Unicode symbol

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In computing, a Unicode symbol is a Unicode character which is not part of a script used to write a natural language, but is nonetheless available for use as part of a text.

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Many of the symbols are drawn from existing character sets or ISO/IEC or other national and international standards. The Unicode Standard states that "The universe of symbols is rich and open-ended," but that in order to be considered, a symbol must have a "demonstrated need or strong desire to exchange in plain text." [1] This makes the issue of what symbols to encode and how symbols should be encoded more complicated than the issues surrounding writing systems. Unicode focuses on symbols that make sense in a one-dimensional plain-text context. For example, the typical two-dimensional arrangement of electronic diagram symbols justifies their exclusion. [2] (Box-drawing characters are a partial exception, for legacy purposes, and a number of electronic diagram symbols are indeed encoded in Unicode's Miscellaneous Technical block.) For adequate treatment in plain text, symbols must also be displayable in a monochromatic setting. Even with these limitations – monochromatic, one-dimensional and standards-based – the domain of potential Unicode symbols is extensive. (However, emojis  – ideograms, graphic symbols  – that were admitted into Unicode, allow colors although the colors are not standardized.)

Symbol block list

There are 149,813 characters, with Unicode 15.1, [3] [4] including the following symbol blocks:

See also

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Dingbats is a Unicode block containing dingbats. Most of its characters were taken from Zapf Dingbats; it was the Unicode block to have imported characters from a specific typeface; Unicode later adopted a policy that excluded symbols with "no demonstrated need or strong desire to exchange in plain text", and thus no further dingbat typefaces were encoded until Webdings and Wingdings were encoded in Version 7.0. Some ornaments are also an emoji, having optional presentation variants.

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Geometric Shapes Extended is a Unicode block containing Webdings/Wingdings symbols, mostly different weights of squares, crosses, and saltires, and different weights of variously spoked asterisks, stars, and various color squares and circles for emoji.

Supplemental Symbols and Pictographs is a Unicode block containing emoji characters. It extends the set of symbols included in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block. It also includes Typikon symbols.

Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A is a Unicode block containing emoji characters. It extends the set of symbols included in the Supplemental Symbols and Pictographs block.

References

  1. ↑ "Section 22: Symbols" (PDF). The Unicode Standard. The Unicode Consortium. September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Section 22: Miscellaneous Technical" (PDF). The Unicode Standard. The Unicode Consortium. September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  4. ↑ "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
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