Summary
The background-color CSS property sets the background color of an element, either through a color value or the keyword transparent.
| Initial value | transparent |
|---|---|
| Applies to | all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line. |
| Inherited | no |
| Media | visual |
| Computed value | If the value is translucent, the computed value will be the rgba() corresponding one. If it isn't, it will be the rgb() corresponding one. The transparent keyword maps to rgba(0,0,0,0). |
| Animation type | a color |
| Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Syntax
/* Keyword values */ background-color: red; /* Hexadecimal value */ background-color: #bbff00; background-color: #bbff0077; /* RGB value */ background-color: rgb(255, 255, 128); /* HSLA value */ background-color: hsla(50, 33%, 25%, 0.75); /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentColor; background-color: transparent; /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: unset;
Values
<color>- Is a CSS
<color>that describes the uniform color of the background. Even if one or severalbackground-imageare defined, this color can be affect the rendering, by transparency if the images aren't opaque. In CSS,transparentis a color.
Formal syntax
<color>where
<color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hex-color> | <named-color> | currentcolor | <deprecated-system-color>where
<rgb()> = rgb( <rgb-component>#{3} )
<rgba()> = rgba( <rgb-component>#{3} , <alpha-value> )
<hsl()> = hsl( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage> )
<hsla()> = hsla( <hue>, <percentage>, <percentage>, <alpha-value> )
<named-color> = <ident>
<deprecated-system-color> = ActiveBorder | ActiveCaption | AppWorkspace | Background | ButtonFace | ButtonHighlight | ButtonShadow | ButtonText | CaptionText | GrayText | Highlight | HighlightText | InactiveBorder | InactiveCaption | InactiveCaptionText | InfoBackground | InfoText | Menu | MenuText | Scrollbar | ThreeDDarkShadow | ThreeDFace | ThreeDHighlight | ThreeDLightShadow | ThreeDShadow | Window | WindowFrame | WindowTextwhere
<rgb-component> = <integer> | <percentage>
<alpha-value> = <number>
<hue> = <number>
Examples
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: teal;
color: white;
}
.exampletwo {
background-color: rgb(153,102,153);
color: rgb(255,255,204);
}
.examplethree {
background-color: #777799;
color: #FFFFFF;
}
Result
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 3 The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
Candidate Recommendation | Though technically removing the transparent keyword, this doesn't change anything as it has been incorporated as a true <color> |
| CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
Recommendation | No change |
| CSS Level 1 The definition of 'background-color' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Firefox (Gecko) | Chrome | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) | 1.0 | 4.0 [1] | 3.5 | 1.0 (85) |
| Alpha channel for hex value | 52.0 |
| Feature | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | Android | Android Webview | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile | Chrome for Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 1.0 (1.9.2) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
| Alpha channel for hex value | No support | 52.0 | 52.0 |
[1]: In IE8-9, there is a bug where a computed background-color of transparent causes click events to not get fired on overlaid elements. See the click event documentation for details.