Which is more proper: <br /> or <br>?

Question

Even though it works on a webpage, I have seen editors like Bluefish try to append an end tag when I use <br>. Would it be wise to go for <br /> instead?

Answer 1

<br /> was HTML 4 now in HTML 5 you don't need to close br so just use <br>

Answer 2

In HTML, the <br> tag has no end tag.

In XHTML, the <br> tag must be properly closed, like this: <br />.

Answer 3

Of course <br />
it is standard and you can use it in xhtml too.
it make code easy to read and understand.

Answer 4

Thanks everyone. Since I use Bluefish a lot, I'll use <br /> to avoid the problems.