Flex

Quickly manage the layout, alignment, and sizing of grid columns, navigation, components, and more with a full suite of responsive flexbox utilities. For more complex implementations, custom CSS may be necessary.

Enable flex behaviors

Apply display utilities to create a flexbox container and transform direct children elements into flex items. Flex containers and items are able to be modified further with additional flex properties.

I'm a flexbox container!

<div class="display--flex p-10">I'm a flexbox container!</div>

I'm an inline flexbox container!

<div class="display--inline-flex p-10">I'm an inline flexbox container!</div>

Direction

Set the direction of flex items in a flex container with direction utilities. In most cases you can omit the horizontal class here as the browser default is row. However, you may encounter situations where you needed to explicitly set this value (like responsive layouts).

Use .flex-row to set a horizontal direction (the browser default), or .flex-row-reverse to start the horizontal direction from the opposite side.

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

<div class="display--flex flex-row m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex flex-row-reverse">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>

Use .flex-column to set a vertical direction, or .flex-column-reverse to start the vertical direction from the opposite side.

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

<div class="display--flex flex-column m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex flex-column-reverse">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for flex-direction.

.flex-row
.flex-row-reverse
.flex-column
.flex-column-reverse
.flex-sm-row
.flex-sm-row-reverse
.flex-sm-column
.flex-sm-column-reverse
.flex-md-row
.flex-md-row-reverse
.flex-md-column
.flex-md-column-reverse
.flex-lg-row
.flex-lg-row-reverse
.flex-lg-column
.flex-lg-column-reverse
.flex-xl-row
.flex-xl-row-reverse
.flex-xl-column
.flex-xl-column-reverse

Justify content

Use justify-content utilities on flexbox containers to change the alignment of flex items on the main axis (the x-axis to start, y-axis if flex-direction: column). Choose from start (browser default), end, center, between, around, or evenly.

justify

content

start

justify

content

end

justify

content

center

justify

content

between

justify

content

around

justify

content

evenly

<div class="display--flex justify-content-start m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">start</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex justify-content-end m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">end</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex justify-content-center m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">center</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex justify-content-between m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">between</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex justify-content-around m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">around</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex justify-content-evenly m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">justify</div>
  <div class="p-10">content</div>
  <div class="p-10">evenly</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for justify-content.

.justify-content-start
.justify-content-end
.justify-content-center
.justify-content-between
.justify-content-around
.justify-content-evenly
.justify-content-sm-start
.justify-content-sm-end
.justify-content-sm-center
.justify-content-sm-between
.justify-content-sm-around
.justify-content-sm-evenly
.justify-content-md-start
.justify-content-md-end
.justify-content-md-center
.justify-content-md-between
.justify-content-md-around
.justify-content-md-evenly
.justify-content-lg-start
.justify-content-lg-end
.justify-content-lg-center
.justify-content-lg-between
.justify-content-lg-around
.justify-content-lg-evenly
.justify-content-xl-start
.justify-content-xl-end
.justify-content-xl-center
.justify-content-xl-between
.justify-content-xl-around
.justify-content-xl-evenly

Align items

Use align-items utilities on flexbox containers to change the alignment of flex items on the cross axis (the y-axis to start, x-axis if flex-direction: column). Choose from start, end, center, baseline, or stretch (browser default).

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

<div class="display--flex align-items-start m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex align-items-end m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex align-items-center m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex align-items-baseline m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex align-items-stretch m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for align-items.

.align-items-start
.align-items-end
.align-items-center
.align-items-baseline
.align-items-stretch
.align-items-sm-start
.align-items-sm-end
.align-items-sm-center
.align-items-sm-baseline
.align-items-sm-stretch
.align-items-md-start
.align-items-md-end
.align-items-md-center
.align-items-md-baseline
.align-items-md-stretch
.align-items-lg-start
.align-items-lg-end
.align-items-lg-center
.align-items-lg-baseline
.align-items-lg-stretch
.align-items-xl-start
.align-items-xl-end
.align-items-xl-center
.align-items-xl-baseline
.align-items-xl-stretch

Use align-self utilities on flexbox items to individually change their alignment on the cross axis (the y-axis to start, x-axis if flex-direction: column). Choose from the same options as align-items: start, end, center, baseline, or stretch (browser default).

Flex item

Aligned flex item

Flex item

Aligned flex item

Flex item

Aligned flex item

Flex item

Aligned flex item

Flex item

Aligned flex item

Flex item

<div class="display--flex m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="align-self-start p-10">Aligned flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="align-self-end p-10">Aligned flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="align-self-center p-10">Aligned flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex m-b-15" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="align-self-baseline p-10">Aligned flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex" style="height: 100px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="align-self-stretch p-10">Aligned flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for align-self.

.align-self-start
.align-self-end
.align-self-center
.align-self-baseline
.align-self-stretch
.align-self-sm-start
.align-self-sm-end
.align-self-sm-center
.align-self-sm-baseline
.align-self-sm-stretch
.align-self-md-start
.align-self-md-end
.align-self-md-center
.align-self-md-baseline
.align-self-md-stretch
.align-self-lg-start
.align-self-lg-end
.align-self-lg-center
.align-self-lg-baseline
.align-self-lg-stretch
.align-self-xl-start
.align-self-xl-end
.align-self-xl-center
.align-self-xl-baseline
.align-self-xl-stretch

Fill

Use the .flex-fill class on a series of sibling elements to force them into widths equal to their content (or equal widths if their content does not surpass their border-boxes) while taking up all available horizontal space.

Flex item with a lot of content

Flex item

<div class="display--flex">
  <div class="p-10 flex-fill">Flex item with a lot of content</div>
  <div class="p-10 flex-fill">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10 flex-fill">Flex item</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for flex-fill.

.flex-fill
.flex-sm-fill
.flex-md-fill
.flex-lg-fill
.flex-xl-fill

Grow and shrink

Use .flex-grow-* utilities to toggle a flex item's ability to grow to fill available space. In the example below, the .flex-grow-1 elements uses all available space it can, while allowing the remaining two flex items their necessary space.

Flex item

Third flex item

<div class="display--flex">
  <div class="p-10 flex-grow-1">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Third flex item</div>
</div>

Use .flex-shrink-* utilities to toggle a flex item's ability to shrink if necessary. In the example below, the second flex item with .flex-shrink-1 is forced to wrap its contents to a new line, "shrinking" to allow more space for the previous flex item with .w-full.

Flex item

<div class="display--flex">
  <div class="p-10 w-full">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10 flex-shrink-1">Flex item</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for flex-grow and flex-shrink.

.flex-{grow|shrink}-0
.flex-{grow|shrink}-1
.flex-sm-{grow|shrink}-0
.flex-sm-{grow|shrink}-1
.flex-md-{grow|shrink}-0
.flex-md-{grow|shrink}-1
.flex-lg-{grow|shrink}-0
.flex-lg-{grow|shrink}-1
.flex-xl-{grow|shrink}-0
.flex-xl-{grow|shrink}-1

Auto margins

Flexbox can do some pretty awesome things when you mix flex alignments with auto margins. Shown below are three examples of controlling flex items via auto margins: default (no auto margin), pushing two items to the right (.me-auto), and pushing two items to the left (.ms-auto).

Flex item

<div class="display--flex m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10" style="margin-right: auto">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex m-b-15">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10" style="margin-left: auto">Flex item</div>
</div>

With align-items

Vertically move one flex item to the top or bottom of a container by mixing align-items, flex-direction: column, and margin-top: auto or margin-bottom: auto.

Flex item

<div class="display--flex align-items-start flex-column m-b-15" style="height: 200px;">
  <div class="p-10" style="margin-bottom: auto">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>
<div class="display--flex align-items-end flex-column m-b-15" style="height: 200px;">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10" style="margin-top: auto">Flex item</div>
</div>

Wrap

Change how flex items wrap in a flex container. Choose from no wrapping at all (the browser default) with .flex-nowrap, wrapping with .flex-wrap, or reverse wrapping with .flex-wrap-reverse.

Flex item

<div class="display--flex flex-nowrap" style="width: 8rem;">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 4

Flex item 5

Flex item 6

Flex item 7

Flex item 8

Flex item 9

Flex item 10

Flex item 11

Flex item 12

Flex item 13

Flex item 14

<div class="display--flex flex-wrap">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 4</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 5</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 6</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 7</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 8</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 9</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 10</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 11</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 12</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 13</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 14</div>
</div>

Flex item 1

Flex item 2

Flex item 3

Flex item 4

Flex item 5

Flex item 6

Flex item 7

Flex item 8

Flex item 9

Flex item 10

Flex item 11

Flex item 12

Flex item 13

Flex item 14

<div class="display--flex flex-wrap-reverse">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 1</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 2</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 3</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 4</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 5</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 6</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 7</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 8</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 9</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 10</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 11</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 12</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 13</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item 14</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for flex-wrap.

.flex-nowrap
.flex-wrap
.flex-wrap-reverse
.flex-sm-nowrap
.flex-sm-wrap
.flex-sm-wrap-reverse
.flex-md-nowrap
.flex-md-wrap
.flex-md-wrap-reverse
.flex-lg-nowrap
.flex-lg-wrap
.flex-lg-wrap-reverse
.flex-xl-nowrap
.flex-xl-wrap
.flex-xl-wrap-reverse

Order

Change the visual order of specific flex items with a handful of order utilities. We only provide options for making an item first or last, as well as a reset to use the DOM order. As order takes any integer value from 0 to 5, add custom CSS for any additional values needed.

First flex item

Second flex item

Third flex item

<div class="display--flex flex-nowrap">
  <div class="order-3 p-10">First flex item</div>
  <div class="order-2 p-10">Second flex item</div>
  <div class="order-1 p-10">Third flex item</div>
</div>

Responsive variations also exist for order.

.order-0
.order-1
.order-2
.order-3
.order-4
.order-5
.order-sm-0
.order-sm-1
.order-sm-2
.order-sm-3
.order-sm-4
.order-sm-5
.order-md-0
.order-md-1
.order-md-2
.order-md-3
.order-md-4
.order-md-5
.order-lg-0
.order-lg-1
.order-lg-2
.order-lg-3
.order-lg-4
.order-lg-5
.order-xl-0
.order-xl-1
.order-xl-2
.order-xl-3
.order-xl-4
.order-xl-5

Additionally there are also responsive .order-first and .order-last classes that change the order of an element by applying order: -1 and order: 6, respectively.

.order-first
.order-last
.order-sm-first
.order-sm-last
.order-md-first
.order-md-last
.order-lg-first
.order-lg-last
.order-xl-first
.order-xl-last

Align content

Use align-content utilities on flexbox containers to align flex items together on the cross axis. Choose from start (browser default), end, center, between, around, or stretch. To demonstrate these utilities, we've enforced flex-wrap: wrap and increased the number of flex items.

Heads up! This property has no effect on single rows of flex items.

Flex item

<div class="display--flex align-content-start flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>

Flex item

<div class="display--flex align-content-end flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
</div>

Flex item

  <div class="display--flex align-content-center flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  </div>

Flex item

  <div class="display--flex align-content-between flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  </div>

Flex item

  <div class="display--flex align-content-around flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  </div>

Flex item

  <div class="display--flex align-content-stretch flex-wrap m-b-15" style="height: 200px">
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
    <div class="p-10">Flex item</div>
  </div>

Responsive variations also exist for align-content.

.align-content-start
.align-content-end
.align-content-center
.align-content-between
.align-content-around
.align-content-stretch
.align-content-sm-start
.align-content-sm-end
.align-content-sm-center
.align-content-sm-between
.align-content-sm-around
.align-content-sm-stretch
.align-content-md-start
.align-content-md-end
.align-content-md-center
.align-content-md-between
.align-content-md-around
.align-content-md-stretch
.align-content-lg-start
.align-content-lg-end
.align-content-lg-center
.align-content-lg-between
.align-content-lg-around
.align-content-lg-stretch
.align-content-xl-start
.align-content-xl-end
.align-content-xl-center
.align-content-xl-between
.align-content-xl-around
.align-content-xl-stretch

Media object

Replicate the media object component in no time with a few flex utilities that allow even more flexibility and customization than before.

This is some content from a media component. You can replace this with any content and adjust it as needed.

<div class="display--flex">
  <div class="flex-shrink-0">
    <svg class="sg-placeholder-img" width="100" height="100" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" role="img" aria-label="Placeholder: Image" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid slice" focusable="false"><title>Placeholder</title><rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#e5e5e5"></rect><text x="50%" y="50%" fill="#999" dy=".3em">Image</text></svg>
  </div>
  <div class="flex-grow-1 m-l-15">
    This is some content from a media component. You can replace this with any content and adjust it as needed.
  </div>
</div>

And say you want to vertically center the content next to the image:

This is some content from a media component. You can replace this with any content and adjust it as needed.

<div class="display--flex align-items-center">
  <div class="flex-shrink-0">
    <svg class="sg-placeholder-img" width="100" height="100" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" role="img" aria-label="Placeholder: Image" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid slice" focusable="false"><title>Placeholder</title><rect width="100%" height="100%" fill="#e5e5e5"></rect><text x="50%" y="50%" fill="#999" dy=".3em">Image</text></svg>
  </div>
  <div class="flex-grow-1 m-l-15">
    This is some content from a media component. You can replace this with any content and adjust it as needed.
  </div>
</div>

From WUI and

with

WUI is wescale’s design system