CSS color

The CSS color property is used for setting the foreground color of an element's text content.

The color property can be used in conjunction with the background-color property to set the foreground and background colors respectively.

The color 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.

Syntax

Possible Values

color: The color data type allows for many different ways of specifying a color. For example, you can use the hex value, rgba() functional notation, a named color, a keyword such as transparent, or any of the other choices available.

In addition, all CSS properties also accept the following CSS-wide keyword values as the sole component of their property value:

initial: Represents the value specified as the property's initial value.
inherit: Represents the computed value of the property on the element's parent.
unset: This value acts as either inherit or initial, 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.

General Information

Initial Value: Depends on the user agent. For example, your browser sets its own default colors for different elements.
Applies To: All elements
Inherited?: Yes
Media: Visual
Animatable: Yes (see example)

Example Code

These all achieve the same result. See CSS color for a list of color codes, charts, color converters, and more.

Official Specifications

CSS Color Module Level 4 (W3C Candidate Recommendation Snapshot 13 February 2024)
CSS Level 2.1 (W3C Recommendation 07 June 2011)
CSS Level 1 (W3C Recommendation 17 Dec 1996)

Browser Support

Browser support for CSS properties can vary, particularly for newer or experimental features. Check current browser compatibility before using a property in production, especially when supporting older browsers.

Initial Value

CSS properties have an initial value that applies when the property has not been explicitly set. The initial value is different from the value inherited from a parent element and may vary between properties.

Inheritance

Some CSS properties inherit their computed value from their parent element by default, while others do not. The inherit, initial, unset, and revert keywords can also be used to control how a property gets its value.

Vendor Prefixes

Most modern CSS properties use the standard, unprefixed syntax. Vendor-prefixed properties such as -webkit- are mainly relevant to older browser versions or specific features and should only be used when required by your browser support targets.