Variation Selectors (Unicode block)

Last updated
Variation Selectors
RangeU+FE00..U+FE0F
(16 code points)
Plane BMP
Scripts Inherited
Assigned16 code points
Unused0 reserved code points
Unicode version history
3.2 (2002)16 (+16)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1] [2]

Variation Selectors is a Unicode block containing 16 variation selectors used to specify a glyph variant for a preceding character. They are currently used to specify standardized variation sequences for mathematical symbols, emoji symbols, 'Phags-pa letters, and CJK unified ideographs corresponding to CJK compatibility ideographs. At present only standardized variation sequences with VS1–VS4, VS7, VS15 and VS16 have been defined; VS15 and VS16 are reserved to request that a character should be displayed as text or as an emoji respectively. [3] [4]

Contents

These combining characters are named variation selector-1 (for U+FE00) through to variation selector-16 (U+FE0F), and are abbreviated VS1 – VS16. Each applies to the immediately preceding character.

As of Unicode 13.0: [5]

Variation Selectors [1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+FE0x VS 
1		 VS 
2		 VS 
3		 VS 
4		 VS 
5		 VS 
6		 VS 
7		 VS 
8		 VS 
9		 VS 
10		 VS 
11		 VS 
12		 VS 
13		 VS 
14		 VS 
15		 VS 
16
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 15.1

This list is continued in the Variation Selectors Supplement.

See also

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Variation Selectors block:

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References

  1. ↑ "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ↑ "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  3. ↑ "StandardizedVariants.txt". Unicode Consortium. 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  4. ↑ "Emoji Variation Sequences". Unicode Consortium. 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  5. ↑ "UCD: Standardized Variation Sequences". Unicode Consortium.
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