Pseudo-elements are treated as descendants of their associated element. To position a pseudo-element below its parent, you have to create a new stacking context to change the default stacking order.
Positioning the pseudo-element (absolute) and assigning a z-index value other than “auto” creates the new stacking context.
#element {
position: relative; /* optional */
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: blue;
}
#element::after {
content: "";
width: 150px;
height: 150px;
background-color: red;
/* create a new stacking context */
position: absolute;
z-index: -1; /* to be below the parent element */
}<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Position a pseudo-element below its parent</title>
</head>
<body>
<div id="element">
</div>
</body>
</html>