---
id: html-symbols
title: "HTML Symbols"
category: "Frontend"
status: "draft"
verification_status: "conceptual"
canonical_id: ""
aliases: ["HTML entities", "HTML symbol entities", "entity names", "entity numbers", "HTML special characters", "character references"]
duplicate_of: ""
source_trust_level: "B"
confidence_score: 0.89
created_at: 2026-06-23
updated_at: 2026-06-23
review_reason: ""
merge_history: []
tags: ["html", "web", "frontend", "symbols", "entities", "w3schools"]
raw_sources: ["https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_symbols.asp"]
applied_in: []
github_commit: ""
---

# [[HTML Symbols]]

## 🎯 한 줄 통찰 (One-line insight)
Symbols that are not present on a keyboard can be inserted into HTML using **entity names** or **entity numbers** (decimal or hexadecimal references), letting any page display currency signs, arrows, mathematical operators, Greek letters, and more. [S1]

## 🧠 핵심 개념 (Core concepts)
- **Why symbols need encoding** — many useful characters (€, ©, ←, ∑, Α) are not available on a standard keyboard, so HTML provides reference codes to insert them. [S1]
- **Three ways to reference a symbol** — an *entity name* (e.g. `&euro;`), a *decimal entity number* (e.g. `&#8364;`), or a *hexadecimal entity number* (e.g. `&#x20AC;`). All three render the same character. [S1]
- **Entity names vs numbers** — entity names are easier to remember; entity numbers are guaranteed to work even when a browser does not support a particular name. [S1]
- **Categories of symbols** — W3Schools groups symbols into symbol entities (currency, trademarks, arrows, card suits), mathematical entities, and Greek letter entities, plus many extended reference categories. [S1]

## 🧩 추출된 패턴 (Extracted patterns)
- **Entity name pattern** — `&name;` (e.g. `&copy;` → ©). [S1]
- **Decimal number pattern** — `&#NNNN;` (e.g. `&#8364;` → €). [S1]
- **Hexadecimal number pattern** — `&#xHHHH;` (e.g. `&#x20AC;` → €). [S1]
- **Interchangeability** — for the Euro sign, `&euro;`, `&#8364;`, and `&#x20AC;` all produce €. [S1]

## 📖 세부 내용 (Details)
**HTML Symbols**
Symbols that are not present on the keyboard can be added to HTML using entity names or entity numbers. A symbol can be referenced by its entity name, its decimal entity number, or its hexadecimal entity number. [S1]

The Euro sign demonstrates all three reference forms producing the same output: [S1]
```html
<p>I will display &euro;</p>
<p>I will display &#8364;</p>
<p>I will display &#x20AC;</p>
```

**HTML Symbol Entities** [S1]

| Character | Number | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| © | `&#169;` | `&copy;` | COPYRIGHT |
| ® | `&#174;` | `&reg;` | REGISTERED TRADEMARK |
| € | `&#8364;` | `&euro;` | EURO SIGN |
| ™ | `&#8482;` | `&trade;` | TRADEMARK |
| ← | `&#8592;` | `&larr;` | LEFT ARROW |
| ↑ | `&#8593;` | `&uarr;` | UP ARROW |
| → | `&#8594;` | `&rarr;` | RIGHT ARROW |
| ↓ | `&#8595;` | `&darr;` | DOWN ARROW |
| ♠ | `&#9824;` | `&spades;` | SPADE |
| ♣ | `&#9827;` | `&clubs;` | CLUB |
| ♥ | `&#9829;` | `&hearts;` | HEART |
| ♦ | `&#9830;` | `&diams;` | DIAMOND |

**HTML Mathematical Entities** [S1]

| Character | Number | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ∀ | `&#8704;` | `&forall;` | For all |
| ∂ | `&#8706;` | `&part;` | Partial differential |
| ∃ | `&#8707;` | `&exist;` | There exists |
| ∅ | `&#8709;` | `&empty;` | Empty sets |
| ∇ | `&#8711;` | `&nabla;` | Nabla |
| ∈ | `&#8712;` | `&isin;` | Element of |
| ∉ | `&#8713;` | `&notin;` | Not an element of |
| ∋ | `&#8715;` | `&ni;` | Contains as member |
| ∏ | `&#8719;` | `&prod;` | N-ary product |
| ∑ | `&#8721;` | `&sum;` | N-ary summation |

**HTML Greek Letter Entities** [S1]

| Character | Number | Entity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α | `&#913;` | `&Alpha;` | GREEK ALPHA |
| Β | `&#914;` | `&Beta;` | GREEK BETA |
| Γ | `&#915;` | `&Gamma;` | GREEK GAMMA |
| Δ | `&#916;` | `&Delta;` | GREEK DELTA |
| Ε | `&#917;` | `&Epsilon;` | GREEK EPSILON |
| Ζ | `&#918;` | `&Zeta;` | GREEK ZETA |

**More Symbols**
The page links to many extended symbol reference categories, including: Currency Symbols, Letterlike Symbols, Number Forms, Enclosed Alphanumeric, Box Drawings, Block Elements, Geometric Shapes, Misc Symbols, Dingbats, Astrological Symbols, Math Operators, Math Symbols, Math Alphanumeric, Misc Technical, Colored Symbols, Arrows, Weather Symbols, Musical Symbols, Domino & Dices, Mahjong Tiles, Card Symbols, Chess Symbols, Yin Yang Symbols, Recycling Symbols, Life & Religion, and Places & Traffic. [S1]

## 🛠️ 적용 사례 (Applied in summary)
The Euro-sign example above is the canonical applied case: displaying one symbol three equivalent ways (name, decimal, hex). No external project/commit applications found in the source.

## 💻 코드 패턴 (Code patterns)
Display the Euro symbol three equivalent ways (HTML):
```html
<p>I will display &euro;</p>
<p>I will display &#8364;</p>
<p>I will display &#x20AC;</p>
```
Common symbol references (HTML):
```html
<p>Copyright: &copy;</p>
<p>Registered: &reg;</p>
<p>Trademark: &trade;</p>
<p>Heart: &hearts;</p>
```

## ⚖️ 모순 및 업데이트 (Contradictions & updates)
No contradictions found in the source. [S1]

## ✅ 검증 상태 및 신뢰도
- **상태:** draft
- **검증 단계:** conceptual (실제 적용 사례 발견 시 applied/validated로 승격 가능)
- **출처 신뢰도:** B (W3Schools — widely used educational reference, not a primary standards body)
- **신뢰 점수:** 0.89
- **중복 검사 결과:** 신규 생성 (New discovery)

## 🔗 지식 그래프 (Knowledge Graph)
- **상위/루트:** [[HTML Tutorial]]
- **관련 개념:** [[HTML Emojis]], [[HTML Charsets]], [[HTML Entities]], [[HTML URL Encode]]
- **참조 맥락:** Referenced whenever a page must display a character that is not directly typeable on a keyboard.

## 📚 출처 (Sources)
- [S1] W3Schools — HTML Symbols — https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_symbols.asp

## 📝 변경 이력 (Change history)
- 2026-06-23: Initial draft synthesized from the W3Schools "HTML Symbols" page (Astra wiki-curation, P-Reinforce v3.1 format).
