U+2422 · Other symbol
LaTeX
\blanksymbol
Blank Symbol Symbol ␢
␢ is blank symbol, U+2422 — \blanksymbol in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other symbol.
Also known as
Unicode 1.0 called this character blank. The standard renamed it later, but documents, fonts and font-editing tools from that era still use the old name.
What Unicode says about ␢
graphic for space
— annotation from the Unicode Standard, NamesList.txt
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+2422 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ␢ | |
| HTML decimal | ␢ | |
| CSS | \2422 | |
| JavaScript | \u{2422} | |
| Python | \U00002422 | |
| Java / C# | \u2422 | |
| Rust | \u{2422} | |
| Swift | \u{2422} | |
| PHP | \u{2422} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%90%A2 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 90 A2 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 2422 | |
| Base64 | 4pCi | |
| Decimal | 9250 | |
| LaTeX | \blanksymbol | |
| 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.
Nearby in Control Pictures
Visible pictures of the invisible ASCII control characters — a way to print "there is a tab here" without printing a tab. Terminal emulators and hex editors use them; almost nothing else does.
How to type ␢
| Windows | Type 2422 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “blank symbol” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2422, 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 ␢ blank symbol symbol?
- On Windows, type 2422 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2422. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ␢?
- Blank Symbol is U+2422 and in LaTeX as \blanksymbol. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ␢?
- Blank Symbol is filed under Other symbol in the Control Pictures 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.