HTML Symbols: How They Work [+ Reference Guide]

When writing HTML, there might be times when you want to insert a character that you can’t simply type. Many common symbols, including currency symbols, mathematical operators, and legal symbols (like © and ®) aren’t included on a standard keyboard.

To avoid issues when inserting characters in HTML, such as angle brackets, you can use HTML entities. These entities allow you to insert special characters on your page without causing problems. We will also provide a list of common symbols and their entities for easy reference.

How to Write HTML Symbols

Incorporating symbols into HTML can be done using HTML entities, which are special strings of characters starting with an ampersand (&) and ending with a semicolon (;). These entities represent specific symbols and can be identified by their entity name or number. It’s worth noting that certain symbols have reserved HTML entities.

For example, to insert the copyright symbol (©) in HTML, we can use the entity © (the entity name) or © (the entity number). Notice how an additional hash symbol (#) is placed before the entity number.

Using either one of these entities causes the symbol to render correctly on the page:

See the Pen HTML symbols: copyright by HubSpot (@hubspot) on CodePen.

Characters that have a double use as both a display character and a functional HTML character also have their own entities — for example, angle brackets, ampersand, and quotation marks:

See the Pen HTML symbols: more examples by HubSpot (@hubspot) on CodePen.

To incorporate entities, you have the option to manually input them or simply copy and paste them from a comprehensive list provided below. While it is convenient to use entity names for easy remembrance and typing, it is important to note that older browsers may not recognize these names. To ensure that your entities are displayed correctly across all browsers, it is recommended to use the entity numbers.