<figure>: The Figure with Optional Caption element

The <figure> HTML element represents self-contained content, potentially with an optional caption, which is specified using the <figcaption> element. The figure, its caption, and its contents are referenced as a single unit.

Content categories Flow content, sectioning root, palpable content.
Permitted content A <figcaption> element, followed by flow content; or flow content followed by a <figcaption> element; or flow content.
Tag omission None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents Any element that accepts Flow content.
Implicit ARIA role figure
Permitted ARIA roles With no figcaption descendant: any, otherwise no permitted roles
DOM interface HTMLElement

Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Usage notes

  • Usually a <figure> is an image, illustration, diagram, code snippet, etc., that is referenced in the main flow of a document, but that can be moved to another part of the document or to an appendix without affecting the main flow.
  • Being a sectioning root, the outline of the content of the <figure> element is excluded from the main outline of the document.
  • A caption can be associated with the <figure> element by inserting a <figcaption> inside it (as the first or the last child). The first <figcaption> element found in the figure is presented as the figure's caption.

Examples

Images

<!-- Just an image -->
<figure>
  <img
  src="favicon-192x192.png"
  alt="The beautiful MDN logo.">
</figure>

<!-- Image with a caption -->
<figure>
  <img
  src="favicon-192x192.png"
  alt="The beautiful MDN logo.">
  <figcaption>MDN Logo</figcaption>
</figure>

Code snippets

<figure>
  <figcaption>Get browser details using <code>navigator</code>.</figcaption>
  <pre>
function NavigatorExample() {
  var txt;
  txt = "Browser CodeName: " + navigator.appCodeName + "; ";
  txt+= "Browser Name: " + navigator.appName + "; ";
  txt+= "Browser Version: " + navigator.appVersion  + "; ";
  txt+= "Cookies Enabled: " + navigator.cookieEnabled  + "; ";
  txt+= "Platform: " + navigator.platform  + "; ";
  txt+= "User-agent header: " + navigator.userAgent  + "; ";
  console.log("NavigatorExample", txt);
}
  </pre>
</figure>

Quotations

<figure>
  <figcaption><cite>Edsger Dijkstra:</cite></figcaption>
  <blockquote>If debugging is the process of removing software bugs,
  then programming must be the process of putting them in.</blockquote>
</figure>

Poems

<figure>
  <p style="white-space:pre">
Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear,
  Or like a fairy trip upon the green,
Or, like a nymph, with long dishevell'd hair,
  Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen:
Love is a spirit all compact of fire,
  Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire.</p>
  <figcaption><cite>Venus and Adonis</cite>,
    by William Shakespeare</figcaption>
</figure>

Specifications

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
figure
8
12
4
9
11
5.1
Yes
Yes
4
11
5
Yes

See also

© 2005–2021 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/figure