U+25C1 · Math symbol
LaTeX
\triangleleft
White Left-Pointing Triangle Symbol ◁
◁ is white left-pointing triangle, U+25C1. Unicode also records it as “z notation domain restriction”. It was added in Unicode 1.1, and Unicode files it under Math symbol.
Also known as
- z notation domain restriction
Unicode 1.0 called this character white left pointing triangle. The standard renamed it later, but documents, fonts and font-editing tools from that era still use the old name.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+25C1 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | ◁ | |
| HTML decimal | ◁ | |
| CSS | \25C1 | |
| JavaScript | \u{25C1} | |
| Python | \U000025C1 | |
| Java / C# | \u25C1 | |
| Rust | \u{25c1} | |
| Swift | \u{25C1} | |
| PHP | \u{25C1} | |
| URL encoded | %E2%97%81 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | E2 97 81 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | 25C1 | |
| Base64 | 4peB | |
| Decimal | 9665 | |
| LaTeX | \triangleleft | |
| Category | Math symbol (Sm) | |
| 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.
Other triangle characters
Unicode names 24 characters ending in “triangle”. 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 25C1 then press Alt+X |
|---|---|
| macOS | Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space, then search for “white left-pointing triangle” |
| Linux | Press Ctrl+Shift+U, type 25c1, press Enter |
| HTML | ◁ |
About Unicode’s Math symbol category
Unicode classifies this as a mathematical symbol, which means software that lays out formulas treats it as an operator or relation and gives it spacing accordingly, rather than setting it tight against its neighbours like a letter.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I type the ◁ white left-pointing triangle symbol?
- On Windows, type 25C1 and press Alt+X. On Linux press Ctrl+Shift+U then 25c1. On any system the quickest route is the copy button on this page.
- What is the code for ◁?
- White Left-Pointing Triangle is U+25C1 and in LaTeX as \triangleleft. In UTF-8 it takes 3 bytes. The table above lists every escape format.
- What kind of character is ◁?
- White Left-Pointing Triangle is filed under Math symbol in the Geometric Shapes block, and was introduced in Unicode 1.1. Unicode classifies this as a mathematical symbol, which means software that lays out formulas treats it as an operator or relation and gives it spacing accordingly, rather than setting it tight against its neighbours like a letter.