U+2720 · Other symbol
HTML entity
✠
LaTeX
\maltese
Maltese Cross Symbol ✠
✠ is maltese cross. Write it in HTML as ✠ or paste the character directly. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Other symbol.
What Unicode says about ✠
historically, the Maltese cross took many forms; the shape shown in the Zapf Dingbats is similar to one known as the Cross Formée
— annotation from the Unicode Standard, NamesList.txt
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+2720 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ✠ | |
| HTML decimal | ✠ | |
| CSS | \2720 | |
| JavaScript | \u{2720} | |
| Python | \U00002720 | |
| Java / C# | \u2720 | |
| Rust | \u{2720} | |
| Swift | \u{2720} | |
| PHP | \u{2720} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%9C%A0 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 9C A0 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 2720 | |
| Base64 | 4pyg | |
| Decimal | 10016 | |
| HTML entity | ✠ | |
| LaTeX | \maltese | |
| 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 Dingbats
Zapf Dingbats, encoded character for character: ornamental stars, crosses, check marks, scissors and pointing hands. The check marks and crosses here are the ones most often pasted into documents and spreadsheets.
How to type ✠
| Windows | Type 2720 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “maltese cross” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 2720, 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 ✠ maltese cross symbol?
- On Windows, type 2720 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 2720. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ✠?
- Maltese Cross is U+2720, written in HTML as ✠ and in LaTeX as \maltese. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ✠?
- Maltese Cross is filed under Other symbol in the Dingbats 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.