The fixed point that the element rotates around — mentioned above — is also known as the transform origin. This defaults to the center of the element, but you can set your own custom transform origin using the transform-origin property.

The amount of rotation created by rotate() is specified by an <angle>. If positive, the movement will be clockwise; if negative, it will be counter-clockwise. A rotation by 180° is called point reflection.

rotate(a)

a

Is an <angle> representing the angle of the rotation. The direction of rotation depends on the writing direction. In a left-to-right context, a positive angle denotes a clockwise rotation, a negative angle a counter-clockwise one. In a right-to-left context, a positive angle denotes a counter-clockwise rotation, a negative angle a clockwise one.

HTML

<div>Normal</div>
<div class="rotated">Rotated</div>

CSS

div {
  width: 80px;
  height: 80px;
  background-color: skyblue;
}

.rotated {
  transform: rotate(45deg); /* Equal to rotateZ(45deg) */
  background-color: pink;
}

Result

If you want apply multiple transformations to an element, be careful about the order in which you specify your transformations. For example, if you rotate before translating, the translation will be along the new axis of rotation!

HTML

<div>Normal</div>
<div class="rotate">Rotated</div>
<div class="rotate-translate">Rotated + Translated</div>
<div class="translate-rotate">Translated + Rotated</div>

CSS

div {
  position: absolute;
  left: 40px;
  top: 40px;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-color: lightgray;
}

.rotate {
  background-color: transparent;
  outline: 2px dashed;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
}

.rotate-translate {
  background-color: pink;
  transform: rotate(45deg) translateX(180px);
}

.translate-rotate {
  background-color: gold;
  transform: translateX(180px) rotate(45deg);
}

Result

• transform property
• rotate property
• <transform-function>
• rotate3d()