polaraxes

Create polar axes

Syntax

polaraxes

polaraxes(Name,Value)

polaraxes(parent,___)

pax = polaraxes(___)

polaraxes(pax_in)

Description

polaraxes creates the default polar axes in the current figure.

polaraxes(Name,Value) specifies properties for the PolarAxes object using one or more name-value pair arguments, for example, 'ThetaDir','clockwise'. For a list of properties, see PolarAxes Properties.

polaraxes(parent,___) creates the polar axes in the figure, panel, or tab specified by parent, instead of in the current figure. Use this option alone or with name-value pair arguments.

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

polaraxes(pax_in) makes the PolarAxes object pax_in the current axes.

Examples

Modify Polar Axes Properties

Create a new figure with polar axes and assign the polar axes object to pax. Add a plot to the axes. Then, use pax to modify axes properties.

figure
pax = polaraxes;
theta = 0:0.01:2*pi;
rho = sin(2*theta).*cos(2*theta);
polarplot(theta,rho)

pax.ThetaDir = 'clockwise';
pax.FontSize = 12;

Before R2022a, polar axes do not include degree symbols by default. To add them, get the polar axes using pax = gca. Then modify the tick labels using pax.ThetaTickLabel = string(pax.ThetaTickLabel) + char(176).

Make Polar Axes Current Axes

Create a figure with polar axes and assign the polar axes object to pax. Then, ensure pax is the current axes before calling the polarplot function.

figure
pax = polaraxes;

polaraxes(pax)
polarplot(1:10)

Input Arguments

parent — Parent container

Figure object | Panel object | Tab object | TiledChartLayout object | GridLayout object

Parent container, specified as a Figure, Panel, Tab, TiledChartLayout, or GridLayout object.

pax_in — Polar axes to make current

PolarAxes object

Polar axes to make current, specified as a PolarAxes object.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: 'ThetaZeroLocation','top','ThetaDir','clockwise'

The properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see PolarAxes Properties. Some graphics functions reset axes properties when plotting. To avoid graphics functions from overriding the property values, set axes properties after plotting.

ThetaAxisUnits — Units for angle values

'degrees' (default) | 'radians'

Units for angle values, specified as one of these values:

• 'degrees' — Label the angles in degrees, and interpret the ThetaLim, ThetaTick, and RAxisLocation property values in degrees. When you switch the units from radians to degrees, MATLAB^® converts the radian values in those three properties to the equivalent degree values.

• 'radians' — Label the angles in radians, and interpret the ThetaLim, ThetaTick, and RAxisLocation property values in radians. When you switch the units from degrees to radians, MATLAB converts the degree values in those three properties to the equivalent radian values.

Example: ax.ThetaAxisUnits = 'radians';

ThetaZeroLocation — Location of the zero reference axis

"right" (default) | "top" | "left" | "bottom" | angle value (since R2025a)

Location of the zero reference axis, specified as "right", "top", "left", "bottom", or an angle value. If you specify an angle value, be sure to a specify the value in degrees or radians, according to the ThetaAxisUnits property. By default, the ThetaAxisUnits property is set to "degrees".

Value	Result
"right"
"top"
"left"
"bottom"
45

Example: polaraxes(ThetaZeroLocation="left")

Example: polaraxes(ThetaZeroLocation=45)

ThetaDir — Direction of increasing angles

'counterclockwise' (default) | 'clockwise'

Direction of increasing angles, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Result
'counterclockwise'	Angles increase in a counterclockwise direction.
'clockwise'	Angles increase in a clockwise direction.

Example: ax.ThetaDir = 'clockwise';

ThetaLim — Minimum and maximum angle values

[0 360] (default) | two-element vector of the form [thmin thmax]

Minimum and maximum angle values, specified as a two-element vector of the form [thmin thmax]. If the difference between the values is less than 360 degrees, then the theta-axis is a partial circle.

MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.ThetaLim = [0 180];

ThetaTick — Angles at which to display lines

[0 30 60 ... 300 330 360] (default) | vector of increasing values

Angles at which to display lines extending from the origin, specified as a vector of increasing values. MATLAB labels the lines with the appropriate angle values, unless you specify different labels using the ThetaTickLabel property.

MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.ThetaTick = [0 90 180 270];

Alternatively, specify the values using the thetaticks function.

ThetaColor — Color of theta-axis

RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Color of the theta-axis, including the theta-axis grid lines, tick marks, tick labels. Specify this value as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

Note

If you specify the GridColor property, then the grid lines use the color in the GridColor property instead. See GridColorMode for more information.

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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the 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

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

For example, ax.ThetaColor = 'r' changes the color to red.

RAxisLocation — Location of r-axis

80 (default) | scalar angle value

Location of the r-axis, specified a scalar angle value. MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.RAxisLocation = 90;

RDir — Direction of increasing values along r-axis

'normal' (default) | 'reverse'

Direction of increasing values along the r-axis, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Values increase outward from the center of the chart. The radius at the origin corresponds to the minimum value stored in the RLim property (typically 0).

• 'reverse' — Values decrease outward from the center of the chart. The radius at the origin corresponds to the maximum value stored in the RLim property.

Example: ax.RDir = 'reverse';

RLim — Minimum and maximum radius limits

[0 1] (default) | two-element vector of the form [rmin rmax]

Minimum and maximum radius limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [rmin rmax], where rmax is a numeric value greater than rmin. You can specify both limits, or specify one limit and let the axes automatically calculate the other.

• To automatically set the minimum limit to the minimum data value, specify the first element as -inf, for example, [-inf 0].

• To automatically set the maximum limit to the maximum data value, specify the second element as inf, for example, [0 inf].

Alternatively, use the rlim function to set the limits.

Example: ax.RLim = [0 6];

RTick — Radius tick values

[0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1] (default) | vector of increasing values

Radius tick values, specified as a vector of increasing values. The radius tick values are the locations along the r-axis where the circular lines appear. The radius tick labels are the labels that you see next to each line. Use the RTickLabels property to specify the associated labels.

Example: ax.RTick = [0 2 4 6];

Alternatively, use the rticks function to specify the tick values.

RColor — Color of r-axis

RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Color of the r-axis, including the r-axis grid lines, tick marks, and tick labels. Specify this value as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

Note

If you specify the GridColor property, then the grid lines use the color in the GridColor property instead. See GridColorMode for more information.

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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the 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

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

For example, ax.RColor = 'r' changes the color to red.

Version History

Introduced in R2016a

R2022a: Tick values display with degree symbols by default

Polar axes now display tick values in degrees with degree symbols when the ThetaAxisUnits property is set to "degrees".

This change clarifies which units are being used for the theta tick values. You can use the ThetaAxisUnits property to display the tick values in degrees or radians. To remove the degree symbols, change the tick label format for the theta-axis:

pax = polaraxes;
pax.ThetaAxis.TickLabelFormat = "%g";