html - Center one and right/left align other flexbox element

Question

I would like to have A B and C aligned in the middle.

How can I get D to go completely to the right?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

ul {
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: row;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
}
li {
  display: flex;
  margin: 1px;
  padding: 5px;
  background: #aaa;
}
li:last-child {
  background: #ddd;
  /* magic to throw to the right*/
}

<ul>
  <li>A</li>
  <li>B</li>
  <li>C</li>
  <li>D</li>
</ul>

Answer 1

Below are five options for achieving this layout:

• CSS Positioning
• Flexbox with Invisible DOM Element
• Flexbox with Invisible Pseudo-Element
• Flexbox with flex: 1
• CSS Grid Layout

---

Method #1: CSS Positioning Properties

Apply position: relative to the flex container.

Apply position: absolute to item D.

Now this item is absolutely positioned within the flex container.

More specifically, item D is removed from the document flow but stays within the bounds of the nearest positioned ancestor.

Use the CSS offset properties top and right to move this element into position.

li:last-child {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  right: 0;
  background: #ddd;
}
ul {
  position: relative;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: row;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
}
li {
  display: flex;
  margin: 1px;
  padding: 5px;
  background: #aaa;
}
p {
  text-align: center;
  margin-top: 0;
}
span {
  background-color: aqua;
}

<ul>
  <li>A</li>
  <li>B</li>
  <li>C</li>
  <li>D</li>
</ul>
<p><span>true center</span></p>