Bootstrap NavBar with left, center or right aligned items

In Bootstrap, what is the most platform-friendly way to create a navigation bar that has Logo A on the left, menu items in the center, and Logo B on the right?

Here is what I've tried so far, and it ends up being aligned so that Logo A is on the left, menu items next to the logo on the left and Logo B on the right.

<div class="navbar navbar-fixed-top navbar-custom ">
  <div class="container" >
    <div class="navbar-header">
      <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>
        <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      </button>
      <a class="navbar-brand" href="#"><span class="navbar-logo">Logo_A</span></a>
    </div>
    <div class="collapse navbar-collapse">
      <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
        <li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="#about">Menu Item 1</a></li>
        <li><a href="#contact">Menu Item 2</a></li>
        <li><a href="#about">Menu Item 3</a></li>
      </ul>
      <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
        <li><a href="#"><img src="images/Logo_B.png" class="img-responsive"></a></li>
      </ul>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Solution 1:

2021 Update

Bootstrap 5 (beta)

Bootstrap 5 also has a flexbox Navbar, and introduces new RTL support. For this reason the concept of "left" and "right" has been replaced with "start" and "end". Therefore the margin utilities changed for Bootstrap 5 beta:

• ml-auto => ms-auto
• mr-auto => me-auto

Also note that data-toggle and data-target have changed too:

• data-toggle => data-bs-toggle
• data-target => data-bs-target

Navbar Demo for Bootstrap 5

Bootstrap 4

Now that Bootstrap 4 has flexbox, Navbar alignment is much easier. Here are updated examples for left, right and center in the Bootstrap 4 Navbar, and many other alignment scenarios demonstrated here.

The flexbox, auto-margins, and ordering utility classes can be used to align Navbar content as needed. There are many things to consider including the order and alignment of Navbar items (brand, links, toggler) on both large screens and the mobile/collapsed views. Don't use the grid classes (row,col) for the Navbar.

Here are various examples...

Left, center(brand) and right links:

<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md navbar-dark bg-dark">
    <div class="navbar-collapse collapse w-100 order-1 order-md-0 dual-collapse2">
        <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto">
            <li class="nav-item active">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Left</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="//codeply.com">Codeply</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="mx-auto order-0">
        <a class="navbar-brand mx-auto" href="#">Navbar 2</a>
        <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".dual-collapse2">
            <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
        </button>
    </div>
    <div class="navbar-collapse collapse w-100 order-3 dual-collapse2">
        <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto">
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Right</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </div>
</nav>

http://codeply.com/go/qhaBrcWp3v

Another BS4 Navbar option with center links and overlay logo image:

<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-dark bg-dark">
    <div class="navbar-collapse collapse w-100 dual-collapse2 order-1 order-md-0">
        <ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto text-center">
            <li class="nav-item active">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="mx-auto my-2 order-0 order-md-1 position-relative">
        <a class="mx-auto" href="#">
            <img src="//placehold.it/120/ccff00" class="rounded-circle">
        </a>
        <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".dual-collapse2">
            <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
        </button>
    </div>
    <div class="navbar-collapse collapse w-100 dual-collapse2 order-2 order-md-2">
        <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto text-center">
            <li class="nav-item">
                <a class="nav-link" href="#">Link</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </div>
</nav>

Or, these other Bootstrap 4 alignment scenarios:

brand left, dead center links, (empty right)

brand and links center, icons left and right

More Bootstrap 4 examples:

toggler left on mobile, brand right
center brand and links on mobile
right align links on desktop, center links on mobile
left links & toggler, center brand, search right

Also see: Bootstrap 4 align navbar items to the right
Bootstrap 4 navbar right align with button that doesn't collapse on mobile
Center an element in Bootstrap 4 Navbar

Bootstrap 3

Option 1 - Brand center, with left/right nav links:

<nav class="navbar navbar-default" role="navigation">
  <div class="navbar-header">
    <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    </button>    
  </div>
  <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Brand</a>
  <div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-left">
        <li><a href="#">Left</a></li>
        <li><a href="#about">Left</a></li>
    </ul>
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
      <li><a href="#about">Right</a></li>
      <li><a href="#contact">Right</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

.navbar-brand
{
    position: absolute;
    width: 100%;
    left: 0;
    text-align: center;
    margin:0 auto;
}
.navbar-toggle {
    z-index:3;
}

http://bootply.com/98314 (3.x)

Option 2 - Left, center and right nav links:

<nav class="navbar navbar-default" role="navigation">
  <div class="navbar-header">
    <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    </button>    
  </div>
  <div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
        <li><a href="#">Left</a></li>
    </ul>
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-center">
        <li><a href="#">Center</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Center</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Center</a></li>
    </ul>
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
        <li><a href="#">Right</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .navbar-nav.navbar-center {
    position: absolute;
    left: 50%;
    transform: translatex(-50%);
  }
}

http://bootply.com/SGYC6BWeBK

Option 3 - Center both brand and links

.navbar .navbar-header,
.navbar-collapse {
    float:none;
    display:inline-block;
    vertical-align: top;
}

@media (max-width: 768px) {
    .navbar-collapse  {
        display: block;
    }
}

http://codeply.com/go/1lrdvNH9GI

More examples:

Left brand, center links
Left toggler, center brand

For 3.x also see nav-justified: Bootstrap center navbar

Center Navbar in Bootstrap
Bootstrap 4 align navbar items to the right

Solution 2:

Bootstrap 4

We have many ways to align navBars Items.

For Left Align

class = "navbar-nav mr-auto"

For Right Align

class = "navbar-nav ml-auto"

For Center Align

class = "navbar-nav mx-auto"

<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm bg-dark navbar-dark">
<a routerLink="/" class="navbar-brand" href="#">Bootsrap 4</a>
<ul class="navbar-nav ml-auto">
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="home">Home</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="about">About</a>
</li>
<li class="nav-item">
<a class="nav-link" href="contact">Contact us</a>
</li>
</ul>
</nav>

Solution 3:

I needed something similar (left, center and right aligned items), but with ability to mark centered items as active. What worked for me was:

http://www.bootply.com/CSI2KcCoEM

<nav class="navbar navbar-default" role="navigation">
  <div class="navbar-header">
    <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    </button>    
  </div>
  <div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
    <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
      <li class="navbar-left"><a href="#">Left 1</a></li>
      <li class="navbar-left"><a href="#">Left 2</a></li>
      <li class="active"><a href="#">Center 1</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Center 2</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Center 3</a></li>
      <li class="navbar-right"><a href="#">Right 1</a></li>
      <li class="navbar-right"><a href="#">Right 2</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

CSS:

@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .navbar-nav {
    width: 100%;
    text-align: center;
  }
  .navbar-nav > li {
    float: none;
    display: inline-block;
  }
  .navbar-nav > li.navbar-right {
    float: right !important;
  }
}

Solution 4:

Bootstrap 4 (as of alpha 6)

Navbars are built with flexbox! Instead of floats, you’ll need flexbox and margin utilities.

For Align Right use justify-content-end on the collapse div:

<div class="collapse navbar-collapse justify-content-end">
  <ul class="navbar-nav">
    <li class="nav-item active">
      <a class="nav-link" href="#">Home</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div>

Full example here: https://jsbin.com/kemawa/edit?output

Solution 5:

Smack my head, just reread my answer and realized the OP was asking for two logo's one on the left one on the right with a center menu, not the other way around.

This can be accomplished strictly in the HTML by using Bootstrap's "navbar-right" and "navbar-left" for the logos and then "nav-justified" instead of "navbar-nav" for your UL. No addtional CSS needed (unless you want to put the navbar-collapse toggle in the center in the xs viewport, then you need to override a bit, but will leave that up to you).

<nav class="navbar navbar-default" role="navigation">
  <div class="navbar-header">
    <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
      <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    </button>
    <div class="navbar-brand navbar-left"><a href="#"><img src="http://placehold.it/150x30"></a></div>

  </div>
  <div class="navbar-brand navbar-right"><a href="#"><img src="http://placehold.it/150x30"></a></div>

  <div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
    <ul class="nav nav-justified">
        <li><a href="#">home</a></li>
        <li><a href="#about">about</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</nav>

Bootply: http://www.bootply.com/W6uB8YfKxm

For those who got here trying to center the "brand" here is my old answer:

I know this thread is a little old, but just to post my findings when working on this. I decided to base my solution on skelly's answer since tomaszbak's breaks on collaspe. First I created my "navbar-center" and turned off float for the normal navbar in my CSS:

.navbar-center
{
   position: absolute;
   width: 100%;
   left: 0;
   text-align: center;
   margin: auto;
}

.navbar-brand{
   float:none;
}

However the issue with skelly's answer is if you have a really long brand name (or you wanted to use an image for your brand) then once you get to the the sm viewport there could be overlapping due to the absolute position and as the commenters have said, once you get to the xs viewport the toggle switch breaks (unless you use Z positioning but I really didn't want to have to worry about it).

So what I did was utilize the bootstrap responsive utilities to create multiple version of the brand block:

<nav class="navbar navbar-default" role="navigation">
<div class="navbar-header">
  <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
  </button>
  <div class="navbar-brand visible-xs"><a href="#">Brand That is Really Long</a></div>
</div>
<div class="navbar-brand visible-sm text-center"><a href="#">Brand That is Really Long</a></div>
<div class="navbar-brand navbar-center hidden-xs hidden-sm"><a href="#">Brand That is Really Long</a></div>

<div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
  <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-left">
      <li><a href="#">Left</a></li>
      <li><a href="#about">Left</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Left</a></li>
      <li><a href="#about">Left</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Left</a></li>
      <li><a href="#about">Left</a></li>
  </ul>
  <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
    <li><a href="#about">Right</a></li>
    <li><a href="#contact">Right</a></li>
    <li><a href="#about">Right</a></li>
    <li><a href="#contact">Right</a></li>
    <li><a href="#about">Right</a></li>
    <li><a href="#contact">Right</a></li>
  </ul>
</div>

So now the lg and md viewports have the brand centered with links to the left and right, once you get to the sm viewport your links drop to the next line so that you don't overlap with your brand, and then finally at the xs viewport the collaspe kicks in and you are able to use the toggle. You could take this a step further and modify the media queries for the navbar-right and navbar-left when used with navbar-brand so that in the sm viewport the links are all centered but didn't have the time to vet it out.

You can check my old bootply here: www.bootply.com/n3PXXropP3

I guess having 3 brands might be just as much hassle as the "z" but I feel like in the world of responsive design this solution fits my style better.