Web/CSS/transform-function/rotate()

The rotate() CSS function defines a transformation that rotates an element around a fixed point on the 2D plane, without deforming it. Its result is a <transform-function> data type.

The fixed point that the element rotates around — mentioned above — is also known as the transform origin. This defaults to the center of the element, but you can set your own custom transform origin using the transform-origin property.

Syntax

The amount of rotation created by rotate() is specified by an <angle>. If positive, the movement will be clockwise; if negative, it will be counter-clockwise. A rotation by 180° is called point reflection.

rotate(a)

Values

a

Is an <angle> representing the angle of the rotation. A positive angle denotes a clockwise rotation, a negative angle a counter-clockwise one.

Cartesian coordinates on ℝ2	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ2	Cartesian coordinates on ℝ3	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ3
<math display="inline">\begin{pmatrix} & \\ & \\ \end{pmatrix}</math>	<math display="inline">\begin{pmatrix} & & \\ & & \\ & & \\ \end{pmatrix}</math>	<math display="inline">\begin{pmatrix} & & \\ & & \\ & & \\ \end{pmatrix}</math>	<math display="inline">\begin{pmatrix} & & & \\ & & & \\ & & & \\ & & & \\ \end{pmatrix}</math>
	[cos(a) sin(a) -sin(a) cos(a) 0 0]

Examples

Basic example

HTML

<div>Normal</div>
<div class="rotated">Rotated</div>

CSS

div {
  width: 80px;
  height: 80px;
  background-color: skyblue;
}

.rotated {
  transform: rotate(45deg); /* Equal to rotateZ(45deg) */
  background-color: pink;
}

Combining rotation with another transformation

If you want apply multiple transformations to an element, be careful about the order in which you specify your transformations. For example, if you rotate before translating, the translation will be along the new axis of rotation!

HTML

<div>Normal</div>
<div class="rotate">Rotated</div>
<div class="rotate-translate">Rotated + Translated</div>
<div class="translate-rotate">Translated + Rotated</div>

CSS

div {
  position: absolute;
  left: 40px;
  top: 40px;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-color: lightgray;
}

.rotate {
  background-color: transparent;
  outline: 2px dashed;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
}

.rotate-translate {
  background-color: pink;
  transform: rotate(45deg) translateX(180px);
}

.translate-rotate {
  background-color: gold;
  transform: translateX(180px) rotate(45deg);
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Transforms Level 1The definition of 'rotate()' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

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
<transform-function>	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5 Notes' Full support 3.5 Notes' Notes' Firefox 14 removed experimental support for skew(), but it was reintroduced in Firefox 15. Notes' Before Firefox 16, the translation values of matrix() and matrix3d() could be <length>s, in addition to the standard <number>.	IE Full support 9 Notes' Full support 9 Notes' Notes' Internet Explorer 9 supports 2D but not 3D transforms. In version 9, mixing 2D and 3D transform functions invalidates the entire property.	Opera Full support 10.5	Safari Full support 3.1	WebView Android Full support 2	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 11	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
3D support	Chrome Full support 12	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 10	IE Full support 10	Opera Full support 15	Safari Full support 4	WebView Android Full support 3	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 10	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support 3.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

See also

• transform
• <transform-function>
• rotate3d()

rotate() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.