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Complex Marker Icons

  • This example demonstrates how to create complex markers on a Google Map using thegoogle.maps.Marker class.

  • The markers are customized with images, shapes, and specific coordinates to represent beaches near Sydney, Australia.

  • The code provides examples in both JavaScript and TypeScript, along with CSS and HTML for setting up the map display.

  • Althoughgoogle.maps.Marker is deprecated in favor ofgoogle.maps.marker.AdvancedMarkerElement, it's still functional and used in this example.

As of February 21st, 2024 (v3.56), google.maps.Marker is deprecated. We encourage you to transition to the newgoogle.maps.marker.AdvancedMarkerElement class. Advanced markers provide substantial improvements over the legacygoogle.maps.Marker class. The minimum version of the Maps JavaScript API withgoogle.maps.marker.AdvancedMarkerElement is 3.53.2. At this time, google.maps.Marker is not scheduled to be discontinued.

Learn more

This example creates complex markers to indicate beaches near Sydney, New SouthWales, Australia.

Read thedocumentation.

TypeScript

// The following example creates complex markers to indicate beaches near// Sydney, NSW, Australia. Note that the anchor is set to (0,32) to correspond// to the base of the flagpole.functioninitMap():void{constmap=newgoogle.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map")asHTMLElement,{zoom:10,center:{lat:-33.9,lng:151.2},});setMarkers(map);}// Data for the markers consisting of a name, a LatLng and a zIndex for the// order in which these markers should display on top of each other.constbeaches:[string,number,number,number][]=[["Bondi Beach",-33.890542,151.274856,4],["Coogee Beach",-33.923036,151.259052,5],["Cronulla Beach",-34.028249,151.157507,3],["Manly Beach",-33.80010128657071,151.28747820854187,2],["Maroubra Beach",-33.950198,151.259302,1],];functionsetMarkers(map:google.maps.Map){// Adds markers to the map.// Marker sizes are expressed as a Size of X,Y where the origin of the image// (0,0) is located in the top left of the image.// Origins, anchor positions and coordinates of the marker increase in the X// direction to the right and in the Y direction down.constimage={url:"https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/full/images/beachflag.png",// This marker is 20 pixels wide by 32 pixels high.size:newgoogle.maps.Size(20,32),// The origin for this image is (0, 0).origin:newgoogle.maps.Point(0,0),// The anchor for this image is the base of the flagpole at (0, 32).anchor:newgoogle.maps.Point(0,32),};// Shapes define the clickable region of the icon. The type defines an HTML// <area> element 'poly' which traces out a polygon as a series of X,Y points.// The final coordinate closes the poly by connecting to the first coordinate.constshape={coords:[1,1,1,20,18,20,18,1],type:"poly",};for(leti=0;i <beaches.length;i++){constbeach=beaches[i];newgoogle.maps.Marker({position:{lat:beach[1],lng:beach[2]},map,icon:image,shape:shape,title:beach[0],zIndex:beach[3],});}}declareglobal{interfaceWindow{initMap:()=>void;}}window.initMap=initMap;
Note: Read theguide on using TypeScript and Google Maps.

JavaScript

// The following example creates complex markers to indicate beaches near// Sydney, NSW, Australia. Note that the anchor is set to (0,32) to correspond// to the base of the flagpole.functioninitMap(){constmap=newgoogle.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map"),{zoom:10,center:{lat:-33.9,lng:151.2},});setMarkers(map);}// Data for the markers consisting of a name, a LatLng and a zIndex for the// order in which these markers should display on top of each other.constbeaches=[["Bondi Beach",-33.890542,151.274856,4],["Coogee Beach",-33.923036,151.259052,5],["Cronulla Beach",-34.028249,151.157507,3],["Manly Beach",-33.80010128657071,151.28747820854187,2],["Maroubra Beach",-33.950198,151.259302,1],];functionsetMarkers(map){// Adds markers to the map.// Marker sizes are expressed as a Size of X,Y where the origin of the image// (0,0) is located in the top left of the image.// Origins, anchor positions and coordinates of the marker increase in the X// direction to the right and in the Y direction down.constimage={url:"https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/full/images/beachflag.png",// This marker is 20 pixels wide by 32 pixels high.size:newgoogle.maps.Size(20,32),// The origin for this image is (0, 0).origin:newgoogle.maps.Point(0,0),// The anchor for this image is the base of the flagpole at (0, 32).anchor:newgoogle.maps.Point(0,32),};// Shapes define the clickable region of the icon. The type defines an HTML// <area> element 'poly' which traces out a polygon as a series of X,Y points.// The final coordinate closes the poly by connecting to the first coordinate.constshape={coords:[1,1,1,20,18,20,18,1],type:"poly",};for(leti=0;i <beaches.length;i++){constbeach=beaches[i];newgoogle.maps.Marker({position:{lat:beach[1],lng:beach[2]},map,icon:image,shape:shape,title:beach[0],zIndex:beach[3],});}}window.initMap=initMap;
Note: The JavaScript is compiled from the TypeScript snippet.

CSS

/* * Always set the map height explicitly to define the size of the div element * that contains the map. */#map{height:100%;}/* * Optional: Makes the sample page fill the window. */html,body{height:100%;margin:0;padding:0;}

HTML

<html>  <head>    <title>Complex Marker Icons</title>    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./style.css" />    <script type="module" src="./index.js"></script>  </head>  <body>    <div></div>    <!--       The `defer` attribute causes the script to execute after the full HTML      document has been parsed. For non-blocking uses, avoiding race conditions,      and consistent behavior across browsers, consider loading using Promises. See      https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/load-maps-js-api      for more information.      -->    <script      src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?key=AIzaSyB41DRUbKWJHPxaFjMAwdrzWzbVKartNGg&callback=initMap&v=weekly"      defer    ></script>  </body></html>

Try Sample

Clone Sample

Git and Node.js are required to run this sample locally. Follow theseinstructions to install Node.js and NPM. The following commands clone, install dependencies and start the sample application.

gitclone-bsample-icon-complexhttps://github.com/googlemaps/js-samples.gitcdjs-samplesnpminpmstart

Other samples can be tried by switching to any branch beginning withsample-SAMPLE_NAME.

gitcheckoutsample-SAMPLE_NAMEnpminpmstart

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under theApache 2.0 License. For details, see theGoogle Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-12-11 UTC.