The background-color CSS property sets the background color of an element.

/* Keyword values */ background-color: red; background-color: indigo;  /* Hexadecimal value */ background-color: #bbff00;    /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #bf0;       /* Fully opaque shorthand */ background-color: #11ffee00;  /* Fully transparent */ background-color: #1fe0;      /* Fully transparent shorthand  */ background-color: #11ffeeff;  /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #1fef;      /* Fully opaque shorthand  */  /* RGB value */ background-color: rgb(255, 255, 128);        /* Fully opaque */ background-color: rgba(117, 190, 218, 0.5);  /* 50% transparent */  /* HSL value */ background-color: hsl(50, 33%, 25%);         /* Fully opaque */ background-color: hsla(50, 33%, 25%, 0.75);  /* 75% opaque, i.e. 25% transparent */  /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent;  /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: revert; background-color: unset; 

background-color

The background-color CSS property sets the background color of an element.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */ background-color: red; background-color: indigo;  /* Hexadecimal value */ background-color: #bbff00;    /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #bf0;       /* Fully opaque shorthand */ background-color: #11ffee00;  /* Fully transparent */ background-color: #1fe0;      /* Fully transparent shorthand  */ background-color: #11ffeeff;  /* Fully opaque */ background-color: #1fef;      /* Fully opaque shorthand  */  /* RGB value */ background-color: rgb(255, 255, 128);        /* Fully opaque */ background-color: rgba(117, 190, 218, 0.5);  /* 50% transparent */  /* HSL value */ background-color: hsl(50, 33%, 25%);         /* Fully opaque */ background-color: hsla(50, 33%, 25%, 0.75);  /* 75% opaque, i.e. 25% transparent */  /* Special keyword values */ background-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent;  /* Global values */ background-color: inherit; background-color: initial; background-color: revert; background-color: unset; 

The background-color property is specified as a single <color> value.

Values

<color>

The uniform color of the background. It is rendered behind any background-image that is specified, although the color will still be visible through any transparency in the image.

Accessibility concerns

It is important to ensure that the contrast ratio between the background color and the color of the text placed over it is high enough that people experiencing low vision conditions will be able to read the content of the page.

Color contrast ratio is determined by comparing the luminance of the text and background color values. In order to meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a ratio of 4.5:1 is required for text content and 3:1 for larger text such as headings. Large text is defined as 18.66px and bold or larger, or 24px or larger.

WebAIM: Color Contrast Checker MDN Understanding WCAG, Guideline 1.4 explanations Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3 | W3C Understanding WCAG 2.0

Formal definition

Initial value	transparent
Applies to	all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inherited	no
Computed value	computed color
Animation type	a color

Formal syntax

<color>
where <color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <hwb()> | <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>? )<hwb()> = hwb( [<hue> | none] [<percentage> | none] [<percentage> | none] [ / [<alpha-value> | none] ]? )
where <alpha-value> = <number> | <percentage><hue> = <number> | <angle>

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: transparent; }  .exampletwo {   background-color: rgb(153,102,153);   color: rgb(255,255,204); }  .examplethree {   background-color: #777799;   color: #FFFFFF; } 

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 4 # background-color

See also

Multiple backgrounds The <color> data type Other color-related properties: color, border-color, outline-color, text-decoration-color, text-emphasis-color, text-shadow, caret-color, and column-rule-color Applying color to HTML elements using CSS Select your preferred language English (US)DeutschEspañolFrançais日本語한국어PolskiPortuguês (do Brasil)Русский中文 (简体)正體中文 (繁體) Change language