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COLRv1 is an OpenType color-font format that lets glyphs use layered vector artwork, including gradients and blending. CSS font-palette selects a palette supplied by a compatible color font, and @font-palette-values can define or customize one. Browser support differs—Safari and iOS Safari are listed as unsupported for COLRv1—so use a tested fallback when color glyphs matter to your design.

What COLRv1 adds to a color font

COLRv1 is an extension of the OpenType COLR table, which describes how to draw color glyphs. Earlier COLRv0 fonts use comparatively simple solid-color layers. COLRv1 adds richer vector drawing capabilities, including gradients, transformations, compositing, and blending. It can also reuse shapes, helping keep files compact while preserving crisp artwork at different sizes.

These capabilities make color glyphs useful for expressive typography and icon-like forms. They remain glyphs in a font, rather than CSS effects applied to any ordinary typeface. The font must include the color-glyph data for the browser to render those designs. A font-authoring workflow may use tools such as nanoemoji to compile artwork into color-font formats; that does not guarantee every design will translate identically or every resulting font will work in every browser.

How CSS selects or customizes a palette

A color font may include one or more palettes. The CSS font-palette property selects among them, while @font-palette-values defines a named palette and can override palette colors where the font and browser support those operations. The property affects color-font glyphs; do not expect the ordinary color property to recolor them like monochrome text.

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For example, this pattern loads a font, defines a named palette, and applies it to an element:

@font-face {
  font-family: "Example Color";
  src: url("/fonts/example-color.woff2") format("woff2");
}

@font-palette-values --brand-palette {
  font-family: "Example Color";
  /* Add supported palette overrides here. */
}

.brand-glyph {
  font-family: "Example Color", sans-serif;
  font-palette: --brand-palette;
}

Replace the example font URL and family with your actual font. A named palette can only have an effect if the loaded font has color glyphs and relevant palette data. Check the font’s palette structure and the current MDN reference for @font-palette-values before relying on a particular override or syntax detail.

Does Safari support COLRv1?

According to the Can I Use compatibility table retrieved on September 28, 2026, Safari and Safari on iOS are listed as unsupported for COLRv1 in the table’s current entries. The same table lists support beginning with Chrome 98, Edge 98, Firefox 107, Opera 86, and Samsung Internet 18, along with other browsers. These are reported version boundaries, not a guarantee for every device, embedded browser, or later release; check the current COLRv1 compatibility table and test your target browsers.

Keep two kinds of support separate: whether a browser can render COLRv1 glyphs, and whether it supports CSS palette selection. MDN describes font-palette as widely available across browsers since November 2022, while noting that some parts can vary. That does not mean every browser supports COLRv1 fonts. Chrome’s launch-era article also discussed palette support as under development at that time; that historical wording should not be used as current compatibility guidance. See the MDN font-palette reference for the property and its compatibility details.

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How to provide a fallback

Choose a fallback based on what the glyphs communicate. If they are decorative, ordinary text in a conventional font may be sufficient. If they carry meaning or function as icons, ensure the unsupported-browser rendering remains understandable and usable.

  • Include monochrome glyphs when possible. Chrome’s developer guidance says unsupported user agents can fall back to monochrome rendering if the font includes monochrome glyphs.
  • Consider an alternate font format. Chrome’s guidance describes delivering a supported COLRv1 font alongside an alternative such as COLRv0, a bitmap font, or OpenType SVG.
  • Prefer feature detection over assumptions. Use a deliberate delivery strategy for supported and unsupported environments rather than treating a single browser market-share figure as proof your audience is covered.
  • Test the actual rendering. Confirm the fallback glyph, spacing, and legibility in the browsers and devices you target.

Chrome added COLRv1 support in version 98, and its developer article explains the format’s gradients, compositing, blending, and shape reuse. That article is useful background, but its launch-era browser statements are not a current support table. See Chrome’s COLRv1 fonts guidance.

Palette contrast and font-production checks

A palette that looks good on one background may be hard to read on another. Google Fonts guidance recommends a high-contrast default palette for white and black backgrounds and ideally at least three palettes: a general-purpose default, one for dark backgrounds, and one for light backgrounds. Its guidance also recommends suitable dark-mode and light-mode flags. These are recommendations and requirements for Google Fonts’ ecosystem, not universal legal rules.

For fonts submitted to Google Fonts, the guide requires a COLR table and distinguishes static from variable fonts: a static COLRv1 font should have an equivalent SVG table, while a variable font must not have an SVG table because SVG does not support OpenType Variations. Follow the applicable foundry or distribution target’s specifications rather than treating this as a general browser requirement. See Google Fonts’ COLR font workflow guidance.

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What to evaluate before using a COLRv1 font

Assess the font in the context of the design and delivery target. The available guidance identifies these practical decision points; it does not establish comparative benchmarks for particular fonts.

  • Browser coverage and fallback quality: check the browsers your audience uses and decide what unsupported browsers should display.
  • Palette control: verify the font includes the palettes and palette data your CSS needs.
  • Contrast and legibility: inspect glyphs on the actual light and dark backgrounds where they will appear.
  • File size and loading cost: check the font’s size and how it fits your page’s loading budget; shape reuse can help compact COLRv1 files but does not establish a size for a particular font.
  • Font structure: identify whether the font is static or variable and confirm it meets the technical requirements of its intended distributor.

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