diff --git a/e2e/pageobjects/canvas.page.ts b/e2e/pageobjects/canvas.page.ts
index ca5d60e..d235f94 100644
--- a/e2e/pageobjects/canvas.page.ts
+++ b/e2e/pageobjects/canvas.page.ts
@@ -207,6 +207,22 @@ export const canvas = {
     );
   },
 
+  /**
+   * The colour of the hairline around one format's badge in the rail. ⚠️ Read on the badge
+   * and not on the chip: the chip is the click surface, the badge is what carries the ring,
+   * and they live in two different components — which is the whole trap (#207).
+   */
+  badgeRing(language: string): Promise<string | null> {
+    return browser.execute(
+      (chipSelector: string, wanted: string) => {
+        const chip = document.querySelector(`${chipSelector}[data-language="${wanted}"]`);
+        const badge = chip?.querySelector('.lang-tag');
+        return badge ? getComputedStyle(badge).borderTopColor : null;
+      },
+      testid('language-chip'),
+      language,
+    );
+  },
   async waitForCard(title: string): Promise<void> {
     await browser.waitUntil(async () => (await canvas.titles()).includes(title), {
       timeout: 15_000,
diff --git a/e2e/specs/06-search-and-filters.e2e.ts b/e2e/specs/06-search-and-filters.e2e.ts
index 47fbdf6..c0d3a8f 100644
--- a/e2e/specs/06-search-and-filters.e2e.ts
+++ b/e2e/specs/06-search-and-filters.e2e.ts
@@ -145,6 +145,21 @@ describe('Search, filters and facets', () => {
       await canvas.toggleLanguage('sh');
     });
 
+    /**
+     * ⚠️ #207: the rail cannot reach the badge. `.lang-tag` belongs to `app-language-badge`,
+     * so a rule written in the rail's own stylesheet is rewritten with the rail's
+     * `_ngcontent` attribute and never matches — the selection had no mark at all while
+     * `outlines` above still counted one. The badge's own hairline was that one.
+     */
+    it('marks the selected format on the badge that carries the ring', async () => {
+      const resting = await canvas.badgeRing('sh');
+      await canvas.toggleLanguage('sh');
+      const selected = await canvas.badgeRing('sh');
+      await canvas.toggleLanguage('sh');
+
+      expect(resting).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(selected).not.toBe(resting);
+    });
     it('drops the search, the tag and the language in one click', async () => {
       await canvas.search('Docker');
       await canvas.toggleTag('ops');
diff --git a/src/app/notes/header/language-rail/language-rail.component.scss b/src/app/notes/header/language-rail/language-rail.component.scss
index dd1be54..4dc8e1d 100644
--- a/src/app/notes/header/language-rail/language-rail.component.scss
+++ b/src/app/notes/header/language-rail/language-rail.component.scss
@@ -35,13 +35,18 @@
 // #196, and a second outline two pixels further out — at a different radius — read as two
 // rings around one badge rather than as a selection. The padding stays, because it is what
 // the chip is clickable by.
-.language-chip:hover .lang-tag {
-  border-color: var(--line);
+//
+// ⚠️ Which is why the state is handed down as a custom property and not written as a rule
+// on `.lang-tag`: that element belongs to `app-language-badge`, and emulated encapsulation
+// rewrites a selector spelled here with *this* component's `_ngcontent` attribute. It then
+// matches nothing, silently — and the selected format had no mark at all (#207).
+.language-chip:hover {
+  --badge-ring: var(--line);
 }
 
-.language-chip.on .lang-tag {
-  border-color: var(--amber);
-  background: var(--bg-2);
+.language-chip.on {
+  --badge-ring: var(--amber);
+  --badge-surface: var(--bg-2);
 }
 
 .language-chip:focus-visible {
diff --git a/src/styles/_mixins.scss b/src/styles/_mixins.scss
index bfd615a..ad090e8 100644
--- a/src/styles/_mixins.scss
+++ b/src/styles/_mixins.scss
@@ -188,9 +188,11 @@
 // ⚠️ The hairline is what gives the chip a shape, and it is in the hue rather than in a
 // grey: `--bg-3` sits at 1.1:1 against the light theme's surfaces, so a neutral fill alone
 // left the badge as bare text on every light screen.
+// ⚠️ `--badge-ring` and `--badge-surface` are the only way in from outside: the badge is a
+// component of its own, so a consumer's stylesheet cannot reach `.lang-tag` with a rule.
 @mixin hue-badge($colour) {
-  background: var(--bg-3);
-  border: 1px solid color-mix(in srgb, #{$colour} 40%, transparent);
+  background: var(--badge-surface, var(--bg-3));
+  border: 1px solid var(--badge-ring, color-mix(in srgb, #{$colour} 40%, transparent));
   color: $colour;
 }