How can I create a round arrow with only HTML and CSS?

Question

I\'m trying to create a round directional arrow with CSS and HTML. Below are my attempts.

Attempt 1

In this I have rotated the

and

Answer 1

You could use a pseudo element to generate the triangle (using the famous border hack).

After that, you would be able to use a thick border on the actual element (with a border-radius of 50% to make it a circle). This allows you to rotate the arrow to your liking.

div {
  border: 20px solid transparent;
  border-top-color: black;
  border-left-color: black;
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: relative;
  -webkit-transform: rotate(-45deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(-45deg);
  transform: rotate(-45deg);
  margin:30px auto;
}
div:before {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  top: -20px;
  left: 80%;
  height: 0;
  width: 0;
  border-left: 30px solid black;
  border-top: 30px solid transparent;
  border-bottom: 30px solid transparent;
  -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(45deg);
  transform: rotate(45deg);
}


/*BELOW IS FOR DEMO ONLY*/

div:hover {
  -webkit-transform: rotate(315deg);
  -ms-transform: rotate(315deg);
  transform: rotate(315deg);
  transition: all 0.8s;
}
html {
  text-align:center;
  color:white;
  font-size:30px;
  height: 100%;
  background: rgb(79, 79, 79);
  /* Old browsers */
  background: -moz-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* FF3.6+ */
  background: -webkit-gradient(radial, center center, 0px, center center, 100%, color-stop(0%, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1)), color-stop(100%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1)));
  /* Chrome,Safari4+ */
  background: -webkit-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */
  background: -o-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* Opera 12+ */
  background: -ms-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* IE10+ */
  background: radial-gradient(ellipse at center, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* W3C */
  filter: progid: DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#4f4f4f', endColorstr='#222222', GradientType=1);
  /* IE6-9 fallback on horizontal gradient */
}

HOVER ME

---

If you then wanted to lengthen the arrow, you could make the bottom border visible. For example;

div {
  border: 20px solid transparent;
  border-top-color: black;
  border-left-color: black;
  border-bottom-color: black;
  height: 100px;
  width: 100px;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: relative;
  transform: rotate(-45deg);
  margin:30px auto;
}
div:before {
  content: "";
  position: absolute;
  top: -20px;
  left: 80%;
  height: 0;
  width: 0;
  border-left: 30px solid black;
  border-top: 30px solid transparent;
  border-bottom: 30px solid transparent;
  transform: rotate(45deg);
}


/*BELOW IS FOR DEMO ONLY*/

div:hover {
  transform: rotate(315deg);
  transition: all 0.8s;
}
html {
  text-align:center;
  color:white;
  font-size:30px;
  height: 100%;
  background: rgb(79, 79, 79);
  /* Old browsers */
  background: -moz-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* FF3.6+ */
  background: -webkit-gradient(radial, center center, 0px, center center, 100%, color-stop(0%, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1)), color-stop(100%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1)));
  /* Chrome,Safari4+ */
  background: -webkit-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */
  background: -o-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* Opera 12+ */
  background: -ms-radial-gradient(center, ellipse cover, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* IE10+ */
  background: radial-gradient(ellipse at center, rgba(79, 79, 79, 1) 0%, rgba(34, 34, 34, 1) 100%);
  /* W3C */
  filter: progid: DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#4f4f4f', endColorstr='#222222', GradientType=1);
  /* IE6-9 fallback on horizontal gradient */
}

HOVER ME