index.md

---

title: '<blockquote>: The Block Quotation element'
slug: Web/HTML/Element/blockquote
page-type: html-element
browser-compat: html.elements.blockquote

---

{{HTMLSidebar}}

The <blockquote> HTML element indicates that the enclosed text is an extended quotation. Usually, this is rendered visually by indentation (see Notes for how to change it). A URL for the source of the quotation may be given using the cite attribute, while a text representation of the source can be given using the {{HTMLElement("cite")}} element.

{{EmbedInteractiveExample("pages/tabbed/blockquote.html","tabbed-standard")}}

Attributes

This element's attributes include the global attributes.

• cite

  • : A URL that designates a source document or message for the information quoted. This attribute is intended to point to information explaining the context or the reference for the quote.

Usage notes

To change the indentation applied to the quoted text, use the {{Glossary("CSS")}} {{cssxref("margin-left")}} and/or {{cssxref("margin-right")}} properties, or the {{cssxref("margin")}} shorthand property.

To include shorter quotes inline rather than in a separate block, use the {{HTMLElement("q")}} (Quotation) element.

Example

This example demonstrates the use of the <blockquote> element to quote a passage from {{RFC(1149)}}, A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers.

<blockquote cite="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1149">
  <p>
    Avian carriers can provide high delay, low throughput, and low altitude
    service. The connection topology is limited to a single point-to-point path
    for each carrier, used with standard carriers, but many carriers can be used
    without significant interference with each other, outside early spring.
    This is because of the 3D ether space available to the carriers, in contrast
    to the 1D ether used by IEEE802.3. The carriers have an intrinsic collision
    avoidance system, which increases availability.
  </p>
</blockquote>

The output from this HTML snippet looks like this:

{{EmbedLiveSample("Example", 640, 180)}}

Technical summary

Content categories	Flow content, sectioning root, palpable content.
Permitted content	Flow content.
Tag omission	{{no_tag_omission}}
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts flow content.
Implicit ARIA role	No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	{{domxref("HTMLQuoteElement")}}

Specifications

{{Specifications}}

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}}

See also

• The {{HTMLElement("q")}} element for inline quotations.

• The {{HTMLElement("cite")}} element for source citations.