The HTML <header> element represents a group of introductory or navigational aids. It may contain some heading elements but also other elements like a logo, a search form, and so on.
| Content categories | Flow content, palpable content. |
|---|---|
| Permitted content | Flow content, but with no <header> or <footer> descendant. |
| Tag omission | None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory. |
| Permitted parents | Any element that accepts flow content. Note that a <header> element must not be a descendant of an <address>, <footer> or another <header> element. |
| Permitted ARIA roles | group, presentation |
| DOM interface | HTMLElement |
Usage notes
The <header> element is not sectioning content and therefore does not introduce a new section in the outline. That said, a header element is intended to usually contain the surrounding section's heading (an h1–h6 element), but this is not required.
Attributes
This element only includes the global attributes.
Example
<header> <h1>Main Page Title</h1> <img src="mdn-logo-sm.png" alt="MDN logo"> </header>
Main Page Title
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of '<header>' in that specification. |
Living Standard | |
| HTML5 The definition of '<header>' in that specification. |
Recommendation |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 5 | (Yes) | 4.0 (2.0) | 9.0 | 11.10 | 4.1 |
| Feature | Android | Edge | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 2.2 | (Yes) | 4.0 (2.0) | 9.0 | 11.0 | 5.0 |
See also
Document Tags and Contributors
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Last updated by:
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