U+25CF · Other symbol
LaTeX
\mdlgblkcircle
Black Circle Symbol ●
● is black circle, U+25CF — \mdlgblkcircle in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other symbol.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+25CF | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ● | |
| HTML decimal | ● | |
| CSS | \25CF | |
| JavaScript | \u{25CF} | |
| Python | \U000025CF | |
| Java / C# | \u25CF | |
| Rust | \u{25cf} | |
| Swift | \u{25CF} | |
| PHP | \u{25CF} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%97%8F | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 97 8F | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 25CF | |
| Base64 | 4peP | |
| Decimal | 9679 | |
| LaTeX | \mdlgblkcircle | |
| Category | Other symbol (So) | |
| Introduced | Unicode 1.1 | |
Will ● survive being pasted?
- Normalisation. Yes. ● is unchanged by NFKC, so it survives normalising systems intact.
- Legacy encodings. ● is Unicode-only — it has no Latin-1 equivalent, so a system stuck on an 8-bit encoding cannot represent it.
- Size. 3 bytes in UTF-8. Character-limited fields — SMS, bios, some form validators — usually count bytes, not characters.
Unicode cross-references
The standard points readers of ● at these characters — usually because they look alike, or because one is the correct choice where the other is often used by mistake.
Other circle characters
Unicode names 24 characters ending in “circle”. They differ by direction, weight or decoration rather than by meaning.
Nearby in Geometric Shapes
Circles, squares, triangles and diamonds in filled and outlined forms, at several sizes. The bullet characters most lists use come from here.
How to type ●
| Windows | Type 25CF then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “black circle” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 25cf, press Enter |
| HTML | ● |
About Unicode’s Other symbol category
Unicode files this under "other symbol" — the catch-all for pictographs, signs and marks that are neither maths, currency, nor letter-like. It is the largest symbol category in the standard.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ● black circle symbol?
- On Windows, type 25CF and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 25cf. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ●?
- Black Circle is U+25CF and in LaTeX as \mdlgblkcircle. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ●?
- Black Circle is filed under Other symbol in the Geometric Shapes block, and was introduced in Unicode 1.1. Unicode files this under "other symbol" — the catch-all for pictographs, signs and marks that are neither maths, currency, nor letter-like. It is the largest symbol category in the standard.