HTML <figcaption> Tag

The <figcaption> tag is used to provide a caption when using the <figure> tag (the <figure> tag is for annotating illustrations, diagrams, photos, code listings, etc).

Syntax

The <figcaption> tag is written as <figcaption></figcaption> with the caption inserted between the start and end tags.

The <figcaption> tag is used either as the first or last child of its parent <figure> tag.

Like this:

Or this:

Examples

Basic tag usage

Here, the <figcaption> tag is placed as the first child of the <figure> element.

As Last Child of <figure> Element

You can also place the <figcaption> at the end of the <figure> element (i.e. so that it's the last child of the <figure> element).

Here, we place the <figcaption> element under the image that is the main content of the <figure> element.

Poetry/Lyrics

Poems and lyrics could also be marked up with the <figure> tag. Notice that the <cite> element is inside the <figcaption> element.

Attributes

Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.

There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.

The <figcaption> element accepts the following attributes.

Element-Specific Attributes

This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <figcaption> tag/element.

AttributeDescription
None 

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <figcaption> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handler Content Attributes

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.

Again, you can use any of these with the <figcaption> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.

Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5

The <figcaption> tag is new in HTML5.

For more detail on the element, see HTML5 <figcaption> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.

Template

Here's a template for the <figcaption> tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.

For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <figcaption> Tag.

Tag Details

For more details about the <figcaption> tag, see HTML5 <figcaption> Tag.

Specifications

Here are the official specifications for the <figcaption> element.

What's the Difference?

W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.