Why big tag is not in HTML5 while small tag exists?


In HTML 4, the <big> and <small> tags were included, but in HTML 5, only the <small> tag exists as the <big> tag is removed by developers.

Why <small> tag exists but not <big> tag in the HTML 5

The <big> tag was useful to make the font size bigger than the normal fonts. For example, if the default font size in the browser is small, the big tag makes it medium.

The <small> tag is used to make a font size smaller than the normal fonts. If the default font size is medium in the browser, the small tag makes it small.

Basically, the <small> tag is used to make a footnote or add text to the footer, but there were no specific uses for the <big> tag. So, it is removed from HTML 5. Users can use the <h1>, <h2>, etc., to make fonts bigger according to the requirements.

Syntax to use the <small> tag

Users can follow the syntax below to use the <small> tag in HTML 5.

<small> content </small>

Example 1 (Using the <small> tag)

In the example below, we have used the <small> HTML tag to make a font smaller than the default fonts. In the output, users can observe the normal font size and the size of the fonts added in the <small> tag.

<html>
<body>
   <h2> Using the <i> small tag </i> in HTML 5 </h2>
   <!-- use of <big> tag -->
   <small> Welcome to the TutorialsPoint! </small>
   <br>
   <div> Welcome to the TutorialsPoint! </div>
</body>
</html>

Example 2 (Using the <big> tag)

The <big> tag is deprecated in HTML 5, but we have used it in HTML 4 here. In the output, users can observe that the font size of the text added in the <big> tag is bigger than the default font size of the browser.

<html>
<body>
   <h2> Using the <i> big tag </i> in HTML 4</h2>
   <!-- use of <big> tag -->
   <big> Welcome to the TutorialsPoint! </big>
   <br>
   <div> Welcome to the TutorialsPoint! </div>
</body>
</html>

Example 3 (Alternative of the <big> tag)

In this example, we will learn to use the <h1> and <h2> instead of using the <big> tag in HTML 5. Here, in the output, users can observe that text added in the <h1> tag has a bigger font size than the text added in the <h2> tag.

<html>
<body>
   <h2> Using the <i> h1 and h2 as an alternative of big tag </i> in HTML 5 </h2>
   <!-- use of <big> tag -->
   <h1> This text is inside the h1 tag. </h1>
   <h2> This text is inside the h2 tag. </h2>
</body>
</html>

The <big> tag had no specific uses, so it was removed from HTML 5. However, there are alternatives to the <big> tag in the HTML 5 to make texts one size bigger than the normal texts. Users can use the heading tags or CSS to increase the font size of the text.

Updated on: 19-Apr-2023

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