Skip to main content

background-color

The background-color CSS property sets the background color of an element.

{{EmbedInteractiveExample("pages/css/background-color.html")}}

Syntax​

/* Keyword values */
background-color: red;
background-color: indigo;

/* Hexadecimal value */
background-color: #bbff00; /* Fully opaque */
background-color: #bf0; /* Fully opaque shorthand */
background-color: #11ffee00; /* Fully transparent */
background-color: #1fe0; /* Fully transparent shorthand */
background-color: #11ffeeff; /* Fully opaque */
background-color: #1fef; /* Fully opaque shorthand */

/* RGB value */
background-color: rgb(255 255 128); /* Fully opaque */
background-color: rgb(117 190 218 / 50%); /* 50% transparent */

/* HSL value */
background-color: hsl(50 33% 25%); /* Fully opaque */
background-color: hsl(50 33% 25% / 75%); /* 75% opaque, i.e. 25% transparent */

/* Special keyword values */
background-color: currentcolor;
background-color: transparent;

/* Global values */
background-color: inherit;
background-color: initial;
background-color: revert;
background-color: revert-layer;
background-color: unset;

The background-color property is specified as a single <color> value.

Values​

    • : The uniform color of the background. It is rendered behind any {{cssxref("background-image")}} that is specified, although the color will still be visible through any transparency in the image.

Accessibility​

It is important to ensure that the contrast ratio between the background color and the color of the text placed over it is high enough that people experiencing low vision conditions will be able to read the content of the page.

Color contrast ratio is determined by comparing the luminance of the text and background color values. In order to meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a ratio of 4.5:1 is required for text content and 3:1 for larger text such as headings. Large text is defined as 18.66px and bold or larger, or 24px or larger.

Formal definition​

Formal syntax​

Examples​

Colorize boxes​

This example demonstrates the applying background-color to HTML {{HTMLelement("div")}} elements using different CSS {{cssxref("color_value", "<color>")}} values.

HTML​

<div class="exampleone">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer</div>

<div class="exampletwo">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer</div>

<div class="examplethree">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer</div>

CSS​

.exampleone {
  background-color: transparent;
}

.exampletwo {
  background-color: rgb(153 102 153);
  color: rgb(255 255 204);
}

.examplethree {
  background-color: #777799;
  color: #ffffff;
}

Result​

{{EmbedLiveSample("Colorize boxes", 200, 150)}}

Colorize tables​

This example demonstrates the use of background-color on HTML {{HTMLelement("table")}} elements, including {{HTMLelement("tr")}} rows and {{HTMLelement("td")}} cells.

HTML​

<table>
  <tr id="r1">
    <td id="c11">11</td>
    <td id="c12">12</td>
    <td id="c13">13</td>
  </tr>
  <tr id="r2">
    <td id="c21">21</td>
    <td id="c22">22</td>
    <td id="c23">23</td>
  </tr>
  <tr id="r3">
    <td id="c31">31</td>
    <td id="c32">32</td>
    <td id="c33">33</td>
  </tr>
</table>

CSS​

table {
  border-collapse: collapse;
  border: solid black 1px;
  width: 250px;
  height: 150px;
}
td {
  border: solid 1px black;
}
#r1 {
  background-color: lightblue;
}
#c12 {
  background-color: cyan;
}
#r2 {
  background-color: grey;
}
#r3 {
  background-color: olive;
}

Result​

{{EmbedLiveSample('Colorize tables', "100%", "100%")}}

Specifications​

Browser compatibility​

See also​

  • Multiple backgrounds
  • The data type
  • Other color-related properties: {{cssxref("color")}}, {{cssxref("border-color")}}, {{cssxref("outline-color")}}, {{cssxref("text-decoration-color")}}, {{cssxref("text-emphasis-color")}}, {{cssxref("text-shadow")}}, {{cssxref("caret-color")}}, and {{cssxref("column-rule-color")}}