Web/HTML/Element/blockquote

The HTML <blockquote> Element (or HTML Block Quotation Element) indicates that the enclosed text is an extended quotation. Usually, this is rendered visually by indentation (see Notes for how to change it). A URL for the source of the quotation may be given using the cite attribute, while a text representation of the source can be given using the <cite> element.

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Content categories	Flow content, sectioning root, palpable content.
Permitted content	Flow content.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts flow content.
Implicit ARIA role	No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	HTMLQuoteElement

Attributes

This element's attributes include the global attributes.

cite

A URL that designates a source document or message for the information quoted. This attribute is intended to point to information explaining the context or the reference for the quote.

Usage notes

To change the indentation applied to the quoted text, use the CSS margin-left and/or margin-right properties, or the margin shorthand property.

To include shorter quotes inline rather than in a separate block, use the <q> (Quotation) element.

Example

This example demonstrates the use of the <blockquote> element to quote a passage from RFC 1149, A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers.

<blockquote cite="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149">
  <p>Avian carriers can provide high delay, low
  throughput, and low altitude service. The
  connection topology is limited to a single
  point-to-point path for each carrier, used with
  standard carriers, but many carriers can be used
  without significant interference with each other,
  outside of early spring. This is because of the 3D
  ether space available to the carriers, in contrast
  to the 1D ether used by IEEE802.3. The carriers
  have an intrinsic collision avoidance system, which
  increases availability.</p>
</blockquote>

The output from this HTML snippet looks like this:

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<blockquote>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5The definition of '<blockquote>' in that specification.	Recommendation
HTML 4.01 SpecificationThe definition of '<blockquote>' in that specification.	Recommendation

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
blockquote	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
cite	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1	IE Full support Yes	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support  

Full support

See also

• The <q> element for inline quotations.
• The <cite> element for source citations.

<blockquote>: The Block Quotation element by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.