UTF-8 Code of Common Special Characters

Serge Y. Stroobandt

Copyright 2014–2023, licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

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Use

On GNU/Linux machines, special characters can be entered by their UTF Unicode using the key combination CtrlShiftU. Finish off with Enter or Space.

UTF-8 code for some of the most common special characters is listed below. Leading zeroes in Unicodes are omitted. These are not required when manually entering codes. Alternative key combinations are also listed; these may or may not work with your particular keyboard layout.

Fonts

The number of actually encoded Unicode glyphs varies greatly among fonts. There are some fonts with exceptionally broad Unicode support. In case of doubt, use this Unicode character search to check the availability of any particular glyph in a number of fonts.

Compose key

The “Compose key” entry on Wikipedia EN,
Linux Compose Key Sequences

The definitive guide to compose key combinations actually turns out to be the Compose file of the locale used on your system:

$ locale
$ less /usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose

Spacing

Spacing
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	HTML	glyph
`A0`	`SpaceSpace`	` `	non-breaking space “ ”
`2002`		`&ensp;`	en space “ ”
`2003`		`&emsp;`	em space “ ”
`2007`		` `	figure space is a non-breaking space equal to the tabular width; i.e. the digit width in fonts with fixed-width digits.
`200B`		``	zero width space
`202F`		`&nnbsp;`	narrow, non-breaking thin space for use with units e.g. compare the narrow “1 m” to the wider “1 m”.
`2060`		(Does not work.)	word joiner or zero-width no-break space

General punctuation

General punctuation
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	glyph
`2011`		non-breaking hyphen ‑
`2012`		figure dash ‒, length in between en and em dash
`2014`	`---`	em dash —, used in pairs to offset parenthetical text
`2026`	`..`	horizontal ellipsis …

Footnote symbols

The traditional order of footnote symbols in English is *, †, ‡, §, ‖, ¶.

Footnote symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`2A`			asterisk or star *
`2020`			dagger †
`2021`			double dagger ‡
`A7`	`so`		section symbol §
`2016`			double vertical line ‖
`B6`	`p!`	`AltGrR`	pilcrow ¶

Computing symbols

Computing symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`21B5`			downwards arrow with corner leftwards; may indicate a carriage return or new line ↵
`21E7`			upwards white arrow; represents shift ⇧
`23CE`			return symbol; may be shown with either hollow or filled glyph ⏎
`2423`			open box graphic for space ␣
`2BA0`			downwards triangle-headed arrow with long tip leftwards ⮠
`2BA1`			downwards triangle-headed arrow with long tip rightwards ⮡

Ballot symbols

Ballot characters can be entered using the Compose only when using my customised .XCompose file on your system.

Ballot symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	glyph
`2610`		ballot box ☐
`2611`		ballot box with check ☑
`2612`		ballot box with X ☒
`2713`	`tt` or `tv`	check mark ✓
`2717`	`tx`	ballot X ✗
`1F518`		radio button 🔘
`1F5F4`		ballot script X 🗴
`1F5F7`		ballot box with bold script X 🗷
`1F5F8`		light check mark 🗸
`1F5F9`		ballot box with bold check 🗹
`1F78A`		white circle containing black small circle 🞊
`1F78E`		light white square 🞎

Bullet list symbols

Greek characters can be entered using the Compose only when using my customised .XCompose file on your system.

Bullet list symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`2022`			bullet •
`2023`			triangular bullet ‣
`2043`			hyphen bullet ⁃
`25E6`			white bullet ◦

Religious symbols

Religious symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`271D`			Latin cross ✝

Science & math characters

Science & math characters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`5E`		2× `AltGrÄ`	circumflex accent ^
`B0`	`oo`	`ShiftAltGr0`	degree sign °
`B1`	`+-`	`ShiftAltGr9`	plus-minus sign ±
`B9`	`^1`		superscipt one ¹
`B2`	`^2`		superscipt two ²
`B3`	`^3`		superscipt three ³
`B5`	`mu`	`AltGrµ`	micro sign µ
`D7`	`xx`	`ShiftAltGr,`	multiplicator sign ×
`F7`	`:-`	`ShiftAltGr.`	division sign, obelus ÷
`2012`			figure dash ‒, length in between en and em dash
`202F`			non-breaking thin space for use with units e.g. Compare the narrow “1 m” to the wider “1 m”.
`207B`			superscipt minus ⁻
`2113`			ell ℓ
`2126`			unit ohm Ω
`221A`			square root √
`221B`			cube root ∛
`221C`			fourth root ∜
`221D`			proportional to ∝
`221E`			infinity ∞
`221F`			right angle ∟
`2220`			angle ∠
`2221`			measured angle ∡
`2225`			parallel to ∥
`2229`			intersection ∩
`222A`			union ∪
`2234`			therefore; masonic abbreviation sign ∴
`223F`			sine wave, alternating current ∿
`2248`			almost equal to, approximately ≈
`2282`			subset of ⊂
`22C5`	`.-`	`AltGr.`	dot operator ⋅
`2300`			diameter sign ⌀
`25A1`			white square □
`25AB`			white small square ▫
`25FB`			white medium square ◻
`25FD`			white medium small square ◽
`2A7D`			less-than or slanted equal to ⩽
`2A7E`			greater-than or slanted equal to ⩾

Vulgar fractions

Vulgar fractions
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`BC`	`14`	`AltGr4`	vulgar fraction one quarter ¼
`BD`	`12`	`AltGr5`	vulgar fraction one half ½
`BE`	`34`		vulgar fraction three quarters ¾
`215B`	`18`	`ShiftAltGr2`	vulgar fraction one eighth ⅛
`215C`	`38`	`ShiftAltGr5`	vulgar fraction three eighths ⅜
`215D`	`58`	`ShiftAltGr6`	vulgar fraction five eighths ⅝
`215E`	`78`	`ShiftAltGr7`	vulgar fraction seven eighths ⅞

Arrow symbols

Arrow symbols
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`2190`	`<-`	`AltGrZ`	←
`2191`		`ShiftAltGrU`	↑
`2192`	`->`	`AltGrI`	→
`2193`		`AltGrU`	↓
`2194`			↔︎
`2195`			↕
`21B5`			downwards arrow with corner leftwards ↵
`21CE`			⇎
`21CF`			⇏
`21D1`			⇑
`21D2`			⇒
`21D3`			⇓
`21D4`			⇔
`21D5`			⇕
`2BA0`			downwards triangle-headed arrow with long tip leftwards ⮠
`2BA1`			downwards triangle-headed arrow with long tip rightwards ⮡

Greek small letters

Greek characters can be entered using the Compose only when using my customised .XCompose file on your system.

Greek small letters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	glyph
`3B1`	`ga`	Greek small letter alpha α
`3B2`	`gb`	Greek small letter beta β
`3B3`	`gg`	Greek small letter gamma γ
`3B4`	`gd`	Greek small letter delta δ
`3B5`	`ge`	Greek small letter epsilon ε
`3B6`	`gz`	Greek small letter zeta ζ
`3B7`	`gh`	Greek small letter eta η
`3B8`	`g8`	Greek small letter theta θ
`3B9`	`gi`	Greek small letter iota ι
`3BA`	`gk`	Greek small letter kappa κ
`3BB`	`gl`	Greek small letter lambda λ
`3BC`	`gm`	Greek small letter mu μ
`3BD`	`gn`	Greek small letter nu ν
`3BE`	`gx`	Greek small letter xi ξ
`3BF`	`go`	Greek small letter omicron ο
`3C0`	`gp`	Greek small letter pi π, math constant \(\pi=\frac{C}{D}=3.141592...\), but you might be better of with τ
`3C1`	`gr`	Greek small letter rho ρ
`3C2`	`g5`	Greek small letter final sigma ς
`3C3`	`gs`	Greek small letter sigma σ
`3C4`	`gt`	Greek small letter tau τ, math constant \(\tau=\frac{C}{r}=6.283185...\)
`3C5`	`gy`	Greek small letter upsilon υ
`3C6`	`gf`	Greek small letter phi φ
`3C7`	`gc`	Greek small letter chi χ
`3C8`	`gu`	Greek small letter psi ψ
`3C9`	`gw`	Greek small letter omega ω

Greek capital letters

Greek characters can be entered using the Compose only when using my customised .XCompose file on your system.

Greek capital letters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	glyph
`391`	`GA`	Greek capital letter alpha Α
`392`	`GB`	Greek capital letter beta Β
`393`	`GG`	Greek capital letter gamma Γ
`394`	`GD`	Greek capital letter delta Δ
`395`	`GE`	Greek capital letter epsilon Ε
`396`	`GZ`	Greek capital letter zeta Ζ
`397`	`GH`	Greek capital letter eta Η
`398`	`g8`	Greek capital letter theta Θ
`399`	`gI`	Greek capital letter iota Ι
`39A`	`gK`	Greek capital letter kappa Κ
`39B`	`gL`	Greek capital letter lambda Λ
`39C`	`gM`	Greek capital letter mu Μ
`39D`	`gN`	Greek capital letter nu Ν
`39E`	`gX`	Greek capital letter xi Ξ
`39F`	`gO`	Greek capital letter omicron Ο
`3A0`	`gP`	Greek capital letter pi Π
`3A1`	`gR`	Greek capital letter rho Ρ
`3A3`	`gS`	Greek capital letter sigma Σ
`3A4`	`gT`	Greek capital letter tau Τ
`3A5`	`gY`	Greek capital letter upsilon Υ
`3A6`	`gF`	Greek capital letter phi Φ
`3A7`	`gC`	Greek capital letter chi Χ
`3A8`	`gU`	Greek capital letter psi Ψ
`3A9`	`gW`	Greek capital letter omega Ω `ShiftAltGrQ`may work also. Please note, the unit ohm has its own code.

Spanish characters

Spanish characters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`A0`	`!!`	`ShiftAltGr!`	Spanish inverted exclamation mark ¡
`AA`	`a_`		Spanish female ordinal indicator ª
`BA`	`o_`		Spanish male ordinal indicator º
`BF`	`??`	`ShiftAltGr?`	Spanish inverted question mark ¿
`F1`	`n~`		Latin small letter eñe ñ with tilde
`2116`	`No`		numero sign №

French characters

French characters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`AB`	`<<`	`AltGrY`	left-pointing double angle quotation mark, guillemet or chevrons «
`BB`	`>>`	`AltGrX`	right-pointing double angle quotation mark, guillemet or chevrons »
`C6`	`AE`	`ShiftAltGrA`	Latin capital ligature Æ
`E2`	`a^`		Latin small letter â with circumflex
`E6`	`ae`	`AltGrA`	Latin small ligature æ
`E7`	`c,`		Latin small letter ç with cedilla
`EA`	`e^`		Latin small letter ê with circumflex
`EE`	`i^`		Latin small letter î with circumflex
`F4`	`o^`		Latin small letter ô with circumflex
`FB`	`u^`		Latin small letter û with circumflex
`152`	`OE`		Latin capital ligature Œ
`153`	`oe`		Latin small ligature œ
`2116`	`No`		numero sign №

Dutch characters

Dutch characters
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`EB`	`e"`	`AltGr{`+`e` `AltGrÜ`+`e`	Latin small letter ë with diæresis
`EF`	`i"`	`AltGr{`+`i` `AltGrÜ`+`i`	Latin small letter ï with diæresis

Proprietary signs

Proprietary signs
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`A9`	`oc`	`ShiftAltGrC`	copyright sign ©
`AE`	`or`	`ShiftAltGrR`	registered sign ®
`2122`	`tm`	`ShiftAltGr8`	trade mark sign ™

Monetary signs

On this site, I use the official design of the euro logotype as the glyph for the euro sign. This glyph is available from the Marvosym symbol font, albeit not on the conventional UTF-8 Unicode code point of U+20AC. To use this official euro glyph on my site, I created a single-glyph font called euro with the glyph at the right Unicode code point. My fonts.css file and CSS font substitution take care of the rest. All files are available for download by clicking the preceding hyperlinks.

font-family: 'euroregular', 'texgyrepagellaregular', serif;

Monetary signs
`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	may work	glyph
`20AC`	`e=`	`AltGrE`	euro sign €

More UTF-8 Unicode

Look no further than The Unicode Consortium for the most complete and up-to-date codepages of glyphs. Another nicely ordered list can be found on Wikibooks.

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Last update: Sunday, October 1, 2023.

`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	HTML	glyph
`A0`	`SpaceSpace`	` `	non-breaking space “ ”
`2002`		`&ensp;`	en space “ ”
`2003`		`&emsp;`	em space “ ”
`2007`		` `	figure space is a non-breaking space equal to the tabular width; i.e. the digit width in fonts with fixed-width digits.
`200B`		``	zero width space
`202F`		`&nnbsp;`	narrow, non-breaking thin space for use with units e.g. compare the narrow “1 m” to the wider “1 m”.
`2060`		(Does not work.)	word joiner or zero-width no-break space

`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	HTML	glyph
`A0`	`SpaceSpace`	` `	non-breaking space “ ”
`2002`		`&ensp;`	en space “ ”
`2003`		`&emsp;`	em space “ ”
`2007`		` `	figure space is a non-breaking space equal to the tabular width; i.e. the digit width in fonts with fixed-width digits.
`200B`		``	zero width space
`202F`		`&nnbsp;`	narrow, non-breaking thin space for use with units e.g. compare the narrow “1 m” to the wider “1 m”.
`2060`		(Does not work.)	word joiner or zero-width no-break space

`CtrlShiftU`	`Compose`	HTML	glyph
`A0`	`SpaceSpace`	` `	non-breaking space “ ”
`2002`		`&ensp;`	en space “ ”
`2003`		`&emsp;`	em space “ ”
`2007`		` `	figure space is a non-breaking space equal to the tabular width; i.e. the digit width in fonts with fixed-width digits.
`200B`		``	zero width space
`202F`		`&nnbsp;`	narrow, non-breaking thin space for use with units e.g. compare the narrow “1 m” to the wider “1 m”.
`2060`		(Does not work.)	word joiner or zero-width no-break space