legend

Add legend to axes

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Syntax

legend

legend(label1,...,labelN)

legend(labels)

legend(subset,___)

legend(target,___)

legend(___,'Location',lcn)

legend(___,'Orientation',ornt)

legend(___,Name,Value)

legend(bkgd)

lgd = legend(___)

legend(vsbl)

legend('off')

Description

example

legend creates a legend with descriptive labels for each plotted data series. For the labels, the legend uses the text from the DisplayName properties of the data series. If the DisplayName property is empty, then the legend uses a label of the form 'dataN'. The legend automatically updates when you add or delete data series from the axes. This command creates a legend for the current axes or chart returned by gca. If the current axes are empty, then the legend is empty. If axes do not exist, then this command creates them.

example

legend(label1,...,labelN) sets the legend labels. Specify the labels as a list of character vectors or strings, such as legend('Jan','Feb','Mar').

legend(labels) sets the labels using a cell array of character vectors, a string array, or a character matrix, such as legend({'Jan','Feb','Mar'}).

example

legend(subset,___) only includes items in the legend for the data series listed in subset. Specify subset as a vector of graphics objects. You can specify subset before specifying the labels or with no other input arguments.

example

legend(target,___) uses the axes or chart specified by target instead of the current axes or chart. Specify the target as the first input argument.

example

legend(___,'Location',lcn) sets the legend location. For example, 'Location','northeast' positions the legend in the upper right corner of the axes. Specify the location after other input arguments.

example

legend(___,'Orientation',ornt), where ornt is 'horizontal', displays the legend items side-by-side. The default for ornt is 'vertical', which stacks the items vertically.

example

legend(___,Name,Value) sets legend properties using one or more name-value pair arguments.

example

legend(bkgd), where bkgd is 'boxoff', removes the legend background and outline. The default for bkgd is 'boxon', which displays the legend background and outline.

lgd = legend(___) returns the Legend object. Use lgd to query and set properties of the legend after it is created. For a list of properties, see Legend Properties.

legend(vsbl) controls the visibility of the legend, where vsbl is 'hide', 'show', or 'toggle'.

legend('off') deletes the legend.

Examples

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Add Legend to Current Axes

Open Live Script

Plot two lines and add a legend to the current axes. Specify the legend labels as input arguments to the legend function.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1)

hold on 
y2 = cos(2*x);
plot(x,y2)

legend('cos(x)','cos(2x)')

If you add or delete a data series from the axes, the legend updates accordingly. Control the label for the new data series by setting the DisplayName property as a name-value pair during creation. If you do not specify a label, then the legend uses a label of the form 'dataN'.

Note: If you do not want the legend to automatically update when data series are added to or removed from the axes, then set the AutoUpdate property of the legend to 'off'.

y3 = cos(3*x);
plot(x,y3,'DisplayName','cos(3x)')
hold off

Delete the legend.

legend('off')

Add Legend to Specific Axes

Open Live Script

Starting in R2019b, you can display a tiling of plots using the tiledlayout and nexttile functions. Call the tiledlayout function to create a 2-by-1 tiled chart layout. Call the nexttile function to create the axes objects ax1 and ax2. Plot random data in each axes. Add a legend to the upper plot by specifying ax1 as the first input argument to legend.

tiledlayout(2,1)
y1 = rand(3);
ax1 = nexttile; 
plot(y1)

y2 = rand(5);
ax2 = nexttile; 
plot(y2)

legend(ax1,{'Line 1','Line 2','Line 3'})

Specify Legend Labels During Plotting Commands

Open Live Script

Plot two lines. Specify the legend labels during the plotting commands by setting the DisplayName property to the desired text. Then, add a legend.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1,'DisplayName','cos(x)')

hold on 
y2 = cos(2*x);
plot(x,y2,'DisplayName','cos(2x)')
hold off

legend

Legend Location and Number of Columns

Open Live Script

Plot four lines. Create a legend in the northwest area of the axes. Specify the number of legend columns using the NumColumns property.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1)

hold on
y2 = cos(2*x);
plot(x,y2)

y3 = cos(3*x);
plot(x,y3)

y4 = cos(4*x);
plot(x,y4)
hold off

legend({'cos(x)','cos(2x)','cos(3x)','cos(4x)'},'Location','northwest','NumColumns',2)

By default, the legend orders the items from top to bottom along each column. To order the items from left to right along each row instead, set the Orientation property to 'horizontal'.

Display Shared Legend in Tiled Chart Layout

Open Live Script

When you want to share a legend between two or more plots, you can display the legend in a separate tile of the layout.

Create three plots in a tiled chart layout.

tiledlayout(2,2);
nexttile
plot(rand(5))
nexttile
plot(rand(5))
nexttile
plot(rand(5))

Add a shared legend, and move it to the fourth tile.

lgd = legend;
lgd.Layout.Tile = 4;

Included Subset of Graphics Objects in Legend

Open Live Script

If you do not want to include all of the plotted graphics objects in the legend, then you can specify the graphics objects that you want to include.

Plot three lines and return the Line objects created. Create a legend that includes only two of the lines. Specify the first input argument as a vector of the Line objects to include.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
p1 = plot(x,y1);

hold on
y2 = cos(2*x);
p2 = plot(x,y2);

y3 = cos(3*x);
p3 = plot(x,y3);
hold off

legend([p1 p3],{'First','Third'})

Add Title to Legend

Open Live Script

Plot two lines and create a legend. Then, add a title to the legend.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1)

hold on
y2 = cos(2*x);
plot(x,y2)
hold off

lgd = legend('cos(x)','cos(2x)');
title(lgd,'My Legend Title')

Remove Legend Background

Open Live Script

Plot two lines and create a legend in the lower left corner of the axes. Then, remove the legend background and outline.

x = linspace(0,pi);
y1 = cos(x);
plot(x,y1)

hold on
y2 = cos(2*x);
plot(x,y2)
hold off

legend({'cos(x)','cos(2x)'},'Location','southwest')
legend('boxoff')

Modify Legend Appearance

Open Live Script

Modify the legend appearance by setting Legend properties. You can set properties when you create the legend using name-value pairs in the legend command. You also can set properties after you create the legend using the Legend object.

Plot four lines of random data. Create legend and assign the Legend object to the variable lgd. Set the FontSize and TextColor properties using name-value pairs.

rdm = rand(4);
plot(rdm)

lgd = legend({'Line 1','Line 2','Line 3','Line 4'},'FontSize',12,'TextColor','blue')

lgd = 
  Legend (Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4) with properties:

         String: {'Line 1'  'Line 2'  'Line 3'  'Line 4'}
       Location: 'northeast'
    Orientation: 'vertical'
       FontSize: 12
       Position: [0.7472 0.7504 0.1433 0.1560]
          Units: 'normalized'

  Show all properties

Modify the legend after it is created by referring to lgd. Set the NumColumns property using the object dot property name notation.

lgd.NumColumns = 2;

Input Arguments

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`label1,...,labelN` — Labels (as separate arguments)
character vectors | strings

Labels, specified as separate arguments of character vectors or strings. To include special characters or Greek letters in the labels, use TeX markup. For a table of options, see the Interpreter property.

Example: legend('Sin Function','Cos Function')

Example: legend("Sin Function","Cos Function")

Example: legend('\gamma','\sigma')

To specify labels that are keywords, such as 'Location' or 'off', use a cell array of character vectors, a string array, or a character array.

`labels` — Labels (as an array)
cell array of character vectors | string array | categorical array

Labels, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or categorical array. To include special characters or Greek letters in the labels, use TeX markup. For a table of options, see the Interpreter property.

Example: legend({'Sin Function','Cos Function'})

Example: legend(["Sin Function","Cos Function"])

Example: legend({'\gamma','\sigma'})

Example: legend(categorical({'Alabama','New York'}))

`subset` — Data series to include in legend
vector of graphics objects

Data series to include in the legend, specified as a vector of graphics objects.

`target` — Target for legend
`Axes` object | `PolarAxes` object | `GeographicAxes` object | graphics object

Target for legend, specified as an Axes object, a PolarAxes object, a GeographicAxes object, or a graphics object with a LegendVisible property, such as a GeographicBubbleChart object. If you do not specify the target, then the legend function uses the axes or chart returned by the gca command.

Some charts do not support modifying the legend appearance, such as the location, or returning the Legend object as an output argument..

`lcn` — Legend location
`'north'` | `'south'` | `'east'` | `'west'` | `'northeast'` | ...

Legend location with respect to the axes, specified as one of the location values listed in this table.

Value	Description
`'north'`	Inside top of axes
`'south'`	Inside bottom of axes
`'east'`	Inside right of axes
`'west'`	Inside left of axes
`'northeast'`	Inside top-right of axes (default for 2-D axes)
`'northwest'`	Inside top-left of axes
`'southeast'`	Inside bottom-right of axes
`'southwest'`	Inside bottom-left of axes
`'northoutside'`	Above the axes
`'southoutside'`	Below the axes
`'eastoutside'`	To the right of the axes
`'westoutside'`	To the left of the axes
`'northeastoutside'`	Outside top-right corner of the axes (default for 3-D axes)
`'northwestoutside'`	Outside top-left corner of the axes
`'southeastoutside'`	Outside bottom-right corner of the axes
`'southwestoutside'`	Outside bottom-left corner of the axes
`'best'`	Inside axes where least conflict occurs with the plot data at the time that you create the legend. If the plot data changes, you might need to reset the location to `'best'`.
`'bestoutside'`	Outside top-right corner of the axes (when the legend has a vertical orientation) or below the axes (when the legend has a horizontal orientation)
`'layout'`	A tile in a tiled chart layout. To move the legend to a different tile, set the `Layout` property of the legend.
`'none'`	Determined by `Position` property. Use the `Position` property to display the legend in a custom location.

Example: legend('Location','northeastoutside')

`ornt` — Orientation
`'vertical'` (default) | `'horizontal'`

Orientation, specified as one of these values:

'vertical' — Stack the legend items vertically.
'horizontal' — List the legend items side-by-side.

Example: legend('Orientation','horizontal')

`bkgd` — Legend box display
`'boxon'` (default) | `'boxoff'`

Legend box display, specified as one of these values:

'boxon' — Display the legend background and outline.
'boxoff' — Do not display the legend background and outline.

Example: legend('boxoff')

`vsbl` — Legend visibility
`'hide'` | `'show'` | `'toggle'`

Legend visibility, specified as one of these values:

'hide' — Hide the legend.
'Show' — Show the legend or create a legend if one does not exist.
'toggle' — Toggle the legend visibility.

Example: legend('hide')

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: legend({'A','B'},'TextColor','blue','FontSize',12) creates a legend with blue, 12-point font.

Note

The properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see Legend Properties.

`'TextColor'` — Text color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

Text color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default color is black with a value of [0 0 0].

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].
A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
`'red'`	`'r'`	`[1 0 0]`	`'#FF0000'`
`'green'`	`'g'`	`[0 1 0]`	`'#00FF00'`
`'blue'`	`'b'`	`[0 0 1]`	`'#0000FF'`
`'cyan'`	`'c'`	`[0 1 1]`	`'#00FFFF'`
`'magenta'`	`'m'`	`[1 0 1]`	`'#FF00FF'`
`'yellow'`	`'y'`	`[1 1 0]`	`'#FFFF00'`
`'black'`	`'k'`	`[0 0 0]`	`'#000000'`
`'white'`	`'w'`	`[1 1 1]`	`'#FFFFFF'`
`'none'`	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB^® uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
`[0 0.4470 0.7410]`	`'#0072BD'`
`[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]`	`'#D95319'`
`[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]`	`'#EDB120'`
`[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]`	`'#7E2F8E'`
`[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]`	`'#77AC30'`
`[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]`	`'#4DBEEE'`
`[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]`	`'#A2142F'`

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: 'blue'

Example: '#0000FF'

`'FontSize'` — Font size
scalar value greater than zero

Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than zero in point units. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale.

If you change the axes font size, then MATLAB automatically sets the font size of the colorbar to 90% of the axes font size. If you manually set the font size of the colorbar, then changing the axes font size does not affect the colorbar font.

`'NumColumns'` — Number of columns
`1` (default) | positive integer

Number of columns, specified as a positive integer. If there are not enough legend items to fill the specified number of columns, then the number of columns that appear might be fewer.

Use the Orientation property to control whether the legend items appear in order along each column or along each row.

Example: lgd.NumColumns = 3

Output Arguments

collapse all

`lgd` — `Legend` object
`Legend` object

Legend object. Use lgd to view or modify properties of the legend after it is created.

plot(rand(3))
lgd = legend('line1','line2','line3');
lgd.FontSize = 12;
lgd.FontWeight = 'bold';

Tips

To label more than 20 objects in the legend, specify a label for each object. Otherwise, legend depicts only the first 20 objects in the graph.

Algorithms

Recalling the legend function does not reset legend properties, such as the location or orientation. If a legend exists, then the legend function updates the existing legend. An Axes object can have only one legend.
The legend reflects the visibility of graphics objects in the axes. Graphics objects that have a Visible property set to 'off' appear as grayed out items in the legend.

Compatibility Considerations

expand all

`legend` interprets arguments as property names when property exists

Behavior changed in R2018b

Starting in R2018b, if you pass an argument to the legend function that matches the name of a legend property, the function interprets the argument as the name of a name-value pair. In previous releases, the legend function recognized name-value pairs only when the first argument was a cell array.

As a result of this change, in most cases, it is unnecessary to specify the first argument as a cell array when using name-value pairs. However, if you want a label in your legend that matches the name of a legend property, such as Position or NumColumns, then you must specify all the labels in a cell array. Otherwise, the legend function interprets the argument as a name-value pair instead of a label.

Description Recommended Code

Description	Recommended Code
If you want a label in your legend that matches the name of a legend property, such as `'NumColumns'`, then specify all the labels in a cell array. If you specify `'NumColumns'` outside of a cell array, the `legend` function interprets it as a name-value pair.	legend({'Label1','NumColumns','Label3','Label4'},'NumColumns',2)
If none of your labels match the name of a legend property, then you do not need to use a cell array around the labels.	legend('Label1','Label2','Label2')

If you want a label in your legend that matches the name of a legend property, such as 'NumColumns', then specify all the labels in a cell array. If you specify 'NumColumns' outside of a cell array, the legend function interprets it as a name-value pair.

legend({'Label1','NumColumns','Label3','Label4'},'NumColumns',2)

If none of your labels match the name of a legend property, then you do not need to use a cell array around the labels.

legend('Label1','Label2','Label2')

`legend` creates axes if they do not exist

Behavior changed in R2017b

Starting in R2017b, if axes do not exist, then the legend function creates them.

Legends automatically update when you add or remove data

Behavior changed in R2017a

Starting in R2017a, the legend automatically updates when you add or remove data series from the axes. If you do not want the legend to automatically update, set the AutoUpdate property of the legend to 'off'.

lgd = legend;
lgd.AutoUpdate = 'off';

Returning multiple outputs is not recommended

Not recommended starting in R2014b

Returning multiple outputs using this syntax is no longer recommended:

[lgd,icons,plots,txt] = legend(__)

This syntax creates a legend that does not support some functionality introduced in R2014b or later. For example, you cannot add a title to the legend or specify the number of legend columns. Also, the legend does not automatically update when you add or remove data series from the axes.

Instead, return the Legend object and set Legend Properties.

lgd = legend(__)

Documentation

legend

Syntax

Description

Examples

Add Legend to Current Axes

Add Legend to Specific Axes

Specify Legend Labels During Plotting Commands

Legend Location and Number of Columns

Display Shared Legend in Tiled Chart Layout

Included Subset of Graphics Objects in Legend

Add Title to Legend

Remove Legend Background

Modify Legend Appearance

Input Arguments

label1,...,labelN — Labels (as separate arguments) character vectors | strings

labels — Labels (as an array) cell array of character vectors | string array | categorical array

subset — Data series to include in legend vector of graphics objects

target — Target for legend Axes object | PolarAxes object | GeographicAxes object | graphics object

lcn — Legend location 'north' | 'south' | 'east' | 'west' | 'northeast' | ...

ornt — Orientation 'vertical' (default) | 'horizontal'

bkgd — Legend box display 'boxon' (default) | 'boxoff'

vsbl — Legend visibility 'hide' | 'show' | 'toggle'

Name-Value Pair Arguments

'TextColor' — Text color [0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

'FontSize' — Font size scalar value greater than zero

'NumColumns' — Number of columns 1 (default) | positive integer

Output Arguments

lgd — Legend object Legend object

Tips

Algorithms

Compatibility Considerations

legend interprets arguments as property names when property exists

legend creates axes if they do not exist

Legends automatically update when you add or remove data

Returning multiple outputs is not recommended

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

MATLAB Documentation

Support

`label1,...,labelN` — Labels (as separate arguments)
character vectors | strings

`labels` — Labels (as an array)
cell array of character vectors | string array | categorical array

`subset` — Data series to include in legend
vector of graphics objects

`target` — Target for legend
`Axes` object | `PolarAxes` object | `GeographicAxes` object | graphics object

`lcn` — Legend location
`'north'` | `'south'` | `'east'` | `'west'` | `'northeast'` | ...

`ornt` — Orientation
`'vertical'` (default) | `'horizontal'`

`bkgd` — Legend box display
`'boxon'` (default) | `'boxoff'`

`vsbl` — Legend visibility
`'hide'` | `'show'` | `'toggle'`

`'TextColor'` — Text color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`'FontSize'` — Font size
scalar value greater than zero

`'NumColumns'` — Number of columns
`1` (default) | positive integer

`lgd` — `Legend` object
`Legend` object

`legend` interprets arguments as property names when property exists

`legend` creates axes if they do not exist