beta

Circular Text `<mv-circular-text>`

Spinning ring of text around an icon, logo or avatar, drawn along a real SVG circle so the font keeps its kerning and the loop closes evenly; hover or focus eases the spin faster, slower, to a stop or into reverse. Screen readers hear the text once, and the ring holds still under reduced motion.

Category	Animated text
Type	Web Component (`<mv-circular-text>`)
Status	beta
Keywords	circular, spinning-text, badge, sticker, scroll-indicator, rotate, svg, accessible

When to use

A round badge or sticker needs text spinning around a logo, avatar or icon
A hero corner needs a looping indicator such as 'scroll down' or 'available for work'
A spinning link badge should pause while it is hovered or focused so it can be read

Avoid when

The text is long or must be read quickly; ring text is hard to scan beyond a few words
Several words should replace each other inline inside a sentence → use Word Rotate instead

Install

node scripts/add.mjs circular-text --out ./src/marvelous

AI agent with the Marvelous UI MCP server: install_components({ slugs: ["circular-text"], target_dir: "<absolute path>/src/marvelous", framework: "react" }).

Files copied (dependencies included): tokens/tokens.css, core/base.css, core/dom.js, core/element.js, core/motion.js, core/observe.js, components/circular-text/circular-text.js, components/circular-text/circular-text.css.

Usage

Canonical markup, to start from and customize with attributes, data-* and CSS variables:

<div style="display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:2.5rem;align-items:center;justify-content:center">
  <a href="#" aria-label="Scroll to explore" style="color:inherit;text-decoration:none;border-radius:50%">
    <mv-circular-text text="Scroll to explore • " hover="pause" duration="16000" style="font:600 .85rem/1 var(--mv-font-mono);text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.08em">
      <span data-center style="display:grid;place-items:center;width:3rem;height:3rem;border-radius:50%;background:var(--mv-fg);color:var(--mv-bg)">
        <svg width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2.2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" aria-hidden="true"><path d="M12 5v14M6 13l6 6 6-6"/></svg>
      </span>
    </mv-circular-text>
  </a>

  <mv-circular-text text="New • 2026 Edition • " repeat="2" hover="reverse" duration="12000" style="font:700 .95rem/1 var(--mv-font-display);text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.12em;color:var(--mv-fg-on-accent);background:radial-gradient(circle at 30% 25%,color-mix(in oklch,var(--mv-accent),white 18%),var(--mv-accent) 60%);box-shadow:var(--mv-shadow-lg), inset 0 0 0 1px color-mix(in oklch, white 20%, transparent)">
    <svg data-center width="34" height="34" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true"><path d="M12 2.5l2.6 6.1 6.6.6-5 4.4 1.5 6.5L12 16.7l-5.7 3.4 1.5-6.5-5-4.4 6.6-.6z"/></svg>
  </mv-circular-text>

  <mv-circular-text text="Available for new projects • " hover="slow-down" direction="ccw" duration="22000" style="font:600 .8rem/1 var(--mv-font-sans);letter-spacing:.16em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--mv-fg-muted)">
    <span data-center aria-hidden="true" style="display:grid;place-items:center;width:3.6rem;height:3.6rem;border-radius:50%;background:var(--mv-bg-muted);border:1px solid var(--mv-border);font:700 1.1rem/1 var(--mv-font-display);color:var(--mv-fg);position:relative">
      AK
      <span style="position:absolute;right:.1rem;bottom:.15rem;width:.7rem;height:.7rem;border-radius:50%;background:var(--mv-success);box-shadow:0 0 0 2px var(--mv-bg)"></span>
    </span>
  </mv-circular-text>
</div>

API

Attributes

Name	Type	Default	Description
`text`	string		Ring text (otherwise the child text). A trailing separator (“ • ”) makes a clean loop; a space is added when there is none.
`label`	string		Replaces the screen reader text. By default it is the ring text, read once, with separators turned into commas.
`repeat`	number	`1`	Repeats the text around the ring (up to 12 times); screen readers still hear it once.
`duration`	number (ms)	`20000`	Duration of one full turn.
`direction`	cw \| ccw	`cw`	Rotation direction.
`hover`	speed-up \| slow-down \| pause \| reverse \| none	`speed-up`	Reaction to mouse hover and to keyboard focus, on the ring or on a wrapping link or button; the speed eases on a spring. Taps do not count as hover.
`paused`	boolean		Stops the rotation. It also stops by itself off-screen, in hidden tabs and under reduced motion.

Content structure

Name	Description
`[data-center]`	Centered element (icon, avatar, logo). The ring grows so it never overlaps it.

CSS variables

Name	Default	Description
`--mv-circular-text-radius`	`(auto, from the measured text)`	Forced ring radius (to the middle of the letters); the spacing stretches or tightens to fill it.
`--mv-circular-text-spread`	`1.05`	Spacing factor when the radius is automatic (1 = the font's natural spacing, 1.2 = 20% looser).
`--mv-circular-text-advance`	`0.62em`	Average width per character, used only while the text cannot be measured yet (hidden or not rendered).

Accessibility

The ring is an aria-hidden SVG; a visually hidden copy gives screen readers the text once as a normal string, without repeats, with bullet separators read as commas (or the label attribute). Hover with a mouse or pen and keyboard focus (inside the badge or on a wrapping link or button) apply the hover reaction, so hover="pause" holds the text still to be read. The rotation also stops off-screen, in hidden tabs and under reduced motion, where the ring stays static and readable. The letters use currentColor, so forced colors apply. When the badge sits inside a link, give the link an explicit aria-label.