color

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

/* A CSS Level 1 color */
color: red;

/* The only color added in CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) */
color: orange;

/* CSS Level 3 color, sometimes called a SVG or X11 color */
color: antiquewhite;

/* The color 'lime' with the 3-character dash notation */
color: #0f0;

/* The color 'lime' with the 6-character dash notation */
color: #00ff00;

/* A color using the available functional notations */
color: rgba( 34, 12, 64, 0.3);

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

/* 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( <rgb-component>#{3} )
<rgba()> = rgba( <rgb-component>#{3} , <alpha-value> )
<hsl()> = hsl( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage> )
<hsla()> = hsla( <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 
<rgb-component> = <integer> | <percentage>
<alpha-value> = <number>
<hue> = <number>

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

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Transitions The definition of 'color' in that specification.	Working Draft	Defines color as animatable.
CSS Color Module Level 3 The definition of 'color' in that specification.	Recommendation	Deprecated system-colors; added SVG colors; added rgba(), hsl(), hsla() functional notation.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'color' in that specification.	Recommendation	Added the orange color and the system-colors.
CSS Level 1 The definition of 'color' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

See also

• The <color> data type