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Special Characters

by Ross Shannon

There is a huge list of extra characters and symbols in existence that couldn’t be crammed onto a keyboard, so HTML allows you to use them through a series of special codes commonly known as “ampersand characters” or “character entities.”

You can create these characters by starting with an ampersand (&), followed by a few letters, and ending with a semicolon (;). For instance, the entity © creates a copyright symbol ©. All entities are case sensitive. There are also numerical codes for most characters — these are harder to remember, but may enjoy better browser support.

Clock This page was last updated on 2012-08-21


Character Sets

Every document you create should have a character set specified for it. Your charset, for short, is the range of letters, numbers and other symbols that your document will be able to use without having to encode the character with one of the entities below. If you use the right encoding, you can just type whatever character you need directly into the text without having to do anything more.

Most pages that are written in any form of English will use a character set called iso-8859-1. An even better character set is called Unicode, and is designated by the code UTF-8. Unicode is a set of nearly every character ever used, so you will not have to escape very many characters when writing. To make sure all browsers know this is the character set you’re using, it is recommended that you put this line into all of your documents’ head section:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=UTF-8">

This means you’ll be able to use any character that’s in UTF-8 by simply typing it into the document.

If you are forced for some reason to use a more limited charset like iso-8859-1, and you want to use a character not in the charset, like a Greek Theta (Θ) for instance, you’ll have to encode it as an entity by typing its corresponding code: &Theta;.

Markup-related Symbols

You’ll probably find the characters >, < and & on your keyboard, but if you’re using them as part of your page’s text you should always encode them as their entity counterparts. Otherwise, a browser may think you’re starting a tag or entity and mess things up.

Named Numbered Symbol Description
  &#00; – &#47;   standard punctuation/unused
&quot; &#34; " quotation mark
&amp; &#38; & ampersand
  &#48; – &#57;   numbers
  &#58; – &#63;   more standard punctuation
&lt; &#60; < less-than sign
&gt; &#62; > greater-than sign
  &#64; @ commercial at sign
  &#65 – &#90;   uppercase standard letters
  &#91; – &#96;   yet more standard punctuation
  &#97; – &#122;   lowercase standard letters
  &#123; – &#159;   punctuation/unused
&nbsp; &#160;   non-breaking space

Standard Letter Variations

Named Numbered Symbol Description
&Agrave; &#192; À latin capital letter A with grave
&Aacute; &#193; Á latin capital letter A with acute
&Acirc; &#194; Â latin capital letter A with circumflex
&Atilde; &#195; Ã latin capital letter A with tilde
&Auml; &#196; Ä latin capital letter A with diaeresis
&Aring; &#197; Å latin capital letter A with ring above
&AElig; &#198; Æ latin capital letter AE
&Ccedil; &#199; Ç latin capital letter C with cedilla
&Egrave; &#200; È latin capital letter E with grave
&Eacute; &#201; É latin capital letter E with acute
&Ecirc; &#202; Ê latin capital letter E with circumflex
&Euml; &#203; Ë latin capital letter E with diaeresis
&Igrave; &#204; Ì latin capital letter I with grave
&Iacute; &#205; Í latin capital letter I with acute
&Icirc; &#206; Î latin capital letter I with circumflex
&Iuml; &#207; Ï latin capital letter I with diaeresis
&ETH; &#208; Ð latin capital letter ETH
&Ntilde; &#209; Ñ latin capital letter N with tilde
&Ograve; &#210; Ò latin capital letter O with grave
&Oacute; &#211; Ó latin capital letter O with acute
&Ocirc; &#212; Ô latin capital letter O with circumflex
&Otilde; &#213; Õ latin capital letter O with tilde
&Ouml; &#214; Ö latin capital letter O with diaeresis
&times; &#215; × multiplication sign
&Oslash; &#216; Ø latin capital letter O with stroke
&Ugrave; &#217; Ù latin capital letter U with grave
&Uacute; &#218; Ú latin capital letter U with acute
&Ucirc; &#219; Û latin capital letter U with circumflex
&Uuml; &#220; Ü latin capital letter U with diaeresis
&Yacute; &#221; Ý latin capital letter Y with acute
&THORN; &#222; Þ latin capital letter THORN
&szlig; &#223; ß latin small letter sharp s
&agrave; &#224; à latin small letter a with grave
&aacute; &#225; á latin small letter a with acute
&acirc; &#226; â latin small letter a with circumflex
&atilde; &#227; ã latin small letter a with tilde
&auml; &#228; ä latin small letter a with diaeresis
&aring; &#229; å latin small letter a with ring above
&aelig; &#230; æ latin small letter ae
&ccedil; &#231; ç latin small letter c with cedilla
&egrave; &#232; è latin small letter e with grave
&eacute; &#233; é latin small letter e with acute
&ecirc; &#234; ê latin small letter e with circumflex
&euml; &#235; ë latin small letter e with diaeresis
&igrave; &#236; ì latin small letter i with grave
&iacute; &#237; í latin small letter i with acute
&icirc; &#238; î latin small letter i with circumflex
&iuml; &#239; ï latin small letter i with diaeresis
&eth; &#240; ð latin small letter eth
&ntilde; &#241; ñ latin small letter n with tilde
&ograve; &#242; ò latin small letter o with grave
&oacute; &#243; ó latin small letter o with acute
&ocirc; &#244; ô latin small letter o with circumflex
&otilde; &#245; õ latin small letter o with tilde
&ouml; &#246; ö latin small letter o with diaeresis
&divide; &#247; ÷ division sign
&oslash; &#248; ø latin small letter o with stroke
&ugrave; &#249; ù latin small letter u with grave
&uacute; &#250; ú latin small letter u with acute
&ucirc; &#251; û latin small letter u with circumflex
&uuml; &#252; ü latin small letter u with diaeresis
&yacute; &#253; ý latin small letter y with acute
&thorn; &#254; þ latin small letter thorn
&yuml; &#255; ÿ latin small letter y with diaeresis
&OElig; &#338; Πlatin capital ligature OE
&oelig; &#339; œ latin small ligature oe
&Scaron; &#352; Š latin capital letter S with caron
&scaron; &#353; š latin small letter s with caron
&Yuml; &#376; Ÿ latin capital letter Y with diaeresis
&fnof; &#402; ƒ latin small f with hook
&circ; &#710; ˆ modifier letter circumflex accent
&tilde; &#732; ˜ small tilde

Pretty Punctuation

Make your text more stylish with proper punctuation.

Named Numbered Symbol Description
&ndash; &#8211; – en dash
&mdash; &#8212; — em dash
&lsquo; &#8216; ‘ left single quotation mark
&rsquo; &#8217; ’ right single quotation mark
&sbquo; &#8218; ‚ single low-9 quotation mark
&ldquo; &#8220; “ left double quotation mark
&rdquo; &#8221; ” right double quotation mark
&bdquo; &#8222; „ double low-9 quotation mark
&lsaquo; &#8249; ‹ single left-pointing angle quotation mark
&rsaquo; &#8250; › single right-pointing angle quotation mark

Mathematical Symbols ’n’ Greek Letters

Named Numbered Symbol Description
&iexcl; &#161; ¡ inverted exclamation mark
&cent; &#162; ¢ cent sign
&pound; &#163; £ pound sign
&curren; &#164; ¤ currency sign
&yen; &#165; ¥ yen sign
&euro; &#8364; € euro sign
&brvbar; &#166; ¦ broken bar
&sect; &#167; § section sign
&uml; &#168; ¨ diaeresis
&copy; &#169; © copyright sign
&ordf; &#170; ª feminine ordinal indicator
&laquo; &#171; « left-pointing double angle quotation mark
&not; &#172; ¬ not sign
&shy; &#173; ­ soft hyphen
&reg; &#174; ® registered sign
&macr; &#175; ¯ macron
&deg; &#176; ° degree sign
&plusmn; &#177; ± plus-minus sign
&sup2; &#178; ² superscript two
&sup3; &#179; ³ superscript three
&acute; &#180; ´ acute accent
&micro; &#181; µ micro sign
&para; &#182; pilcrow sign
&middot; &#183; · middle dot
&cedil; &#184; ¸ cedilla
&sup1; &#185; ¹ superscript one
&ordm; &#186; º masculine ordinal indicator
&raquo; &#187; » right-pointing double angle quotation mark
&frac14; &#188; ¼ vulgar fraction one quarter
&frac12; &#189; ½ vulgar fraction one half
&frac34; &#190; ¾ vulgar fraction three quarters
&iquest; &#191; ¿ inverted question mark
&Alpha; &#913; Α greek capital letter alpha
&Beta; &#914; Β greek capital letter beta
&Gamma; &#915; Γ greek capital letter gamma
&Delta; &#916; Δ greek capital letter delta
&Epsilon; &#917; Ε greek capital letter epsilon
&Zeta; &#918; Ζ greek capital letter zeta
&Eta; &#919; Η greek capital letter eta
&Theta; &#920; Θ greek capital letter theta
&Iota; &#921; Ι greek capital letter iota
&Kappa; &#922; Κ greek capital letter kappa
&Lambda; &#923; Λ greek capital letter lambda
&Mu; &#924; Μ greek capital letter mu
&Nu; &#925; Ν greek capital letter nu
&Xi; &#926; Ξ greek capital letter xi
&Omicron; &#927; Ο greek capital letter omicron
&Pi; &#928; Π greek capital letter pi
&Rho; &#929; Ρ greek capital letter rho
&Sigma; &#931; Σ greek capital letter sigma
&Tau; &#932; Τ greek capital letter tau
&Upsilon; &#933; Υ greek capital letter upsilon
&Phi; &#934; Φ greek capital letter phi
&Chi; &#935; Χ greek capital letter chi
&Psi; &#936; Ψ greek capital letter psi
&Omega; &#937; Ω greek capital letter omega
&alpha; &#945; α greek small letter alpha
&beta; &#946; β greek small letter beta
&gamma; &#947; γ greek small letter gamma
&delta; &#948; δ greek small letter delta
&epsilon; &#949; ε greek small letter epsilon
&zeta; &#950; ζ greek small letter zeta
&eta; &#951; η greek small letter eta
&theta; &#952; θ greek small letter theta
&iota; &#953; ι greek small letter iota
&kappa; &#954; κ greek small letter kappa
&lambda; &#955; λ greek small letter lambda
&mu; &#956; μ greek small letter mu
&nu; &#957; ν greek small letter nu
&xi; &#958; ξ greek small letter xi
&omicron; &#959; ο greek small letter omicron
&pi; &#960; π greek small letter pi
&rho; &#961; ρ greek small letter rho
&sigmaf; &#962; ς greek small letter final sigma
&sigma; &#963; σ greek small letter sigma
&tau; &#964; τ greek small letter tau
&upsilon; &#965; υ greek small letter upsilon
&phi; &#966; φ greek small letter phi
&chi; &#967; χ greek small letter chi
&psi; &#968; ψ greek small letter psi
&omega; &#969; ω greek small letter omega
&thetasym; &#977; ϑ greek small letter theta symbol
&upsih; &#978; ϒ greek upsilon with hook symbol
&piv; &#982; ϖ greek pi symbol
&dagger; &#8224; † dagger
&Dagger; &#8225; ‡ double dagger
&bull; &#8226; • bullet
&hellip; &#8230; … horizontal ellipsis
&permil; &#8240; ‰ per mille sign
&prime; &#8242; ′ primeminutes
&Prime; &#8243; ″ double prime
&oline; &#8254; ‾ overline
&frasl; &#8260; ⁄ fraction slash
&weierp; &#8472; ℘ script capital P
&image; &#8465; ℑ blackletter capital I
&real; &#8476; ℜ blackletter capital R
&trade; &#8482; ™ trade mark sign
&alefsym; &#8501; ℵ alef symbol
&larr; &#8592; ← leftwards arrow
&uarr; &#8593; ↑ upwards arrow
&rarr; &#8594; → rightwards arrow
&darr; &#8595; ↓ downwards arrow
&harr; &#8596; ↔ left right arrow
&crarr; &#8629; ↵ downwards arrow with corner leftwards
&lArr; &#8656; ⇐ leftwards double arrow
&uArr; &#8657; ⇑ upwards double arrow
&rArr; &#8658; ⇒ rightwards double arrow
&dArr; &#8659; ⇓ downwards double arrow
&hArr; &#8660; ⇔ left right double arrow
&forall; &#8704; ∀ for all
&part; &#8706; ∂ partial differential
&exist; &#8707; ∃ there exists
&empty; &#8709; ∅ empty set
&nabla; &#8711; ∇ nabla
&isin; &#8712; ∈ element of
&notin; &#8713; ∉ not an element of
&ni; &#8715; ∋ contains as member
&prod; &#8719; ∏ n-ary product
&sum; &#8721; ∑ n-ary sumation
&minus; &#8722; − minus sign
&lowast; &#8727; ∗ asterisk operator
&radic; &#8730; √ square root
&prop; &#8733; ∝ proportional to
&infin; &#8734; ∞ infinity
&ang; &#8736; ∠ angle
&and; &#8743; ∧ logical and
&or; &#8744; ∨ logical or
&cap; &#8745; ∩ intersection
&cup; &#8746; ∪ union
&int; &#8747; ∫ integral
&there4; &#8756; ∴ therefore
&sim; &#8764; ∼ tilde operator
&cong; &#8773; ≅ approximately equal to
&asymp; &#8776; ≈ almost equal to
&ne; &#8800; ≠ not equal to
&equiv; &#8801; ≡ identical to
&le; &#8804; ≤ less-than or equal to
&ge; &#8805; ≥ greater-than or equal to
&sub; &#8834; ⊂ subset of
&sup; &#8835; ⊃ superset of
&nsub; &#8836; ⊄ not a subset of
&sube; &#8838; ⊆ subset of or equal to
&supe; &#8839; ⊇ superset of or equal to
&oplus; &#8853; ⊕ circled plus
&otimes; &#8855; ⊗ circled times
&perp; &#8869; ⊥ up tack
&sdot; &#8901; ⋅ dot operator
&lceil; &#8968; ⌈ left ceiling
&rceil; &#8969; ⌉ right ceiling
&lfloor; &#8970; ⌊ left floor
&rfloor; &#8971; ⌋ right floor
&lang; &#9001; ⟨ left-pointing angle-bracket
&rang; &#9002; ⟩ right-pointing angle-bracket
&loz; &#9674; ◊ lozenge
&spades; &#9824; ♠ black spade suit
&clubs; &#9827; ♣ black club suit
&hearts; &#9829; ♥ black heart suit
&diams; &#9830; ♦ black diamond suit

Special Spaces

Named Numbered Symbol Description
&ensp; &#8194;   en space
&emsp; &#8195;   em space
&thinsp; &#8201;   thin space
&zwnj; &#8204; ‌ zero width non-joiner
&zwj; &#8205; ‍ zero width joiner
&lrm; &#8206; ‎ left-to-right mark
&rlm; &#8207; ‏ right-to-left mark

Caution: If you are putting in the code correctly but the symbol isn’t coming up you may want to check which font the text is in. Some typefaces won’t have the symbol included.

You may also hit upon the rather more thorny issue of browser support. Tables of supported special characters are sent out with each new HTML specification, so your browser simply may not support a certain representation. If you haven’t already, try the numerical value, they’re better-supported.