Customizing Icons

Font Awesome icons can be customized even further using your own CSS. We've even added CSS Custom Properties to our style toolkit options.

# Customize with CSS Custom Properties

Our styling toolkit provides a lot of utility including the ability to size, rotate, stack, and animate icons. Using the CSS custom properties below, we've added easy ways to customize aspects of our styling toolkit's features.

CSS Custom Property Details Accepted Values
--fa-style-family Set Font Awesome icon family "Font Awesome 6 Free"
"Font Awesome 6 Pro"
"Font Awesome 6 Duotone"
"Font Awesome 6 Brands"
--fa-style Set Font Awesome icon style Any valid Font Awesome style weight
--fa-color Set color of an icon Any valid CSS color value
--fa-display Set display of an icon Any valid CSS display value
--fa-inverse Set color of an inverted icon Any valid CSS color value


Icons in a List
--fa-li-margin Set margin around icon Any valid CSS margin value
--fa-li-width Set width of icon Any valid CSS width value


Rotating Icons
--fa-rotate-angle Set rotation angle of.fa-rotate-by Any valid CSS transform rotate value


Animating Icons
--fa-spin-duration Set duration for animation Any valid CSS animation-duration value
--fa-spin-iteration-count Set number of iterations for animation Any valid CSS animation-iteration-count value
--fa-spin-timing Set how the animation progresses through frames Any valid CSS animation-timing-function value


Bordered Icons
--fa-border-color Set border color Any valid CSS border-color value
--fa-border-padding Set padding around icon Any valid CSS padding value
--fa-border-radius Set border radius Any valid CSS border-radius value
--fa-border-style Set border style Any valid CSS border-style value
--fa-border-width Set border width Any valid CSS border-width value


Pulled Icons
--fa-pull-margin Set margin around icon Any valid CSS margin value


Stacking Icons
--fa-stack-z-index Set z-index of a stacked icon Any valid CSS z-index value
--fa-inverse Set color of an inverted stacked icon Any valid CSS color value


Duotone Icons
--fa-primary-color Set primary layer color Any valid CSS color value
--fa-primary-opacity Set primary layer opacity 0 1.0
--fa-secondary-color Set secondary layer color Any valid CSS color value
--fa-secondary-opacity Set secondary layer opacity 0 1.0


Layering Text and Counters
--fa-counter-background-color Set fa-layers-counter's background color Any valid CSS color value
--fa-counter-border-radius Set fa-layers-counter's border radius Any valid CSS border-radius value
--fa-counter-line-height Set fa-layers-counter's line-height Any valid CSS line-height value
--fa-counter-max-width Set fa-layers-counter's max-width Any valid CSS width value
--fa-counter-min-width Set fa-layers-counter's min-width Any valid CSS width value
--fa-counter-padding Set fa-layers-counter's padding Any valid CSS padding value
--fa-counter-scale Set how much fa-layers-counter is scaled up/down Any valid CSS transform scale value
--fa-top Set top offset of .fa-layers-top-left or layers-top-right Any valid CSS top value
--fa-right Set right offset of .fa-layers-top-right or layers-bottom-right Any valid CSS right value
--fa-bottom Set bottom offset of .fa-layers-bottom-left or layers-bottom-right Any valid CSS bottom value
--fa-left Set left offset of .fa-layers-top-left or layers-bottom-left Any valid CSS left value
--fa-inverse Set color of an inverted stacked icon Any valid CSS color value

# Using Custom Properties in a Project

CSS custom properties are still a pretty new thing for most folks. Here are some ways you can define them within your project…

# Setting Properties with CSS :root

You can define custom properties at CSS :root pseudo-class level. This will make any icons that use a styling toolkit's feature inherit the properties by default.

  <!-- by default, everything will be in V6's regular style and in the holiday spirit -->
  <style>
    :root {
      --fa-style-family: "Font Awesome 6 Pro";
      --fa-style: 400;
      --fa-border-color: red;
      --fa-primary-color: green;
      --fa-secondary-color: red;
    }
  </style>

# Setting Properties with Project-Based CSS Rules

You can also set custom properties inside of your project's CSS, in the <head> of a page or in a separate stylesheet. These properties will be scoped to just elements that match the selector of the rule you've included them in.

  <style>
    /* setting a decorative icon dropcap before a block of text */
    .ye-olde-icon-dropcap {
      --fa-border-color: WhiteSmoke;
      --fa-border-padding: 2em;
      --fa-border-radius: 0.25em;
      --fa-pull-margin: 2em;

      font-size: 8em;
    }
    
    /* playing DJ with fa-record-vinyl */
    .track-quick-spin {
      --fa-spin-duration: 0.25s;
      --fa-spin-iteration-count: 1;
      --fa-spin-timing: ease-out;
    }

    .track-vocals {
      --fa-spin-duration: 10s;
      --fa-spin-timing: ease-in-out;
      --fa-spin-iteration-count: 2;
    }

    .track-dope-hook {
      --fa-spin-duration: 10s;
      --fa-spin-iteration-count: 10;
    }

    /* Mo' Malfoy! Mo' Malfoy! Mo' Malfoy! */
    .theme-slytherin {
      --fa-primary-color: darkgreen;
      --fa-secondary-color: silver;
    }
  </style>

# Setting Properties with Inline Styles

Many of the examples in these docs define CSS custom properties using inline styling by adding a style attribute to an element. This is best for one-offs or very custom colored/styled duotone icons that you won't need to change at a system level.

  <!-- rotating an icon -->
  <i class="fa-solid fa-bomb fa-rotate-by" style="--fa-rotate-angle: 45deg;"></i>
  
   <!-- using inline styles to define duotone icon custom properties -->
  <i class="fa-duotone  fa-crow" style="--fa-primary-color: dodgerblue; --fa-secondary-color: gold;"></i>

Be careful of specificity and cascade!

CSS Custom properties that are redefined will trump each other. Defining a property in :root {} and then defining the same property in a rule or inline will result in the :root style being overridden.


# Add Your Own Custom Styling with CSS

You can also add your own custom styling to Font Awesome icons by adding your own CSS rules in your project's code. Everything you can normally control with CSS is up for grabs - from color to display to alignment. We recommend targeting icons in your CSS in couple of different ways.

Styling Case Recommended Selector
Custom styling all icons Add a consistent custom class to all icons (e.g. .icon, .[projectprefix]-icon, or .fa-icon)

You can also use style-classes for the in-use icon styles
.fa-solid { ... }
.fa-regular { ... }
.fa-light { ... }
.fa-thin { ... }
.fa-duotone { ... }
.fa-brands { ... }
Custom styling a specific icon Use the individual icon name, prefixed with .fa-
.fa-user { ... }
.fa-font-awesome { ... }

Here's a quick example of using those selectors to add custom color to Font Awesome icons:

  <head>
    <!-- reference your copy Font Awesome here (from our CDN or by hosting yourself) -->
    <link href="/your-path-to-fontawesome/css/fontawesome.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="/your-path-to-fontawesome/css/brands.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="/your-path-to-fontawesome/css/solid.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <style>
      /* custom styling for all icons */
      .live-example .fa-solid,
      .live-example .fa-brands {
        background-color: papayawhip;
        border-radius: .2em;
        padding: .3em;
      }

      /* custom styling for specific icons */
      .fa-fish {
        color: salmon;
      }

      .fa-frog {
        color: green;
      }

      .fa-user-ninja.vanished {
        opacity: 0.2;
      }

      .fa-facebook {
        color: rgb(59, 91, 152);
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <i class="fa-solid fa-fish"></i>
    <i class="fa-solid fa-frog"></i>
    <i class="fa-solid fa-user-ninja vanished"></i>
    <i class="fa-brands fa-facebook"></i>
  </body>

Writing Custom CSS with our SVG + JS framework

When using our SVG framework, remember that Font Awesome-based <i> DOM elements are replaced with new <svg> elements by default. Be sure that your CSS rules target the right elements.

Something on your mind? We're all ears!

New icons just what you wanted? New thin style all that? Docs missing something key? Drop us a line and tell us all the good, bad and the ugly so we can make it even more awesome.

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