HTML5 Tags

Common tags

Following are the tags that are generally known by all and may have even worked with them:

TagsDescription
<!--....-->It specifies a comment.
<!DOCTYPE>It specifies the type of document.
<body>It specifies the body element.
<button>It specifies a push button.
<br>It inserts a single break line.
<col>It specifies the attributes for the table columns.
<div>It specifies a section in a document.
<b>It specifies the text in bold.
<i>It specifies the text in italics.
<small>It specifies the small text.
<form>It specifies a form.
<head>It specifies information about the document.
<h1> to  <h6>It specifies the header 1 to header 6.
<html>It specifies an HTML document.
<img>It specifies an image.
<label>It specifies a label for a form control.
<link>It specifies a resource reference.
<li>It specifies a list item.
<ol>It specifies an ordered list.
<p>It specifies a paragraph.
<strong>It specifies the strong text.
<select>It specifies a selectable list.
<span>It specifies a section in a document.
<style>It specifies a style definition.
<sub>It specifies the subscripted text.
<sup>It specifies the superscripted text.
<title>It specifies the document title.

Standard tags

Following are the standard tags which are available in HTML5:

TagsDescription
<abbr>It specifies an abbreviation.
<a>It specifies an anchor.
<address>It specifies an address element.
<area>It specifies an area inside an image map.
<base>It specifies the base URL for all the links in a page.
<bdo>It specifies the direction of a text display.
<blink>It specifies a text which blinks.
<bgsound>It specifies the background music.
<blockquote>It specifies a long quotation.
<caption>It specifies a table caption.
<colgroup>It specifies the groups of the table columns.
<comment>It puts a comment in the document.
<dd>It specifies a definition description.
<del>It specifies the deleted text.
<dir>It specifies a list of directory.
<dt>It specifies a definition term.
<dl>It specifies a definition list.
<fieldset>It specifies a fieldset.
<hr>It specifies a horizontal line.
<iframe>It specifies an inline sub window(frame).
<ilayer>It specifies an inline layer.
<ins>It specifies the inserted text.
<input>It specifies the input field.
<keygen>It generates key information in a form.
<layer>It specifies a layer.
<legend>It specifies a title in a fieldset.
<map>It specifies an image map.
<marquee>It helps in creating a scrolling-text marquee.
<meta>It specifies the meta information.
<multicol>It specifies a multicolumn text flow.
<nobr>No breaks are allowed in the enclosed text.
<noembed>It specifies a content to be presented by the browsers that do not support the <embed> tag.
<noscript>It specifies a noscript section.
<object>It specifies an embedded object.
<option>It specifies an option in a drop-down list.
<optgroup>It specifies an option group.
<param>It specifies a parameter for an object.
<code>It specifies the computer code text.
<cite>It specifies a citation.
<em>It specifies the emphasized text.
<dfn>It specifies a definition term.
<kbd>It specifies the keyboard text.
<samp>It specifies the sample computer code.
<var>It specifies a variable.
<pre>It specifies preformatted text.
<q>It specifies a short quotation.
<spacer>It specifies the white spaces.
<table>It specifies a table.
<td>It specifies a table cell.
<tbody>It specifies a table body.
<textarea>It specifies a text area.
<th>It specifies a table header.
<tfoot>It specifies a table footer.
<thead>It specifies the table header.
<tr>It specifies a table row.
<ul>It specifies an unordered list.
<wbr>It indicates a potential work break point within a <nobr> section.

New Tags

HTML5 has some additional new tags as follows:

TagsDescription
<aside>It is a new tag which specifies a piece of content that is only slightly related to the rest of the page.
<article>It is a new tag which specifies an independent piece of content of a document such as the blog entry or a newspaper article.
<audio>It is a new tag which specifies an audio file.
<canvas>It is a new tag which is used for rendering dynamic bitmap graphics on the fly such as graphs or games.
<command>It is a new tag which specifies a command which can be invoked by the user.
<datalist>It is a new tag which is used together with a new list attribute for input used to make combo boxes.
<details>It is a new tag which specifies the additional information or controls which the user can obtain or demand.
<embed>It defines external interactive content or plugin.
<figure>It is a new tag which specifies a piece of self-contained flow content, typically referred to as a single unit from the main flow of the document.
<footer>It is a new tag which specifies a footer for a section and can contain information about their author, copyright information etc.
<header>It is a new tag which specifies a group of introductory or navigational aids.
<hgroup>It is a new tag which specifies the header of a section.
<keygen>It is a new tag which specifies the control for key pair generation.
<mark>It is a new tag which specifies a run of text in one document marked or highlighted for reference purpose due to it relevance to another context.
<meter>It specifies a measurement such as the usage of disk.
<nav>It specifies a section of a document which is intended for navigation.
<output>It is a new tag which specifies some type of output.
For example: A calculation done through scripting.
<progress>It specifies a completion of a task. For example: downloading a page.
<ruby>It allows for marking ruby annotations with  <rt> and  <rp> tags together.
<section>It represents a generic document or application section.
<time>It is a new tag which specifies date and/or time.
<video>It is a new tag which specifies a video file.
<wbr>It is a new tag which specifies a line break opportunity.

Deprecated tags

HTML5 has provided some deprecated tags which are more flexible than the older ones. They are used as alternatives to the older tags.

TagsDescription
<acronym>It specifies an acronym.
<applet>It specifies an applet.
<basefront>It specifies a base front.
<center>It specifies the center alignment for the text.
<big>It specifies the big text.
<tt>It specifies the teletype text.
<font>It specifies the font, size and color of the text.
<frame>It specifies a sub window (frame).
<frameset>It specifies a set of frames.
<isindex>It specifies a single-line input field.
<menu>It specifies a menu list.
<noframes>It specifies a noframe section.
<plaintext>It renders the remainder of the document as the preformatted plain text.
<s> /  <strike>It specifies the strikethrough text.
<u>It specifies the underlined text.
<xmp>It specifies the preformatted text.