symbols

The symbols CSS descriptor is used to specify the symbols that the specified counter system will use to construct counter representations.

Syntax

The symbols descriptor is specified as one or more <symbol>s.

Values

<symbol>

Represents a symbol used within the counter system. This must be one of the following data types:

<string>
<image> (Note: This value is "at risk" and may be removed from the specification. It is not yet implemented.)
<custom-ident>

Description

A symbol can be a string, image, or identifier. It is used within the @counter-style at-rule.

css

symbols: A B C D E;
symbols: "\24B6""\24B7""\24B8"D E;
symbols: "0" "1" "2" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9";
symbols: url("one.svg") url("two.svg") url("three.svg");
symbols: indic-numbers;

The symbols descriptor must be specified when the value of the system descriptor is cyclic, numeric, alphabetic, symbolic, or fixed. When the additive system is used, use the additive-symbols descriptor instead to specify the symbols.

While a space between quoted symbols is not required, it makes the CSS more legible. To use a quote as a symbol, either escape the quote character or enclose the character is using different quotes, such as "'".

Formal definition

Related at-rule	`@counter-style`
Initial value	`n/a (required)`
Computed value	as specified

Formal syntax

symbols = 
  <symbol>+  

<symbol> = 
  <string>        |
  <image>         |
  <custom-ident>  

<image> = 
  <url>       |
  <gradient>  

<url> = 
  url( <string> <url-modifier>* )  |
  src( <string> <url-modifier>* )

Examples

Setting counter symbols

HTML

html

<ul class="list">
  <li>One</li>
  <li>Two</li>
  <li>Three</li>
  <li>Four</li>
  <li>Five</li>
</ul>

CSS

css

@counter-style symbols-example {
  system: fixed;
  symbols: A "1" "\24B7"D E;
}

.list {
  list-style: symbols-example;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Counter Styles Level 3 # counter-style-symbols

Browser compatibility

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