What's the proper value for a checked attribute of an HTML checkbox?

We all know how to form a checkbox input in HTML:

<input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox">

What I don't know -- what's the technically correct value for a checked checkbox? I've seen these all work:

<input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox" checked>
    <input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox" checked="on">
    <input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox" checked="yes">
    <input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox" checked="checked">
    <input name="checkbox_name" id="checkbox_id" type="checkbox" checked="true">

Is the answer that it doesn't matter? I see no evidence for the answer marked as correct here from the spec itself:

Checkboxes (and radio buttons) are on/off switches that may be toggled by the user. A switch is "on" when the control element's checked attribute is set. When a form is submitted, only "on" checkbox controls can become successful. Several checkboxes in a form may share the same control name. Thus, for example, checkboxes allow users to select several values for the same property. The INPUT element is used to create a checkbox control.

What would a spec writer say is the correct answer? Please provide evidence-based answers.

Strictly speaking, you should put something that makes sense - according to the spec here, the most correct version is:

<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked=checked>

For HTML, you can also use the empty attribute syntax, checked="", or even simply checked (for stricter XHTML, this is not supported).

Effectively, however, most browsers will support just about any value between the quotes. All of the following will be checked:

<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked>
<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked="">
<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked="yes">
<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked="blue">
<input name=name id=id type=checkbox checked="false">

And only the following will be unchecked:

<input name=name id=id type=checkbox>

See also this similar question on disabled="disabled".

HTML5 spec:

http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/forms.html#attr-input-checked :

The disabled content attribute is a boolean attribute.

http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/infrastructure.html#boolean-attributes :

The presence of a boolean attribute on an element represents the true value, and the absence of the attribute represents the false value.

If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace.

Conclusion:

The following are valid, equivalent and true:

<input type="checkbox" checked />
<input type="checkbox" checked="" />
<input type="checkbox" checked="checked" />
<input type="checkbox" checked="ChEcKeD" />

The following are invalid:

<input type="checkbox" checked="0" />
<input type="checkbox" checked="1" />
<input type="checkbox" checked="false" />
<input type="checkbox" checked="true" />

The absence of the attribute is the only valid syntax for false:

<input />

Recommendation

If you care about writing valid XHTML, use checked="checked", since <input checked> is invalid XHTML (but valid HTML) and other alternatives are less readable. Else, just use <input checked> as it is shorter.