HTML Character Reference

A browser needs to know what character set to use in order to display an HTML page correctly. In the early days of the web there was no real problem, since the only character set used for web pages was the ASCII character set. Today, a long process of internationalisation has resulted in the evolution of a number of international character sets. The default character set for modern browsers is ISO-8859-1, which is used in North America, Western Europe, Latin America and Africa. Many other character sets exist, however, and are used in different parts of the world. Because these character sets are limited in size and are often incompatible with one another, the Unicode Consortium has developed the Unicode Standard which includes all of the characters, punctuation and symbols in the world. Unicode allows the exchange of text data across international boundaries, regardless of the computing platforms or languages used. It is supported in many operating systems and in all modern browsers, and replaces existing character sets with its standard Unicode Transformation Format (UTF). The most commonly used encodings (UTF-8 and UTF-16) are described below.

1. UTF-8 - characters range from one to four bytes in length. UTF-8 can represent any character in the Unicode standard, is backwardly compatible with ASCII, and is the preferred character encoding for e-mail and web documents.
2. UTF-16 - character length is variable (up to 16 bits). UTF-8 can represent any character in the Unicode standard and is used in major operating system environments.

The first 256 characters of Unicode character-sets correspond to the 256 characters of ISO-8859-1, which is the default character set for most browsers. The first 128 characters of ISO-8859-1 in turn correspond to the 128 characters of the ASCII character set, while the last 128 characters include characters used by Western European countries and some commonly used special characters. The ISO-8859-1 character set, together with all of the other HTML character and symbol entities you are ever likely to need, are summarised in the tables below.

Character Set ISO-8559-1 (000–031) - ASCII Control Characters
Code	Abbr	Description
000	NUL	Null character
001	SOH	Start of Header
002	STX	Start of Text
003	ETX	End of Text
004	EOT	End Of Transmission
005	ENQ	Enquiry
006	ACK	Acknowledgment
007	BEL	Bell
008	BS	Backspace
009	HT	Horizontal Tab
010	LF	Line Feed
011	VT	Vertical Tab
012	FF	Form Feed
013	CR	Carriage Return
014	SO	Shift Out
015	SI	Shift In
016	DLE	Data Link Escape
017	DC1	Device Control 1 (XON)
018	DC2	Device Control 2
019	DC3	Device Control 3 (XOFF)
020	DC4	Device Control 4
021	NAK	Negative Acknowledgment
022	SYN	Synchronous Idle
023	ETB	End of Transmission Block
024	CAN	Cancel
025	EM	End of Medium
026	SUB	Substitute
027	ESC	Escape
028	FS	File Separator
029	GS	Group Separator
030	RS	Record Separator
031	US	Unit Separator

Character Set ISO-8559-1 (032–127) - ASCII Printing Characters
Code	Character	Description
032	[SP]	Space
033	!	Exclamation mark
034	"	Quotation mark (HTML: ")
035	#	Cross hatch
036	$	Dollar sign
037	%	Percent sign
038	&	Ampersand (HTML: &)
039	'	Closing single quote (HTML: ')
040	(	Opening parenthesis
041	)	Closing parenthesis
042	*	Asterisk
043	+	Plus sign
044	,	Comma
045	-	Minus sign
046	.	Period
047	/	Solidus (forward slash)
048	0	Zero
049	1	One
050	2	Two
051	3	Three
052	4	Four
053	5	Five
054	6	Six
055	7	Seven
056	8	Eight
057	9	Nine
058	:	Colon
059	;	Semi-colon
060	<	Less-than symbol (HTML: &lt;)
061	=	Equals symbol
062	>	Greater-than symbol (HTML: &gt;)
063	?	Question mark
064	@	Arroba (at symbol)
065	A	Upper case A
066	B	Upper case B
067	C	Upper case C
068	D	Upper case D
069	E	Upper case E
070	F	Upper case F
071	G	Upper case G
072	H	Upper case H
073	I	Upper case I
074	J	Upper case J
075	K	Upper case K
076	L	Upper case L
077	M	Upper case M
078	N	Upper case N
079	O	Upper case O
080	P	Upper case P
081	Q	Upper case Q
082	R	Upper case R
083	S	Upper case S
084	T	Upper case T
085	U	Upper case U
086	V	Upper case V
087	W	Upper case W
088	X	Upper case X
089	Y	Upper case Y
090	Z	Upper case Z
091	[	Opening square bracket
092	\	Reverse slant (backslash)
093	]	Closing square bracket
094	^	Caret
095	_	Underscore
096	`	Opening single quote
097	a	Lower case a
098	b	Lower case b
099	c	Lower case c
100	d	Lower case d
101	e	Lower case e
102	f	Lower case f
103	g	Lower case g
104	h	Lower case h
105	i	Lower case i
106	j	Lower case j
107	k	Lower case k
108	l	Lower case l
109	m	Lower case m
110	n	Lower case n
111	o	Lower case o
112	p	Lower case p
113	q	Lower case q
114	r	Lower case r
115	s	Lower case s
116	t	Lower case t
117	u	Lower case u
118	v	Lower case v
119	w	Lower case w
120	x	Lower case x
121	y	Lower case y
122	z	Lower case z
123	{	Opening curly brace
124	|	Vertical line
125	}	Closing curly brace
126	~	Tilde
127	[DEL]	Delete

Character Set ISO-8559-1 (128–159) - Extended Control Characters
Code	Abbr	Description
128	PAD	Padding character
129	HOP	High Octet Preset
130	BPH	Break Permitted Here
131	NBH	No Break Here
132	IND	Index
133	NEL	Next Line
134	SSA	Start of Selected Area
135	ESA	End of Selected Area
136	HTS	Horizontal Tabulation Set
137	HTJ	Horizontal Tabulation with Justification
138	VTS	Vertical Tabulation Set
139	PLD	Partial Line Down
140	PLU	Partial Line Up
141	RI	Reverse Index
142	SS2	Single-Shift 2
143	SS3	Single-Shift 3
144	DCS	Device Control String
145	PU1	Private Use 1
146	PU2	Private Use 2
147	STS	Set Transmit State
148	CCH	Cancel Character
149	MW	Message Waiting
150	SPA	Start of Protected Area
151	EPA	End of Protected Area
152	SOS	Start Of String
153	SGC1	Single Graphic Character Introducer
154	SCI	Single Character Introducer
155	CSI	Control Sequence Introducer
156	ST	String Terminator
157	OSC	Operating System Command
158	PM	Privacy Message
159	APC	Application Program Command

Character Set ISO-8559-1 (160–255) - ISO 8859-1 Characters and Symbols
Code	Character	HTML Entity	Description
160	[NBSP]	 	Non-breaking space
161	¡	¡	Inverted exclamation mark
162	¢	¢	Cent symbol
163	£	£	Pound symbol
164	¤	¤	Currency symbol
165	¥	¥	Yen symbol
166	¦	¦	Broken vertical bar
167	§	§	Section symbol
168	¨	¨	Spacing diaeresis
169	©	©	Copyright symbol
170	ª	ª	Feminine ordinal indicator
171	«	«	Angle quotation mark (left)
172	¬	¬	Negation symbol
173	[SHY]	­	Soft hyphen
174	®	®	Registered trademark symbol
175	¯	¯	Spacing macron;
176	°	°	Degree symbol
177	±	±	Plus-or-minus symbol
178	²	²	Superscript 2
179	³	³	Superscript 3
180	´	´	Spacing acute
181	µ	µ	Micro symbol
182	¶	¶	Paragraph symbol
183	·	·	Middle dot
184	¸	¸	Spacing cedilla
185	¹	¹	Superscript 1
186	º	º	Masculine ordinal indicator
187	»	»	Angle quotation mark (right)
188	¼	¼	Fraction (1/4)
189	½	½	Fraction (1/2)
190	¾	¾	Fraction (3/4)
191	¿	¿	Inverted question mark
192	À	À	Capital A, grave accent
193	Á	Á	Capital A, acute accent
194	Â	Â	Capital A, circumflex accent
195	Ã	Ã	Capital A, tilde
196	Ä	Ä	Capital A, umlaut mark
197	Å	Å	Capital A, ring
198	Æ	Æ	Capital AE
199	Ç	Ç	Capital C, cedilla
200	È	È	Capital E, grave accent
201	É	É	Capital E, acute accent
202	Ê	Ê	Capital E, circumflex accent
203	Ë	Ë	Capital E, umlaut mark
204	Ì	Ì	Capital I, grave accent
205	Í	Í	Capital I, acute accent
206	Î	Î	Capital I, circumflex accent
207	Ï	Ï	Capital I, umlaut mark
208	Ð	Ð	Capital ETH, Icelandic
209	Ñ	Ñ	Capital N, tilde
210	Ò	Ò	Capital O, grave accent
211	Ó	Ó	Capital O, acute accent
212	Ô	Ô	Capital O, circumflex accent
213	Õ	Õ	Capital O, tilde
214	Ö	Ö	Capital O, umlaut mark
215	×	×	Multiplication symbol
216	Ø	Ø	Capital O, slash
217	Ù	Ù	Capital U, grave accent
218	Ú	Ú	Capital U, acute accent
219	Û	Û	Capital U, circumflex accent
220	Ü	Ü	Capital U, umlaut mark
221	Ý	Ý	Capital Y, acute accent
222	Þ	Þ	Capital THORN, Icelandic
223	ß	ß	Small sharp s, German
224	à	à	Small a, grave accent
225	á	á	Small a, acute accent
226	â	â	Small a, circumflex accent
227	ã	ã	Small a, tilde
228	ä	ä	Small a, umlaut mark
229	å	å	Small a, ring
230	æ	æ	Small ae
231	ç	ç	Small c, cedilla
232	è	è	Small e, grave accent
233	é	é	Small e, acute accent
234	ê	ê	Small e, circumflex accent
235	ë	ë	Small e, umlaut mark
236	ì	ì	Small i, grave accent
237	í	í	Small i, acute accent
238	î	î	Small i, circumflex accent
239	ï	ï	Small i, umlaut mark
240	ð	ð	Small eth, Icelandic
241	ñ	ñ	Small n, tilde
242	ò	ò	Small o, grave accent
243	ó	ó	Small o, acute accent
244	ô	ô	Small o, circumflex accent
245	õ	õ	Small o, tilde
246	ö	ö	Small o, umlaut mark
247	÷	÷	Division symbol
248	ø	ø	Small o, slash
249	ù	ù	Small u, grave accent
250	ú	ú	Small u, acute accent
251	û	û	Small u, circumflex accent
252	ü	ü	Small u, umlaut mark
253	ý	ý	Small y, acute accent
254	þ	þ	Small thorn, Icelandic
255	ÿ	ÿ	Small y, umlaut mark

HTML Character and Symbol Entities (Greek Alphabet)
Code	Character	HTML Entity	Name
913	Α	Α	Alpha
914	Β	Β	Beta
915	Γ	Γ	Gamma
916	Δ	Δ	Delta
917	Ε	Ε	Epsilon
918	Ζ	Ζ	Zeta;
919	Η	Η	Eta
920	Θ	Θ	Theta
921	Ι	Ι	Iota
922	Κ	Κ	Kappa
923	Λ	Λ	Lambda
924	Μ	Μ	Mu
925	Ν	Ν	Nu
926	Ξ	Ξ	Xi
927	Ο	Ο	Omicron
928	Π	Π	Pi
929	Ρ	Ρ	Rho
931	Σ	Σ	Sigma
932	Τ	Τ	Tau
933	Υ	Υ	Upsilon
934	Φ	Φ	Phi
935	Χ	Χ	Chi
936	Ψ	Ψ	Psi
937	Ω	Ω	Omega
945	α	α	alpha
946	β	β	beta
947	γ	γ	gamma
948	δ	δ	delta
949	ε	ε	epsilon
950	ζ	ζ	zeta
951	η	η	eta
952	θ	θ	theta
953	ι	ι	iota
954	κ	κ	kappa
955	λ	λ	lambda
956	μ	μ	mu
957	ν	ν	nu
958	ξ	ξ	xi
959	ο	ο	omicron
960	π	π	pi
961	ρ	ρ	rho
962	ς	ς	sigmaf
963	σ	σ	sigma
964	τ	τ	tau
965	υ	υ	upsilon
966	φ	φ	phi
967	χ	χ	chi
968	ψ	ψ	psi
969	ω	ω	omega
977	ϑ	ϑ	theta symbol
978	ϒ	ϒ	upsilon symbol
982	ϖ	ϖ	pi symbol

HTML Character and Symbol Entities (Maths)
Code	Character	HTML Entity	Description
8704	∀	∀	for all
8706	∂	∂	part
8707	∃	&exists;	exists
8709	∅	∅	empty
8711	∇	∇	nabla
8712	∈	∈	isin
8713	∉	∉	notin
8715	∋	∋	ni
8719	∏	∏	prod
8721	∑	∑	sum
8722	−	−	minus
8727	∗	∗	lowast
8730	√	√	square root
8733	∝	∝	proportional to
8734	∞	∞	infinity
8736	∠	∠	angle
8743	∧	∧	and
8744	∨	∨	or
8745	∩	∩	cap
8746	∪	∪	cup
8747	∫	∫	integral
8756	∴	∴	therefore
8764	∼	∼	similar to
8773	≅	≅	approximately equal
8776	≈	≈	almost equal
8800	≠	≠	not equal
8801	≡	≡	equivalent
8804	≤	≤	less or equal
8805	≥	≥	greater or equal
8834	⊂	⊂	subset of
8835	⊃	⊃	superset of
8836	⊄	⊄	not subset of
8838	⊆	⊆	subset or equal
8839	⊇	⊇	superset or equal
8853	⊕	⊕	circled plus
8855	⊗	⊗	cirled times
8869	⊥	⊥	perpendicular

HTML Character and Symbol Entities (Other)
Code	Character	HTML Entity	Description
338	Œ	Œ	Capital ligature OE
339	œ	œ	Small ligature oe
352	Š	Š	Capital S with caron
353	š	š	Small s with caron
376	Ÿ	Ÿ	Capital Y with diaeres
402	ƒ	ƒ	F with hook
710	ˆ	ˆ	Modifier letter circumflex accent
732	˜	˜	Small tilde
8194		 	en space
8195		 	em space
8201		 	thin space
8204	‌	‌	zero width non-joiner
8205	‍	‍	zero width joiner
8206	‎	‎	left-to-right mark
8207	‏	‏	right-to-left mark
8211	–	–	en dash
8212	—	—	em dash
8216	‘	‘	left single quotation mark
8217	’	’	right single quotation mark
8218	‚	‚	single low-9 quotation mark
8220	“	“	left double quotation mark
8221	”	”	right double quotation mark
8222	„	„	double low-9 quotation mark
8224	†	†	dagger
8225	‡	‡	double dagger
8226	•	•	bullet
8230	…	…	horizontal ellipsis
8240	‰	‰	per mille
8242	′	′	minutes
8243	″	″	seconds
8249	‹	‹	single left angle quotation
8250	›	›	single right angle quotation
8254	‾	‾	overline
8364	€	€	euro
8482	™	™	trademark
8592	←	←	left arrow
8593	↑	↑	up arrow
8594	→	→	right arrow
8595	↓	↓	down arrow
8596	↔	↔	left right arrow
8629	↵	↵	carriage return arrow
8901	⋅	⋅	dot operator
8968	⌈	⌈	left ceiling
8969	⌉	⌉	right ceiling
8970	⌊	⌊	left floor
8971	⌋	⌋	right floor
9674	◊	◊	lozenge
9824	♠	♠	spade
9827	♣	♣	club
9829	♥	♥	heart
9830	♦	♦	diamond