lang

The lang attribute specifies the primary language used in contents and attributes containing text content of particular elements.

There is also an xml:lang attribute (with namespace). If both of them are defined, the one with namespace is used and the one without is ignored.

In SVG 1.1 there was a lang attribute defined with a different meaning and only applying to <glyph> elements. That attribute specified a list of languages in BCP 47 format. The glyph was meant to be used if the xml:lang attribute exactly matched one of the languages given in the value of this parameter, or if the xml:lang attribute exactly equaled a prefix of one of the languages given in the value of this parameter such that the first tag character following the prefix was "-".

All elements are using this attribute.

<svg viewBox="0 0 200 100" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <text lang="en-US">This is some English text</text>
</svg>

Usage notes

Value <language-tag>
Default value None
Animatable No
<language-tag>

This value specifies the language used for the element. The syntax of this value is defined in the BCP 47 specification.

The most common syntax is a value formed by a lowercase two-character part for the language and an uppercase two-character part for the region or country, separated by a minus sign, e.g. en-US for US English or de-AT for Austrian German.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2
The definition of 'lang' in that specification.
Candidate Recommendation Made the lang attribute (without namespace) available on all elements and defined the interaction between both.
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 (Second Edition)
The definition of 'lang' in that specification.
Recommendation Deprecated definition of the attribute for <glyph> elements

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
langChrome ? Edge ? Firefox ? IE ? Opera ? Safari ? WebView Android ? Chrome Android ? Firefox Android ? Opera Android ? Safari iOS ? Samsung Internet Android ?

Legend

Compatibility unknown
Compatibility unknown

See also