CSS Border Colour Into 4 Colours

Question

Is there any way that I can have 4 different colours on one side of a border in CSS? I currently have

#header
{
border-color:#88a9eb;
}

I w

Answer 1

You can use the border-image property to create a gradient border with 4 colors. Normally gradients move gradually from one color to another and it produces a blur like effect but setting the color-stops (the percentage values) such that the end-point of one color is same as the starting point of the next color makes the colors come to a hard stop and thus end up producing block like effects.

The border can be set to the required side by changing the border-image-width and the direction of the gradient. For example, top & bottom borders would need the gradient to go from left to right while left & right borders would need the gradient to go from top to bottom.

The gradients use percentage values for the size (and color-stop) and hence they are responsive by default and can adapt automatically even if the container's dimensions change.

The only drawback to using border-image is the poor browser support for this property at present. IE10- do not support this property.

.bordered-top {
  border-image: linear-gradient(to right, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  border-image-slice: 1;
  border-image-width: 4px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.bordered-bottom {
  border-image: linear-gradient(to right, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  border-image-slice: 1;
  border-image-width: 0px 0px 4px 0px;
}
.bordered-left {
  border-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  border-image-slice: 1;
  border-image-width: 0px 0px 0px 4px;
}
.bordered-right {
  border-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  border-image-slice: 1;
  border-image-width: 0px 4px 0px 0px;
}
div {
  height: 100px;
  width: 300px;
  padding: 10px;
  background: beige;
  margin: 10px;
}

Border only on top
Border only on bottom
Border only on left
Border only on right

---

For IE10+ support, you could mimic the same behavior by using gradients for the background-image property instead of border-image like in the below snippet.

Unlike with border-image, here the side on which the border is applied cannot be controlled using the border-image-width and we have to use background-position instead to position the image at the required position.

The background-size determines the thickness of the border. For top & bottom borders, the size in x-axis should be 100% and that in y-axis is the thickness of the border. For left & right borders, the size in y-axis should be 100% and that in x-axis is the thickness of the border.

.bordered-top {
  background-image: linear-gradient(to right, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  background-size: 100% 4px;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: 0% 0%;
}
.bordered-bottom {
  background-image: linear-gradient(to right, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  background-size: 100% 4px;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: 0% 100%;
}
.bordered-left {
  background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  background-size: 4px 100%;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: 0% 0%;
}
.bordered-right {
  background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgb(139, 191, 64) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 25%, rgb(230, 27, 33) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 50%, rgb(124, 196, 236) 75%, rgb(254, 181, 17) 75%);
  background-size: 4px 100%;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  background-position: 100% 0%;
}
div {
  height: 100px;
  width: 300px;
  padding: 10px;
  background: beige;
  margin: 10px;
}

Border only on top
Border only on bottom
Border only on left
Border only on right