Combining ANSI Styles - Multiple Codes in One Sequence

Combining Multiple ANSI Styles

ANSI SGR parameters can be combined by separating codes with semicolons within a single escape sequence. This lets you apply multiple formatting attributes simultaneously.

Syntax

\033[code1;code2;code3m

Common Combinations

# Bold + Red
echo -e "\033[1;31mBold Red\033[0m"

# Bold + Underline + Blue
echo -e "\033[1;4;34mBold Underlined Blue\033[0m"

# Italic + Green + Yellow Background
echo -e "\033[3;32;43mItalic Green on Yellow\033[0m"

# Bold + Underline + Strikethrough + Magenta
echo -e "\033[1;4;9;35mAll the styles\033[0m"

Order of Codes

The order of SGR codes within a sequence generally does not matter, but convention is:

1. Formatting attributes (bold, italic, underline): 1, 2, 3, 4, 9
2. Foreground color: 30-37, 90-97, or 38;5;N / 38;2;R;G;B
3. Background color: 40-47, 100-107, or 48;5;N / 48;2;R;G;B

Stacking Sequences

You can also apply attributes incrementally with separate sequences:

# These produce the same result:
echo -e "\033[1;31;4mCombined\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[1m\033[31m\033[4mStacked\033[0m"

Partial Resets

Reset individual attributes while keeping others:

# Bold + underline + red, then remove underline only
echo -e "\033[1;4;31mBold underline red \033[24mBold red only\033[0m"

# Bold + italic + cyan, then remove bold only
echo -e "\033[1;3;36mBold italic cyan \033[22mItalic cyan only\033[0m"

256-Color Combinations

# Bold + 256-color foreground + 256-color background
echo -e "\033[1;38;5;208;48;5;17mBold orange on navy\033[0m"

True Color Combinations

# Underline + true color foreground + true color background
echo -e "\033[4;38;2;255;200;0;48;2;0;0;100mUnderline gold on navy\033[0m"

Practical Pattern

# Status line with multiple styles
printf "\033[1;97;44m STATUS \033[0m \033[32m%s\033[0m\n" "All systems operational"