U+2038 · Other punctuation
LaTeX
\caretinsert
Caret Symbol ‸
‸ is caret, U+2038 — \caretinsert in LaTeX. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other punctuation.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+2038 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ‸ | |
| HTML decimal | ‸ | |
| CSS | \2038 | |
| JavaScript | \u{2038} | |
| Python | \U00002038 | |
| Java / C# | \u2038 | |
| Rust | \u{2038} | |
| Swift | \u{2038} | |
| PHP | \u{2038} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%80%B8 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 80 B8 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 2038 | |
| Base64 | 4oC4 | |
| Decimal | 8248 | |
| LaTeX | \caretinsert | |
| Category | Other punctuation (Po) | |
| 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.
Nearby in General Punctuation
The typographic marks that word processors quietly substitute for their ASCII lookalikes — real quotation marks, en and em dashes, the ellipsis. It also holds the invisible characters: zero-width spaces, joiners and directional marks that do work without drawing anything.
How to type ‸
| Windows | Type 2038 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “caret” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2038, press Enter |
| HTML | ‸ |
About Unicode’s Other punctuation category
Unicode files this under "other punctuation", the category for marks that are not brackets, dashes or quotes.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ‸ caret symbol?
- On Windows, type 2038 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2038. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ‸?
- Caret is U+2038 and in LaTeX as \caretinsert. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ‸?
- Caret is filed under Other punctuation in the General Punctuation block, and was introduced in Unicode 1.1. Unicode files this under "other punctuation", the category for marks that are not brackets, dashes or quotes.