Web/CSS/border-color

The border-color shorthand CSS property sets the color of an element's border.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Each side can be set individually using border-top-color, border-right-color, border-bottom-color, and border-left-color; or using the writing mode-aware border-block-start-color, border-block-end-color, border-inline-start-color, and border-inline-end-color.

You can find more information about border colors in Borders in Applying color to HTML elements using CSS.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

/* <color> values */
border-color: red;

/* horizontal | vertical */
border-color: red #f015ca;

/* top | vertical | bottom */
border-color: red rgb(240,30,50,.7) green;

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

/* Global values */
border-color: inherit;
border-color: initial;
border-color: unset;

The border-color property may be specified using one, two, three, or four values.

When one value is specified, it applies the same color to all four sides.
When two values are specified, the first color applies to the top and bottom, the second to the left and right.
When three values are specified, the first color applies to the top, the second to the left and right, the third to the bottom.
When four values are specified, the colors apply to the top, right, bottom, and left in that order (clockwise).

Values

<color>: Defines the color of the border.

Formal definition

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
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: computed color `border-left-color`: computed color `border-right-color`: computed color `border-top-color`: computed color
Animation type	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: a color `border-left-color`: a color `border-right-color`: a color `border-top-color`: a color

Formal syntax

<color>{1,4}where <color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hex-color> | <named-color> | currentcolor | <deprecated-system-color>where <rgb()> = rgb( <percentage>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgb( <number>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgb( <percentage>#{3} , <alpha-value>? ) | rgb( <number>#{3} , <alpha-value>? )<rgba()> = rgba( <percentage>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgba( <number>{3} [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | rgba( <percentage>#{3} , <alpha-value>? ) | rgba( <number>#{3} , <alpha-value>? )<hsl()> = hsl( <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | hsl( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? )<hsla()> = hsla( <hue> <percentage> <percentage> [ / <alpha-value> ]? ) | hsla( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value>? )where <alpha-value> = <number> | <percentage><hue> = <number> | <angle>

Examples

Complete border-color usage

HTML

<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: red 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

#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 Logical Properties and Values Level 1	Editor's Draft	Added the `logical` keyword.
CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3The 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 1The definition of 'border-color' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`border-color`	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1 Notes' Full support 1 Notes' Notes' Firefox also supports the following non-standard CSS properties to set the border sides to multiple colors: `-moz-border-top-colors`, `-moz-border-right-colors`, `-moz-border-bottom-colors`, `-moz-border-left-colors`	IE Full support 4	Opera Full support 3.5	Safari Full support 1	WebView Android Full support 4	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Firefox also supports the following non-standard CSS properties to set the border sides to multiple colors: `-moz-border-top-colors`, `-moz-border-right-colors`, `-moz-border-bottom-colors`, `-moz-border-left-colors`	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.