The fill attribute has two different meanings. For shapes and text it's a presentation attribute that defines the color (or any SVG paint servers like gradients or patterns) used to paint the element; for animation it defines the final state of the animation.

The SVG presentational fill attribute and the CSS fill property can be used with the following SVG elements:

• <circle>
• <ellipse>
• <path>
• <polygon>
• <polyline>
• <rect>
• <text>
• <textPath>
• <tspan>

The SVG fill attribute can be used to define the final animation state with the following SVG elements:

• <animate>
• <animateMotion>
• <animateTransform>
• <set>.

Examples

Basic color and gradient fills, and animation

<svg viewBox="0 0 300 100" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <!-- Basic color fill -->
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="40" fill="pink" />

  <!-- Fill circle with a gradient -->
  <defs>
    <radialGradient id="myGradient">
      <stop offset="0%" stop-color="pink" />
      <stop offset="100%" stop-color="black" />
    </radialGradient>
  </defs>

  <circle cx="150" cy="50" r="40" fill="url(#myGradient)" />

  <!--
  Keeping the final state of an animated circle
  which is a circle with a radius of 40.
  -->
  <circle cx="250" cy="50" r="20">
    <animate
      attributeType="XML"
      attributeName="r"
      from="0"
      to="40"
      dur="5s"
      fill="freeze" />
  </circle>
</svg>

context-fill example

In this example, we define three shapes using <path> elements, each with a different stroke and fill color set on them. We also define a <circle> element as a marker via the <marker> element. Each shape has the marker applied via the marker CSS property.

The <circle> has stroke="context-stroke" and fill="context-fill" set on it. Because it is being set as a marker in the context of the shapes, these attributes cause it to inherit the fill and stroke set on the <path> element in each case.

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 300 90">
  <style>
    path {
      stroke-width: 2px;
      marker: url("#circle");
    }
  </style>
  <path d="M 10 44.64 L 30 10 L 70 10 L 90 44.64 L 70 79.28 L 30 79.28 Z"
        stroke="red" fill="orange" />
  <path d="M 100 44.64 L 80 10 L 120 10 L 140 44.64 L 120 79.28 L 80 79.28 Z"
        stroke="green" fill="lightgreen" />
  <path d="M 150 44.64 L 130 10 L 170 10 L 190 44.64 L 170 79.28 L 130 79.28 Z"
        stroke="blue" fill="lightblue" />
  <marker id="circle" markerWidth="12" markerHeight="12"
          refX="6" refY="6" markerUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
    <circle cx="6" cy="6" r="3" stroke-width="2"
            stroke="context-stroke" fill="context-fill"  />
  </marker>
</svg>

The output is as follows:

animate

For <animate>, fill defines the final state of the animation.

animateMotion

For <animateMotion>, fill defines the final state of the animation.

animateTransform

For <animateTransform>, fill defines the final state of the animation.

circle

For <circle>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the circle.

ellipse

For <ellipse>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the ellipse.

path

For <path>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the interior of the shape. (The interior is defined by the fill-rule attribute or fill-rule property.)

polygon

For <polygon>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the interior of the shape. (The interior is defined by the fill-rule attribute or fill-rule property.)

polyline

For <polyline>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the interior of the shape. (The interior is defined by the fill-rule attribute or fill-rule property.)

rect

For <rect>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the rectangle.

set

For <set>, fill defines the final state of the animation.

text

For <text>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the text.

textPath

For <textPath>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the text.

tspan

For <tspan>, fill is a presentation attribute that defines the color of the text.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

svg.elements.animate.fill

svg.elements.animateMotion.fill

svg.elements.animateTransform.fill

svg.elements.circle.fill

svg.elements.ellipse.fill

svg.elements.path.fill

svg.elements.polygon.fill

svg.elements.polyline.fill

svg.elements.rect.fill

svg.elements.set.fill

svg.elements.text.fill

svg.elements.textPath.fill

svg.elements.tspan.fill

See also

• CSS fill property