HTML <legend> Tag

The HTML <legend> tag represents a caption for a <fieldset> element.

The <legend> element can make your forms and other elements easier to understand for your users, as it allows them to see what the group of elements is for.

For example, a <legend> element could provide a <fieldset> element with a caption that reads "Name Details" and another could read "Address Details".

Syntax

The <legend> tag is written as <legend></legend> with the caption inserted between the start and end tags.

Like this:

Examples

Basic tag usage

Here's a basic example to show how the <legend> tag can be used.

Add Styles

In this example, we add some styles to the <legend> and <fieldset> elements.

Attributes

Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.

The <legend> element accepts the following attributes.

AttributeDescription
none 

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <legend> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handlers

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Most event handler content attributes can be used on all HTML elements, but some event handlers have specific rules around when they can be used and which elements they are applicable to.

For more detail, see HTML event handler content attributes.