border-color

The border-color shorthand CSS property sets the color of an element's border.

Each side can be set individually using border-top-color, border-right-color, border-bottom-color, and border-left-color; or using the writing mode-aware border-block-start-color, border-block-end-color, border-inline-start-color, and border-inline-end-color.

You can find more information about border colors in Borders in Applying color to HTML elements using CSS.

Constituent properties

This property is a shorthand for the following CSS properties:

Syntax

/* <color> values */
border-color: red;

/* top and bottom | left and right */
border-color: red #f015ca;

/* top | left and right | bottom */
border-color: red rgb(240,30,50,.7) green;

/* top | right | bottom | left */
border-color: red yellow green blue;

/* Global values */
border-color: inherit;
border-color: initial;
border-color: revert;
border-color: unset;

The border-color property may be specified using one, two, three, or four values.

When one value is specified, it applies the same color to all four sides.
When two values are specified, the first color applies to the top and bottom, the second to the left and right.
When three values are specified, the first color applies to the top, the second to the left and right, the third to the bottom.
When four values are specified, the colors apply to the top, right, bottom, and left in that order (clockwise).

Values

<color>: Defines the color of the border.

Formal definition

Initial value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-top-color`: `currentcolor` `border-right-color`: `currentcolor` `border-bottom-color`: `currentcolor` `border-left-color`: `currentcolor`
Applies to	all elements. It also applies to `::first-letter`.
Inherited	no
Computed value	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: computed color `border-left-color`: computed color `border-right-color`: computed color `border-top-color`: computed color
Animation type	as each of the properties of the shorthand: `border-bottom-color`: a color `border-left-color`: a color `border-right-color`: a color `border-top-color`: a color

Formal syntax

<color>{1,4}where 
<color> = <rgb()> | <rgba()> | <hsl()> | <hsla()> | <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>? )
where 
<alpha-value> = <number> | <percentage>
<hue> = <number> | <angle>

Examples

Complete border-color usage

HTML

<div id="justone">
  <p><code>border-color: red;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: red;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="horzvert">
  <p><code>border-color: gold red;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: red;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="topvertbott">
  <p><code>border-color: red cyan gold;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: cyan;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: gold;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: cyan;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>
<div id="trbl">
  <p><code>border-color: red cyan black gold;</code> is equivalent to</p>
  <ul><li><code>border-top-color: red;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-right-color: cyan;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-bottom-color: black;</code></li>
    <li><code>border-left-color: gold;</code></li>
  </ul>
</div>

CSS

#justone {
  border-color: red;
}

#horzvert {
  border-color: gold red;
}

#topvertbott {
  border-color: red cyan gold;
}

#trbl {
  border-color: red cyan black gold;
}

/* Set width and style for all divs */
div {
  border: solid 0.3em;
  width: auto;
  margin: 0.5em;
  padding: 0.5em;
}

ul {
  margin: 0;
  list-style: none;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Logical Properties and Values Level 1 (CSS Logical Properties 1) # logical-shorthand-keyword
CSS Backgrounds and Borders Module Level 4 (CSS Backgrounds and Borders 4) # border-color

Browser compatibility

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`border-color`	1	12	1 Firefox also supports the following non-standard CSS properties to set the border sides to multiple colors: `-moz-border-top-colors`, `-moz-border-right-colors`, `-moz-border-bottom-colors`, `-moz-border-left-colors`	4	3.5	1	4	18	4 Firefox also supports the following non-standard CSS properties to set the border sides to multiple colors: `-moz-border-top-colors`, `-moz-border-right-colors`, `-moz-border-bottom-colors`, `-moz-border-left-colors`	10.1	1	1.0