Web/HTML/Element/header

The HTML <header> element represents introductory content, typically a group of introductory or navigational aids. It may contain some heading elements but also a logo, a search form, an author name, and other elements.

Content categories	Flow content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Flow content, but with no `<header>` or `<footer>` descendant.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts flow content. Note that a `<header>` element must not be a descendant of an `<address>`, `<footer>` or another `<header>` element.
Implicit ARIA role	banner, or no corresponding role if a descendant of an `article`, `aside`, `main`, `nav` or `section` element, or an element with `role=article`, `complementary`, `main`, `navigation` or `region`
Permitted ARIA roles	`group`, `presentation` or `none`
DOM interface	`HTMLElement`

Usage notes

The <header> element is not sectioning content and therefore does not introduce a new section in the outline. That said, a <header> element is intended to usually contain the surrounding section's heading (an h1–h6 element), but this is not required.

Historical Usage

Although the <header> element didn't make its way into specifications until [[../../../../Glossary/HTML5|HTML5]], it actually existed at the very beginning of HTML. As seen in the very first website, it was originally used as the <head> element. At some point, it was decided to use a different name. This allowed <header> to be free to fill a different role later on.

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Examples

Page Header

<header>
  <h1>Main Page Title</h1>
  <img src="mdn-logo-sm.png" alt="MDN logo">
</header>

Article Header

<article>
  <header>
    <h2>The Planet Earth</h2>
    <p>Posted on Wednesday, <time datetime="2017-10-04">4 October 2017</time> by Jane Smith</p>
  </header>
  <p>We live on a planet that's blue and green, with so many things still unseen.</p>
  <p><a href="https://janesmith.com/the-planet-earth/">Continue reading....</a></p>
</article>

Specifications

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

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
`header`	Chrome Full support 5	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 4	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 11.1	Safari Full support 5	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support 11.1	Safari iOS Full support 4.2	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support