Ready to reference icons? Here's a primer on Font Awesome icon naming and how to import from icon content packages.
Referencing Icons
We recommend referencing icons in your HTML with a dedicated element you'll use only for icons. We find the <i>
tag perfect for the job. That element will contain: 1) Font Awesome specific style prefix (e.g. fa-solid
), and 2) the icon's name (prefixed with fa-
) you want to display.
<!-- solid style of the question circle icon -->
<i class="fa-solid fa-question-circle"></i>
<!-- regular style of the question circle icon -->
<i class="fa-regular fa-question-circle"></i>
<!-- facebook brand icon-->
<i class="fa-brands fa-facebook"></i>
<!-- facebook "f" brand icon-->
<i class="fa-brands fa-facebook-f"></i>
<!-- solid style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-solid fa-computer-classic"></i>
<!-- regular style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-regular fa-computer-classic"></i>
<!-- light style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-light fa-computer-classic"></i>
<!-- thin style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-thin fa-computer-classic"></i>
<!-- duotone style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-duotone fa-computer-classic"></i>
<!-- sharp solid style of the computer classic icon -->
<i class="fa-sharp fa-solid fa-computer-classic"></i>
Font Awesome 6 includes 3 different families (Classic, Sharp, and Brands) as well as 5 different styles (Solid, Regular, Light, Duotone, and Thin). Here's a breakdown of how to access and use each.
Style | Code | Example | Availability |
---|---|---|---|
Solid | <i class="fa-solid fa-flag"></i> | Free | |
Brands | <i class="fa-brands fa-font-awesome"></i> | Free | |
Regular | <i class="fa-regular fa-flag"></i> | Pro only | |
Light | <i class="fa-light fa-flag"></i> | Pro only | |
Thin | <i class="fa-thin fa-flag"></i> | Pro only | |
Duotone | <i class="fa-duotone fa-flag"></i> | Pro only | |
Sharp Solid | <i class="fa-sharp fa-solid fa-font-awesome"></i> | Pro only |
Icon content "encoded" in JavaScript packages
The first version of Font Awesome used web fonts to encode icon data into a container the browser could use. In Version 5, we added support for SVG which lets us do some fun things with icon data.
Scalable Vector Graphics (opens new window) (SVGs) are made up of text information that can include paths (opens new window). We use the path data to draw the icons.
Here's an example from our code
icon:
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 576 512" height="72px">
<path d="M228.5 511.8l-25-7.1c-3.2-.9-5-4.2-4.1-7.4L340.1 4.4c.9-3.2 4.2-5 7.4-4.1l25 7.1c3.2.9 5 4.2 4.1 7.4L235.9 507.6c-.9 3.2-4.3 5.1-7.4 4.2zm-75.6-125.3l18.5-20.9c1.9-2.1 1.6-5.3-.5-7.1L49.9 256l121-102.5c2.1-1.8 2.4-5 .5-7.1l-18.5-20.9c-1.8-2.1-5-2.3-7.1-.4L1.7 252.3c-2.3 2-2.3 5.5 0 7.5L145.8 387c2.1 1.8 5.3 1.6 7.1-.5zm277.3.4l144.1-127.2c2.3-2 2.3-5.5 0-7.5L430.2 125.1c-2.1-1.8-5.2-1.6-7.1.4l-18.5 20.9c-1.9 2.1-1.6 5.3.5 7.1l121 102.5-121 102.5c-2.1 1.8-2.4 5-.5 7.1l18.5 20.9c1.8 2.1 5 2.3 7.1.4z"/></svg>
Since it's just text, we can easily store this information in JavaScript files. This can be easier to deal with in some projects versus web font files and CSS.
Package names
Icon content packages are segmented by license and style:
Package name | Style | Prefix | Example | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons | Solid | fa-solid | Free | |
@fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons | Regular | fa-regular | Free | |
@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons | Brands | fa-brands | Free | |
@fortawesome/pro-solid-svg-icons | Solid | fa-solid | Pro only | |
@fortawesome/pro-regular-svg-icons | Regular | fa-regular | Pro only | |
@fortawesome/pro-light-svg-icons | Light | fa-light | Pro only | |
@fortawesome/pro-thin-svg-icons | Thin | fa-thin | Pro only | |
@fortawesome/pro-duotone-svg-icons | Duotone | fa-duotone | Pro only | |
@fortawesome/sharp-solid-svg-icons | Sharp Solid | fa-sharp fa-solid | Pro only |
Pro packages requires some extra configuration to allow NPM to install.
Icon names
JavaScript naming doesn't use hyphens; it uses lower camel case (opens new window). So here are some basic examples of
how imports
and requires
work.
Icon name | Version 4 name | Lower camel case | Notes on usage |
---|---|---|---|
address-book | fa-address-book | faAddressBook | The "B" is captialized after the hyphen |
facebook-f | fa-facebook | faFacebookF | It's in the Brands style and this was renamed to facebook-f |
circle | fa-circle-o | faCircle | Outline versions of icons are now in the Regular and Light styles |
freebsd | fa-freebsd | faFreebsd | OCD-warning: we know it's FreeBSD but consistency/guessability is the goal here |
Importing these specific icons:
import { faAddressBook } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons'
import { faCircle } from '@fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons'
import { faFacebookF } from '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons'
import { faFreebsd } from '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons'
import { faSword } from '@fortawesome/pro-solid-svg-icons'
import { faAxe } from '@fortawesome/pro-regular-svg-icons'
import { faBowArrow } from '@fortawesome/pro-light-svg-icons'
import { faHelmetBattle } from '@fortawesome/pro-thin-svg-icons'
import { faShieldCross } from '@fortawesome/pro-duotone-svg-icons'
import { faFaceHeadBandage } from '@fortawesome/sharp-solid-svg-icons'
Import all icons by using the prefix:
import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core'
import { fas } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons'
import { far } from '@fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons'
import { fab } from '@fortawesome/free-brands-svg-icons'
<!-- Add all icons to the library so you can use it in your page -->
library.add(fas, far, fab)
import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core'
import { fas } from '@fortawesome/pro-solid-svg-icons'
import { far } from '@fortawesome/pro-regular-svg-icons'
import { fal } from '@fortawesome/pro-light-svg-icons'
import { fat } from '@fortawesome/pro-thin-svg-icons'
import { fad } from '@fortawesome/pro-duotone-svg-icons'
import { fass } from '@fortawesome/sharp-solid-svg-icons'
<!-- Add all icons to the library so you can use it in your page -->
library.add(fas, far, fal, fat, fad, fass)
To import the same icon from different styles:
import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core'
import { faCircle as fasFaCircle } from '@fortawesome/free-solid-svg-icons' // ES Module "as" syntax
import { faCircle as farFaCircle } from '@fortawesome/free-regular-svg-icons'
library.add(fasFaCircle, farFaCircle)
import { library } from '@fortawesome/fontawesome-svg-core'
import { faTruck as fasTruck } from '@fortawesome/pro-solid-svg-icons'
import { faTruck as farTruck } from '@fortawesome/pro-regular-svg-icons'
import { faTruck as falTruck } from '@fortawesome/pro-light-svg-icons'
import { faTruck as fatTruck } from '@fortawesome/pro-thin-svg-icons'
import { faTruck as fadTruck } from '@fortawesome/pro-duotone-svg-icons'
import { faTruck as fassTruck } from '@fortawesome/sharp-solid-svg-icons'
library.add(fasTruck, farTruck, falTruck, fatTruck, fadTruck, fassTruck)