2020 answer

CSS Filter works on all current browsers

To change any SVGs color

1. Add the SVG image using an <img> tag.

   <img src="dotted-arrow.svg" class="filter-green"/>
   

2. To filter to a specific color, use the following Codepen (click here to open the codepen) to convert a hexadecimal color code to a CSS filter:

   For example, output for #00EE00 is

   filter: invert(42%) sepia(93%) saturate(1352%) hue-rotate(87deg) brightness(119%) contrast(119%);
   

   Generate a filter for any color here.

3. Add the CSS filter into this class.

   .filter-green{
       filter: invert(48%) sepia(79%) saturate(2476%) hue-rotate(86deg) brightness(118%) contrast(119%);
   }
   

To change the color of any SVG, you can directly change the SVG code by opening the SVG file in any text editor. The code may look like the below code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Generator: Adobe Illustrator 16.0.0, SVG Export Plug-In . SVG Version: 6.00 Build 0)  -->
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
     width="500px" height="500px" viewBox="0 0 500 500" enable-background="new 0 0 500 500" xml:space="preserve">

    <g>
        <path d="M114.26,436.584L99.023,483h301.953l-15.237-46.416H114.26z M161.629,474.404h-49.592l9.594-29.225h69.223
                 C181.113,454.921,171.371,464.663,161.629,474.404z"/>

    /* Some more code goes on */
    </g>
</svg>

You can observe that there are some XML tags like path, circle, polygon, etc.. There you can add your own color with help of the style attribute. Look at the below example

<path fill="#AB7C94" d="M114.26,436.584L99.023,483h301.953l-15.237-46.416H114.26z M161.629,474.404h-49.592l9.594-29.225h69.223
                        C181.113,454.921,171.371,464.663,161.629,474.404z"/>

Add the style attribute to all the tags so that you can get your SVG of your required color.

As per Daniel’s comment, we can use fill attribute directly instead of fill element inside style attribute.

If you want to change the color dynamically:

1. Open the SVG in a code editor

2. Add or rewrite the attribute of fill of every path to fill="currentColor"

3. Now, that svg will take the color of your font color, so you can do something like:

   svg {
       color : "red";
   }
   

Note: this will only work if the SVG is inlined in HTML.

You can’t change the color of an image that way. If you load SVG as an image, you can’t change how it is displayed using CSS or JavaScript in the browser.

If you want to change your SVG image, you have to load it using <object>, <iframe> or using <svg> inline.

If you want to use the techniques in the page, you need the Modernizr library, where you can check for SVG support and conditionally display or not a fallback image. You can then inline your SVG and apply the styles you need.

See:

#time-3-icon {
   fill: green;
}

.my-svg-alternate {
  display: none;
}
.no-svg .my-svg-alternate {
  display: block;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-image: url(image.png);
}

<svg width="96px" height="96px" viewBox="0 0 512 512" enable-background="new 0 0 512 512" xml:space="preserve">
<path id="time-3-icon" d="M256,50C142.229,50,50,142.229,50,256c0,113.77,92.229,206,206,206c113.77,0,206-92.23,206-206
    C462,142.229,369.77,50,256,50z M256,417c-88.977,0-161-72.008-161-161c0-88.979,72.008-161,161-161c88.977,0,161,72.007,161,161
    C417,344.977,344.992,417,256,417z M382.816,265.785c1.711,0.297,2.961,1.781,2.961,3.518v0.093c0,1.72-1.223,3.188-2.914,3.505
    c-37.093,6.938-124.97,21.35-134.613,21.35c-13.808,0-25-11.192-25-25c0-9.832,14.79-104.675,21.618-143.081
    c0.274-1.542,1.615-2.669,3.181-2.669h0.008c1.709,0,3.164,1.243,3.431,2.932l18.933,119.904L382.816,265.785z"/>
</svg>

<image class="my-svg-alternate" width="96" height="96" src="ppngfallback.png" />

You can inline your SVG. Tag your fallback image with a class name (my-svg-alternate):

<svg width="96px" height="96px" viewBox="0 0 512 512" enable-background="new 0 0 512 512" xml:space="preserve">
<path id="time-3-icon" .../>
</svg>

<image class="my-svg-alternate" width="96" height="96" src="ppngfallback.png" />

And in CSS use the no-svg class from Modernizr (CDN: http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/modernizr/modernizr-2.7.2.js ) to check for SVG support. If there isn’t any SVG support, the SVG block will be ignored and the image will be displayed, otherwise the image will be removed from the DOM tree (display: none):

.my-svg-alternate {
  display: none;
}
.no-svg .my-svg-alternate {
  display: block;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  background-image: url(image.png);
}

Then you can change the color of your inlined element:

#time-3-icon {
   fill: green;
}

Only SVG with path information. You can’t do that to the image… as the path you can change stroke and fill information and you are done. like Adobe Illustrator

So, via CSS you can overwrite the path fill value:

path { fill: orange; }

But if you want a more flexible way as you want to change it with a text when having some hovering effect going on, use:

path { fill: currentColor; }

body {
  background: #ddd;
  text-align: center;
  padding-top: 2em;
}

.parent {
  width: 320px;
  height: 50px;
  display: block;
  transition: all 0.3s;
  cursor: pointer;
  padding: 12px;
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

/***  desired colors for children  ***/
.parent{
  color: #000;
  background: #def;
}
.parent:hover{
  color: #fff;
  background: #85c1fc;
}

.parent span{
  font-size: 18px;
  margin-right: 8px;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-family: 'Helvetica';
  line-height: 26px;
  vertical-align: top;
}
.parent svg{
  max-height: 26px;
  width: auto;
  display: inline;
}

/****  magic trick  *****/
.parent svg path{
  fill: currentcolor;
}

<div class='parent'>
  <span>TEXT WITH SVG</span>
  <svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="128" height="128" viewBox="0 0 32 32">
<path d="M30.148 5.588c-2.934-3.42-7.288-5.588-12.148-5.588-8.837 0-16 7.163-16 16s7.163 16 16 16c4.86 0 9.213-2.167 12.148-5.588l-10.148-10.412 10.148-10.412zM22 3.769c1.232 0 2.231 0.999 2.231 2.231s-0.999 2.231-2.231 2.231-2.231-0.999-2.231-2.231c0-1.232 0.999-2.231 2.231-2.231z"></path>
</svg>
</div>

Solution 1 – Edit SVG to point to the currentColor

<svg>... fill: currentColor stroke: currentColor ...</svg>

Then you can control the color of the stroke and the fill from your CSS content:

svg {
  color: blue; /* Or any color of your choice. */
}

Pros and cons:

• Simple and uses conventional supported CSS.

Suitable if:

• You control the SVG
• SVG can be included inline in the HTML.

Solution 2 – CSS mask property

<i class="icon"></i>

  .icon {
    -webkit-mask-size: cover;
    mask-size: cover;
    -webkit-mask-image: url(https://url.of.svg/....svg);
    mask-image: url(https://url.of.svg/....svg);
    background-color: blue; /* Or any color of your choice. */
    width: 20px;
    height: 20px;
  }

}

Pros and cons

• Relatively easy to use
• Browser support for the mask CSS property is partial.

Suitable if:

• SVG is external, and included via URL
• Meant to be used on modern known browsers.

Solution 3 – CSS Filter property – static color

If the color is known in advance, you can use https://codepen.io/sosuke/pen/Pjoqqp to find the filter needed to change your SVG to the desired color. For example, to convert the svg to #00f:

<img src="https://url.of.svg/....svg" class="icon">

.icon {
    filter: invert(8%) sepia(100%) saturate(6481%) hue-rotate(246deg) brightness(102%) contrast(143%);
}

If your original color isn’t black, prefix the list of filters with brightness(0) saturate(100%) to convert it first to black.

Pros and cons:

• There might be a small, nonsignificant difference between the result and the desired color.

Suitable if:

• Desired color is known in advance.
• External image

I added a test page – to color SVG via Filter settings:

For example,

filter: invert(0.5) sepia(1) saturate(5) hue-rotate(175deg)

Upload & Color your SVG – Jsfiddle

I took the idea from: Swapping Fill Color on Image Tag SVGs

SVG mask on a box element with a background color will result:

body{ overflow:hidden; }

.icon {
  --size: 70px;
  display: inline-block;
  width: var(--size);
  height: var(--size);
  transition: .12s;
  
  -webkit-mask-size: cover;
  mask-size: cover;
}

.icon-lightning {
  --lightning-mask: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 24 24' %3E%3Cpath fill-rule='evenodd' d='M14.615 1.595a.75.75 0 0 1 .359.852L12.982 9.75h7.268a.75.75 0 0 1 .548 1.262l-10.5 11.25a.75.75 0 0 1-1.272-.71l1.992-7.302H3.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.548-1.262l10.5-11.25a.75.75 0 0 1 .913-.143Z' /%3E%3C/svg%3E");

  background: black;
  animation: 2s frames infinite linear;
  
  -webkit-mask-image:var(--lightning-mask);
  mask-image:var(--lightning-mask);
}

@keyframes frames { 
  25% { background: cyan; }
  75% { background: gold; }
}

<i class="icon icon-lightning" style="--size:150px"></i>

_{Note – SVG masks are not supported in Internet Explorer browsers}

The easiest way would be to create a font out of the SVG using a service like https://icomoon.io/app/#/select or such. Upload your SVG, click “generate font”, include font files and CSS content into your side and just use and style it like any other text. I always use it like this because it makes styling much easier.

But as mentioned in the article commented by @CodeMouse92, icon fonts mess up screen readers (and are possibly bad for SEO). So rather stick to the SVGs.

To change the color of an SVG element, I have found out a way while inspecting the Google search box search icon below:

.search_icon {
  color: red;
  fill: currentColor;
  display: inline-block;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
}

<span class="search_icon">
    <svg focusable="false" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M15.5 14h-.79l-.28-.27A6.471 6.471 0 0 0 16 9.5 6.5 6.5 0 1 0 9.5 16c1.61 0 3.09-.59 4.23-1.57l.27.28v.79l5 4.99L20.49 19l-4.99-5zm-6 0C7.01 14 5 11.99 5 9.5S7.01 5 9.5 5 14 7.01 14 9.5 11.99 14 9.5 14z"></path></svg>
</span>

I have used a span element with “display:inline-block”, height, width and setting a particular style “color: red; fill: currentColor;” to that span tag which is inherited by the child svg element.

You can try to color it with this css filter hack:

.colorize-pink {
  filter: brightness(0.5) sepia(1) hue-rotate(-70deg) saturate(5);
}

.colorize-navy {
  filter: brightness(0.2) sepia(1) hue-rotate(180deg) saturate(5);
}

.colorize-blue {
  filter: brightness(0.5) sepia(1) hue-rotate(140deg) saturate(6);
}

To simply change the color of the SVG file:

Go to the SVG file and under styles, mention the color in fill:

<style>.cls-1{fill: #FFFFFF;}</style>

Target the path within the ‘svg’ tag:

<svg>
   <path>....
</svg>

You can do it inline, like:

<path fill="#ccc">

Or

svg{
   path{
        fill: #ccc

2022 Web Component <load-file> answer

This (7 line) native Web Component (JSWC) loads external content, and injects it into the DOM.

It is explained and documented in my DEV blog post: <load-file> Web Component.

Full source code:

customElements.define("load-file", class extends HTMLElement {

  // declare default connectedCallback as sync so await can be used
  async connectedCallback(
      // call connectedCallback with parameter to *replace* SVG (of <load-file> persists)
      src = this.getAttribute("src"),
    // attach a shadowRoot if none exists (prevents displaying error when moving Nodes)
    // declare as parameter to save 4 Bytes: 'let '
    shadowRoot = this.shadowRoot || this.attachShadow({mode:"open"})
  ) {
      // load SVG file from src="" async, parse to text, add to shadowRoot.innerHTML
    shadowRoot.innerHTML = await (await fetch(src)).text()

    // append optional <tag [shadowRoot]> Elements from inside <load-svg> after parsed <svg>
    shadowRoot.append(...this.querySelectorAll("[shadowRoot]"))

    // if "replaceWith" attribute
    // then replace <load-svg> with loaded content <load-svg>
    // childNodes instead of children to include #textNodes also
    this.hasAttribute("replaceWith") && this.replaceWith(...shadowRoot.childNodes)
  }
})

<load-file src="//load-file.github.io/heart.svg">
  <!-- elements inside load-file are MOVED to shadowDOM -->
  <style shadowRoot>
    svg {
      height: 180px; /* Stack Overflow subwindow height */
    }
    path:nth-child(2n+2) {
      fill: GREEN; /* shadowDOM style does NOT style global DOM */
    }
  </style>
</load-file>

You can change SVG coloring with CSS if you use some tricks.
I wrote a small script for that.

• go through a list of elements which do have an SVG image
• load the SVG file as XML
• fetch only the SVG part
• change color of path
• replace src with the modified SVG image as an inline image

$('img.svg-changeable').each(function () {
  var $e = $(this);
  var imgURL = $e.prop('src');

  $.get(imgURL, function (data) {
    // Get the SVG tag, ignore the rest
    var $svg = $(data).find('svg');

    // Change the color
    $svg.find('path').attr('fill', '#000');

    $e.prop('src', "data:image/svg+xml;base64," + window.btoa($svg.prop('outerHTML')));
  });

});

The code above might not be working correctly. I’ve implemented this for elements with an SVG background image which works nearly similar to this.

But anyway, you have to modify this script to fit your case.

1. Method 1

   The easy and effect way:

   Open your .svg file with any text editor

   <svg version="1.1" id="Capa_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
      viewBox="0 0 477.526 477.526" style="enable-background:new 0 0 477.526 477.526;
      fill: rgb(109, 248, 248);" xml:space="preserve">
   <svg />
   

   Give an style attribute and fill that with color.

2. Another way

   Fill with color in your shape. Here i have rect shape fill="white".

   <svg width="800" height="600" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
       <g>
           <title>background</title>
           <rect fill="#fff" id="canvas_background" height="602" width="802" y="-1"
            x="-1"/>
   
               <g display="none" overflow="visible" y="0" x="0" height="100%" width="100%"
                  id="canvasGrid">
   
                  <rect fill="url(#gridpattern)" stroke-width="0" y="0" x="0" height="100%"
                  width="100%"/>
               </g>
       </g>
   </svg>
   

If the same SVG must be used multiple times with different colors, define the set of paths within a hidden SVG which serves as the master copy. Then place new instances which refer to the master path with their individual fills.

Note: This approach only works with inline <svg> tags. It will not work with <img> tags loading .svg files.

:root {
  fill: gray;
}

.hidden {
  display: none;
}

svg {
  width: 1em;
  height: 1em;
}

<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="hidden">
 <path id="s_fave" d="m379 21c-57 0-104 53-123 78-19-25-66-78-123-78-74 0-133 68-133 151 0 45 18 88 49 116 0.5 0.8 1 2 2 2l197 197c2 2 5 3 8 3s5-1 8-3l206-206c2-2 3-3 5-5 0.8-0.8 1-2 2-3 23-28 35-64 35-102 0-83-60-151-133-151z"/>
 <path id="s_star" d="m511 196c-3-10-13-18-23-19l-148-13-58-137c-4-10-14-17-25-17-11 0-21 6-25 17l-58 137-148 13c-11 1-20 8-23 19-3 10-0.3 22 8 29l112 98-33 145c-2 11 2 22 11 28 5 3 10 5 16 5 5 0 10-1 14-4l127-76 127 76c9 6 21 5 30-1 9-6 13-17 11-28l-33-145 112-98c8-7 11-19 8-29z"/>
</svg>

<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_fave"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_star"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_fave" fill="red"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_star" fill="gold"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_fave" fill="purple"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_star" fill="silver"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_fave" fill="pink"></use></svg>
<svg viewBox="0 0 512 512" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><use href="#s_star" fill="blue"></use></svg>

Here the fast and furious way 🙂

body {
    background-color: #DEFF05;
}

svg {
    width: 30%;
    height: auto;
}

svg path {
    color: red;
    fill: currentcolor;
}

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" id="Capa_1" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 514.666 514.666"><path d="M514.666,210.489L257.333,99.353L0,210.489l45.933,19.837v123.939h30V243.282l33.052,14.274v107.678l4.807,4.453  c2.011,1.862,50.328,45.625,143.542,45.625c93.213,0,141.53-43.763,143.541-45.626l4.807-4.452V257.557L514.666,210.489z   M257.333,132.031L439,210.489l-181.667,78.458L75.666,210.489L257.333,132.031z M375.681,351.432  c-13.205,9.572-53.167,33.881-118.348,33.881c-65.23,0-105.203-24.345-118.348-33.875v-80.925l118.348,51.112l118.348-51.111  V351.432z"></path></svg>

For example, in your HTML:

<body>
  <svg viewBox="" width="" height="">
    <path id="struct1" fill="#xxxxxx" d="M203.3,71.6c-.........."></path>
  </svg>
</body>

Use jQuery:

$("#struct1").css("fill", "<desired colour>");

Use an svg <mask> element.

This is better than other solutions because:

• Closely matches your original code.
• Works in IE!
• The embedded image can still be an external, unmodified file.
• The image does not even have to be an SVG.
• Color is inherited from font-color, so easy to use alongside text.
• Color is a normal CSS color, not a strange combination of filters.

<svg style="color: green; width: 96px; height: 96px" viewBox="0 0 100 100" preserveAspectRatio="none">
  <defs>
    <mask id="fillMask" x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100">
      <image xlink:href="https://svgur.com/i/AFM.svg" x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100" src="ppngfallback.png" />
    </mask>
  </defs>
  <rect x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100" style="stroke: none; fill: currentColor" mask="url("#fillMask")" />
</svg>

https://jsfiddle.net/jamiegl/5jaL0s1t/19/

Check out this code. It works.

<div>
   <!-- YouTube -->
   <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 576 512">
       <path fill="white"
           d="M549.655 124.083c-6.281-23.65-24.787-42.276-48.284-48.597C458.781 64 288 64 288 64S117.22 64 74.629 75.486c-23.497 6.322-42.003 24.947-48.284 48.597-11.412 42.867-11.412 132.305-11.412 132.305s0 89.438 11.412 132.305c6.281 23.65 24.787 41.5 48.284 47.821C117.22 448 288 448 288 448s170.78 0 213.371-11.486c23.497-6.321 42.003-24.171 48.284-47.821 11.412-42.867 11.412-132.305 11.412-132.305s0-89.438-11.412-132.305zm-317.51 213.508V175.185l142.739 81.205-142.739 81.201z" />
   </svg>

   <!-- Instagram -->
   <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 448 512">
       <path fill="white"
           d="M224.1 141c-63.6 0-114.9 51.3-114.9 114.9s51.3 114.9 114.9 114.9S339 319.5 339 255.9 287.7 141 224.1 141zm0 189.6c-41.1 0-74.7-33.5-74.7-74.7s33.5-74.7 74.7-74.7 74.7 33.5 74.7 74.7-33.6 74.7-74.7 74.7zm146.4-194.3c0 14.9-12 26.8-26.8 26.8-14.9 0-26.8-12-26.8-26.8s12-26.8 26.8-26.8 26.8 12 26.8 26.8zm76.1 27.2c-1.7-35.9-9.9-67.7-36.2-93.9-26.2-26.2-58-34.4-93.9-36.2-37-2.1-147.9-2.1-184.9 0-35.8 1.7-67.6 9.9-93.9 36.1s-34.4 58-36.2 93.9c-2.1 37-2.1 147.9 0 184.9 1.7 35.9 9.9 67.7 36.2 93.9s58 34.4 93.9 36.2c37 2.1 147.9 2.1 184.9 0 35.9-1.7 67.7-9.9 93.9-36.2 26.2-26.2 34.4-58 36.2-93.9 2.1-37 2.1-147.8 0-184.8zM398.8 388c-7.8 19.6-22.9 34.7-42.6 42.6-29.5 11.7-99.5 9-132.1 9s-102.7 2.6-132.1-9c-19.6-7.8-34.7-22.9-42.6-42.6-11.7-29.5-9-99.5-9-132.1s-2.6-102.7 9-132.1c7.8-19.6 22.9-34.7 42.6-42.6 29.5-11.7 99.5-9 132.1-9s102.7-2.6 132.1 9c19.6 7.8 34.7 22.9 42.6 42.6 11.7 29.5 9 99.5 9 132.1s2.7 102.7-9 132.1z" />
   </svg>
</div>

CSS

svg {
   fill: white;
}

For a better resolution about Manish Menaria’s (thank you so much for your help) response, use this filter generator instead a purposed generator: https://angel-rs.github.io/css-color-filter-generator/

.filter-green{
    filter: invert(48%) sepia(79%) saturate(2476%) hue-rotate(86deg) brightness(118%) contrast(119%);
}

I found it a bit clumsy, but it is definitely a working way to dynamically change the color of an SVG included with <img> tag.

In the SVG file, you can add CSS content the following way:

<svg ...>
    <defs>
        <style>
            ...
        <style>
    <defs>

There you can use @media rules, with which the SVG can look outside itself for contextual circumstances. There’s an aspect-ratio media feature that applies to the SVG box (e.g., the <img> tag). You can create different contexts for the SVG by stretching the SVG box a little bit.

This way you can also make the favicon the same SVG that appears on the website, but with a different color. (In this case, no other SVG boxes should be square-shaped.)

/* img stretched horizontally (if SVG is square-shaped) */
@media (min-aspect-ratio: 1000/999) {
    path {
        fill: blue;
    }
}

/* img stretched vertically (if SVG is square-shaped) */
@media (max-aspect-ratio: 999/1000) {
    path {
        fill: green;
    }
}

/* img with exact sizes */
@media (aspect-ratio: 86/74) {
    path {
        fill: red;
    }
}

/* favicon with light browser theme */
@media (aspect-ratio: 1/1) and (prefers-color-scheme: light) {
    path {
        fill: black;
    }
}

/* favicon with dark browser theme */
@media (aspect-ratio: 1/1) and (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
    path {
        fill: white;
    }
}

One very important thing

The SVG must contain viewBox information, so that the stretching does not affect the graphics. Example:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="300" height="300" viewBox="0 0 300 300">

There are some problems with Manish Menaria’s answer, if we convert white color it shows gray.

So I added some tweaks, and the below example specifically shows how to change the color in the material icon:

<mat-icon class="draft-white" svgIcon="draft" aria-hidden="false"></mat-icon>

.draft-white{
    filter: brightness(0) invert(1);
}

If you have a single-colour SVG with varying opacities that you simply want to tint to a different colour then there is another approach that can be used: the feFlood SVG filter.

This solution is not as straightforward as a single-line CSS, however:

• It works on SVGs inside of an img element.
• This doesn’t require editing the source SVG at all.
• It allows you to simply choose a target colour for the SVG and not worry about complex colour transforms, like hue-rotate.

Here is an example:

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="0" height="0">
  <defs>
    <filter id="recolourFilter" filterUnits="userSpaceOnUse">
      <feFlood flood-color="aquamarine" result="flood" />
      <feComposite in="flood" in2="SourceAlpha" operator="in" />
    </filter>
  </defs>
</svg>

<img style="filter: url(#recolourFilter);" width="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Bitmap_VS_SVG.svg" />

In the above example, we create an inline SVG to define the filters and then we apply it to the image. Inside of the <filter> block we first define the fill colour that we want via <feFlood> and then we create a composite image using the alpha channel of the source plus the flood colour. Finally, the filter is applied to the whole image via the filter CSS property on the img element.

I learned about this technique from this Smashing Magasine article. It’s a highly recommended read if you want to learn more about SVG filters.

A few additional things to note:

• This filter can be applied to any HTML element via the CSS filter property.
• The same filter can be reused multiple times on the same page.
• If you are using an inline SVG then the <defs> block can form part of the svg element and the filter can still be applied to the whole SVG or on selective elements. This avoids needing a separate SVG element for the filters.

if you are using svg with path then give fill color to path:

    svg path{
fill:red;
}

If you want to do this to an inline SVG file, that is, for example, a background image in your CSS content:

background: url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' fill='rgba(31,159,215,1)' viewBox='...'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");

Of course, replace the … with your inline image code.

Actually, there is a quite more flexible solution to this problem: writing a Web Component which will patch SVG as text at runtime. I also published in a gist with a link to JSFiddle.

👍 filter: invert(42%) sepia(93%) saturate(1352%) hue-rotate(87deg) brightness(119%) contrast(119%);

<html>

<head>
  <title>SVG with color</title>
</head>

<body>
  <script>
    (function () {
      const createSvg = (color = '#ff9933') => `
          <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" version="1.1" width="76px" height="22px" viewBox="-0.5 -0.5 76 22">
            <defs/>
              <g>
                <ellipse cx="5" cy="10" rx="5" ry="5" fill="#ff9933" stroke="none" pointer-events="all"/>
                <ellipse cx="70" cy="10" rx="5" ry="5" fill="#ff9933" stroke="none" pointer-events="all"/>
                <path d="M 9.47 12.24 L 17.24 16.12 Q 25 20 30 13 L 32.5 9.5 Q 35 6 40 9 L 42.5 10.5 Q 45 12 50 6 L 52.5 3 Q 55 0 60.73 3.23 L 66.46 6.46" fill="none" stroke="#ff9933" stroke-miterlimit="10" pointer-events="stroke"/>
              </g>
          </svg>`.split('#ff9933').join(color);

      function SvgWithColor() {
        const div = Reflect.construct(HTMLElement, [], SvgWithColor);
        const color = div.hasAttribute('color') ? div.getAttribute('color') : 'cyan';
        div.innerHTML = createSvg(color);
        return div;
      }

      SvgWithColor.prototype = Object.create(HTMLElement.prototype);
      customElements.define('svg-with-color', SvgWithColor);

      document.body.innerHTML += `<svg-with-color
        color='magenta'
      ></svg-with-color>`;

    })();

  </script>
</body>

</html>

My answer would be this. But I’m not 100% sure if it works for everyone:

Select ‘svg’ and then ‘path’. And you can change ‘fill’ then.

.eye-icon-container {
    width: 33px;
    height: 33px;
    border-radius: 5px;
    display: flex;
    justify-content: center;
    align-items: center;

    :hover {
      background-color: #ddf0ff;
    }
    :active {
      background-color: #1d398d;
      svg {
        path {
          fill: #fff;
        }
      }
    }
  }

This took a while for me to workout, you can’t change the colour of an imported svg (easily), how i managed to do and keep themes / colours from createStyles in my react application is like so:

<MURadio
  icon={
    <svg
      width="24px"
      height="24px"
      viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      version="1.1"
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      style={{
        fillRule: "evenodd",
        clipRule: "evenodd",
        strokeLinejoin: "round",
        strokeMiterlimit: "2",
      }}
    >
      <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,-511.714,-525.038)">
        <g transform="matrix(1.04348,0,0,1.04348,511.192,523.902)">
          <circle cx="12" cy="12.589" r="11.5" style={{ fill: "white" }} />
          <path
            d="M12,1.089C18.347,1.089 23.5,6.242 23.5,12.589C23.5,18.936 18.347,24.089 12,24.089C5.653,24.089 0.5,18.936 0.5,12.589C0.5,6.242 5.653,1.089 12,1.089ZM12,2.089C6.205,2.089 1.5,6.794 1.5,12.589C1.5,18.384 6.205,23.089 12,23.089C17.795,23.089 22.5,18.384 22.5,12.589C22.5,6.794 17.795,2.089 12,2.089Z"
            className={classes.icon}
          />
        </g>
      </g>
    </svg>
  }
/>;

const useRadioButtonClasses = makeStyles<ITheme, IRadioButtonErrorProps>(
  (theme) =>
    createStyles({
      radio: { color: theme.mvf.palette.border },
      card: {
        height: '100%',
      },
      icon: ({ isError }) => ({
        fill: theme.mvf.palette.border,
        ...(isError && {
          fill: theme.mvf.palette.error,
        }),
      }),
      selectedRadioIcon: ({ isError }) => ({
        fill: theme.mvf.palette.primary.main,
        ...(isError && {
          fill: theme.mvf.palette.error,
        }),
      }),
...etc

I am assuming some level of knowledge, as this isn’t full code, but MURadio is an v4 material ui radio button in use in our app, with the custom svg in one of the props by this material ui component – so you have change the default radio icon… and you can apply a theme colour to the custom radio icon (svg) dynamically, and as i am passing isError state like so const classes = useRadioButtonClasses({ isError }); so we can change the svg colour if there is an error.

Works for me and same setup (class.icon) as we style the regular components, hope it helps you.