U+25A0 · Other symbol
LaTeX
\mdlgblksquare
Black Square Symbol ■
■ is black square, U+25A0 — \mdlgblksquare in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other symbol.
Also known as
- moding mark (in ideographic text)
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+25A0 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ■ | |
| HTML decimal | ■ | |
| CSS | \25A0 | |
| JavaScript | \u{25A0} | |
| Python | \U000025A0 | |
| Java / C# | \u25A0 | |
| Rust | \u{25a0} | |
| Swift | \u{25A0} | |
| PHP | \u{25A0} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%96%A0 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 96 A0 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 25A0 | |
| Base64 | 4pag | |
| Decimal | 9632 | |
| LaTeX | \mdlgblksquare | |
| 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 square characters
Unicode names 7 characters ending in “square”. 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 25A0 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “black square” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 25a0, 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 square symbol?
- On Windows, type 25A0 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 25a0. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ■?
- Black Square is U+25A0 and in LaTeX as \mdlgblksquare. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ■?
- Black Square 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.