examples

Complete border-color usage

HTML Content

<div id="justone">
  <p><code>border-color: red;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: red;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="horzvert">
  <p><code>border-color: gold red;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: red;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="topvertbott">
  <p><code>border-color: red cyan gold;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: cyan;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: cyan;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="trbl">
  <p><code>border-color: cyan black gold;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: cyan;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: black;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: gold;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>

CSS Content

#justone {
  border-color: red;
}

#horzvert {
  border-color: gold red;
}

#topvertbott {
  border-color: red cyan gold;
}

#trbl {
  border-color: red cyan black gold;
}

/* Set width and style for all divs */
div {
  border: solid 0.3em;
  width: auto;
  margin: 0.5em;
  padding: 0.5em;
}

ul {
  margin: 0;
  list-style: none;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3 The definition of 'border-color' in that specification.	Candidate Recommendation	The `transparent` keyword has been removed as it is now a part of the `<color>` data type.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'border-color' in that specification.	Recommendation	The property is now a shorthand property
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'border-color' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Firefox (Gecko)	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	1.0	1.0 (1.7 or earlier) [1]	4.0	3.5	1.0 (85)

Feature	Android	Firefox Mobile (Gecko)	IE Phone	Opera Mobile	Safari Mobile
Basic support	4.0	1.0 (1.9.2) [1]	7.0	11	1.0

[1] The following Mozilla extensions set the border sides to multiple colors for Gecko based browsers like Firefox. -moz-border-top-colors, -moz-border-right-colors, -moz-border-bottom-colors, -moz-border-left-colors