Section Symbol Copy and Paste

Copy §, the pilcrow ¶, the daggers † and ‡, the reference mark ※ or the plural §§.

Section Symbol Copy and Paste

§Section signU+00A7Ready to copy

42 marks. Tap any value to copy it.

42 marks. A character and its name both copy the character. A code copies the code.
CharacterNameCode pointAlt codeOption keysHTMLLaTeX
U+00A7. Alt+21 or Alt+0167 on a number pad, Option+6 on the U.S. layout, Compose s o. § in HTML; in LaTeX \S works in text and in maths. Unicode's note: used in referencing numbered sections or paragraphs.
U+00B6. Alt+20 or Alt+0182 on a number pad, Option+7 on the U.S. layout, Compose P P (capital P twice). ¶ in HTML; in LaTeX \P works in text and in maths. Unicode's notes: paragraph sign; section sign in some European usage.
Made of U+00A7. Doubled, the sign is read as the plural: §§ 13–21 is sections 13 through 21, much as pp. is the plural of p.
U+2020. Alt+0134 on a number pad, Option+T on the U.S. layout, Compose | -. † in HTML, \dag in LaTeX. It usually marks a footnote when an asterisk has already been used. Unicode's note: obelisk, long cross, oblong cross.
U+2021. Alt+0135 on a number pad, Option+Shift+7 on the U.S. layout, Compose | =. ‡ in HTML, \ddag in LaTeX. A third footnote takes it, after * and †. Unicode's note: diesis, double obelisk.
U+002A. On the keyboard. The first of the footnote marks. * in HTML. Unicode's note: can have five or six spokes.
U+2016. The fifth of the traditional footnote marks, between § and ¶. ‖ in HTML, \Vert in LaTeX maths, \textbardbl in text. No Alt code. Unicode's note: used in pairs to indicate norm of a matrix.
U+203B. Unicode's notes: Japanese kome, Urdu paragraph separator. In Japanese and Korean text it points to a note, the job the asterisk does in English. \textreferencemark in LaTeX text. No Alt code and no named HTML entity.
U+204B. The mirror image of ¶. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999). No Alt code and no named HTML entity.
U+2042. Three asterisks in a triangle. It was a divider between parts of a text, a use that is now nearly obsolete: three asterisks or three dots in a row usually take its place.

Next step Alt+21 next to every other Alt code® ™ © and the other legal marks

How it works

The section symbol is §, Section sign, U+00A7, and the paragraph symbol is , Pilcrow sign, U+00B6, in row two. The 42 rows add the plural §§, the daggers † and ‡, and footnote marks such as ※ and ⁂.

Read the full guide

Citing sections with § and §§

§ points to a numbered section of a document, frequently a section of a legal code. Doubled, it is read as the plural: §§ 13–21 is sections 13 through 21, much as pp. is the plural of p. Common practice puts a non-breaking space after the sign, which keeps it with its number: in HTML, § 242.

Tips
  • The traditional order of footnote marks is * † ‡ § ‖ ¶. Beyond the first three it is not familiar to most readers.
  • In LaTeX, \S, \P, \dag and \ddag print § ¶ † ‡ in text and in maths alike.

Questions and answers

How do I type the section symbol § on a keyboard?

With Num Lock on, hold Alt and type 21 or 0167 on the number pad. On a keyboard with an Option key, Option+6 types it on the U.S. layout. With a Compose key, press Compose, s, o. In HTML write §.

What is the § symbol called?

Section sign is its Unicode name; section symbol, section mark, double-s and silcrow are others. Its most probable origin is two S glyphs joined as one, from the Latin signum sectionis, though some scholars are sceptical. In German it is read Paragraf.

What is the paragraph symbol ¶ called?

Pilcrow, or paragraph mark, paragraph sign, paraph or blind P. It is the toolbar icon that shows formatting marks, and the glyph that then stands for each paragraph break. Alt+20 or Alt+0182 on a number pad types it, as does Option+7 on the U.S. layout.

What do † and ‡ mean?

In footnotes † usually follows an asterisk and ‡ marks a third note. † also indicates death, extinction or obsolescence: beside a year it gives a death date, with * for birth, a habit particularly common in German. ✝, Latin cross, is a different character.

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Browse Text styles

All 42 marks

Start here 10

  • Asterisk U+002A. On the keyboard. The first of the footnote marks. * in HTML. Unicode's note: can have five or six spokes.
  • Asterism U+2042. Three asterisks in a triangle. It was a divider between parts of a text, a use that is now nearly obsolete: three asterisks or three dots in a row usually take its place.
  • Dagger U+2020. Alt+0134 on a number pad, Option+T on the U.S. layout, Compose | -. † in HTML, \dag in LaTeX. It usually marks a footnote when an asterisk has already been used. Unicode's note: obelisk, long cross, oblong cross.
  • Double dagger U+2021. Alt+0135 on a number pad, Option+Shift+7 on the U.S. layout, Compose | =. ‡ in HTML, \ddag in LaTeX. A third footnote takes it, after * and †. Unicode's note: diesis, double obelisk.
  • Double vertical line U+2016. The fifth of the traditional footnote marks, between § and ¶. ‖ in HTML, \Vert in LaTeX maths, \textbardbl in text. No Alt code. Unicode's note: used in pairs to indicate norm of a matrix.
Show all 42 marks (37 more)

Start here, continued

  • Pilcrow sign U+00B6. Alt+20 or Alt+0182 on a number pad, Option+7 on the U.S. layout, Compose P P (capital P twice). ¶ in HTML; in LaTeX \P works in text and in maths. Unicode's notes: paragraph sign; section sign in some European usage.
  • Reference mark U+203B. Unicode's notes: Japanese kome, Urdu paragraph separator. In Japanese and Korean text it points to a note, the job the asterisk does in English. \textreferencemark in LaTeX text. No Alt code and no named HTML entity.
  • Reversed pilcrow sign U+204B. The mirror image of ¶. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999). No Alt code and no named HTML entity.
  • Section sign U+00A7. Alt+21 or Alt+0167 on a number pad, Option+6 on the U.S. layout, Compose s o. § in HTML; in LaTeX \S works in text and in maths. Unicode's note: used in referencing numbered sections or paragraphs.
  • Sections, the plural Made of U+00A7. Doubled, the sign is read as the plural: §§ 13–21 is sections 13 through 21, much as pp. is the plural of p.

Section signs 6

  • Ethiopic section mark U+1360. The section mark of the Ethiopic block. Added in Unicode 4.1 (2005).
  • Kaithi double section mark U+110BF. Unicode's note: delimits larger chunks of text, such as paragraphs. Added in Unicode 5.2 (2009).
  • Kaithi section mark U+110BE. Unicode's note: marks end of sentence. Added in Unicode 5.2 (2009).
  • Myanmar sign little section U+104A. From the Myanmar block. Unicode cross-references it to the Devanagari danda. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999).
  • Myanmar sign section U+104B. From the Myanmar block. Unicode cross-references it to the Devanagari double danda. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999).
  • Top half section sign U+2E39. Unicode's note: indicates pronunciation on one side of the mouth only. Added in Unicode 6.1 (2012).

Paragraph marks 9

  • Capitulum U+2E3F. Unicode's note: ancestor of the pilcrow sign. The pilcrow began as a letter C for capitulum, to which rubricators added one or two vertical bars. Added in Unicode 7.0 (2014).
  • Curved stem paragraph sign ornament U+2761. An ornamental pilcrow from the Dingbats block. No Alt code and no named HTML entity.
  • Ethiopic paragraph separator U+1368. The paragraph mark of the Ethiopic block. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999).
  • Forked paragraphos U+2E10. Filed with the ancient Greek textual symbols. Added in Unicode 4.1 (2005).
  • Georgian paragraph separator U+10FB. The paragraph mark of the Georgian block. Unicode cross-references it to U+2056, Three dot punctuation.
  • Paragraphos U+2E0F. Unicode files it with the ancient Greek textual symbols. One theory makes § an adaptation of the paragraphos. Added in Unicode 4.1 (2005).
  • Paragraphus mark U+2E4D. Unicode's note: indicates the beginning of a paragraph, section, stanza, or proposition. Added in Unicode 11.0 (2018).
  • Reversed forked paragraphos U+2E11. The mirror image of ⸐. Added in Unicode 4.1 (2005).
  • Syriac end of paragraph U+0700. Unicode's note: marks the end of a paragraph. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999).

Daggers 4

  • Dagger with left guard U+2E36. Unicode's note: indicates retracted pronunciation. Added in Unicode 6.1 (2012).
  • Dagger with right guard U+2E37. Unicode's note: indicates advanced pronunciation. Added in Unicode 6.1 (2012).
  • Triple dagger U+2E4B. A dagger with three crossguards, used by medievalists for another level of notation. Added in Unicode 11.0 (2018).
  • Turned dagger U+2E38. Unicode's note: indicates retroflex pronunciation. Added in Unicode 6.1 (2012).

Footnote marks 3

  • Double asterisk Made of U+002A. Some house styles put a double asterisk second, ahead of the dagger.
  • First three footnote marks Made of U+002A, U+2020 and U+2021. Asterisk, dagger, double dagger: the part of the traditional order that most readers know.
  • Fourth to sixth footnote marks Made of U+00A7, U+2016 and U+00B6. Section sign, double vertical line, pilcrow: the rest of the traditional order of six.

Breaks and ornaments 4

  • Floral heart U+2766. Unicode's note: Aldus leaf. An ornament from the Dingbats block.
  • Reversed rotated floral heart bullet U+2619. The mirror image of ❧. Unicode's note: a binding signature mark. Added in Unicode 3.0 (1999).
  • Rotated floral heart bullet U+2767. Unicode's note: hedera, ivy leaf. An ornament from the Dingbats block.
  • Three asterisks in a row Made of U+002A. Three keyboard characters: the usual stand-in for ⁂ between two parts of a text.

Look-alikes 6

  • Cross of Lorraine U+2628. A cross, and a separate character: not to be confused with ‡.
  • Dagger knife U+1F5E1. The weapon, not the footnote mark. It has the Emoji property. Added in Unicode 7.0 (2014).
  • Latin cross U+271D. A cross, and a separate character from †: the two should not be confused. It has the Emoji property, so an app may draw it in colour.
  • Latin letter alveolar click U+01C2. A letter for a click consonant that looks like ‡. Unicode's notes: double-barred pipe; palatoalveolar click (IPA).
  • Orthodox cross U+2626. A cross, and a separate character: not to be confused with ‡. It has the Emoji property.
  • Parallel to U+2225. The maths relation, which Unicode cross-references to ‖. ∥ in HTML, \parallel in LaTeX maths.

How this list was compiled: Names, and the code points they belong to, are checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt), and printed in sentence case. Notes that say Unicode's note or Unicode files it quote the headings and notes of NamesList.txt of the same version (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt); the version a character was added in is from DerivedAge.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt), the Emoji property and the text style and emoji style sequences are from emoji-data.txt and emoji-variation-sequences.txt of the same version, and the years are from https://www.unicode.org/history/publicationdates.html. Alt codes are from the code page 437 table (https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/MICSFT/PC/CP437.TXT), the PC graphics table for codes 1 to 31 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/MISC/IBMGRAPH.TXT) and the code page 1252 table (https://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/MICSFT/WINDOWS/CP1252.TXT). Option keys were read from a U.S. keyboard layout; other layouts differ. Compose sequences are from https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/lib/libx11/-/raw/master/nls/en_US.UTF-8/Compose.pre. HTML entity names are from https://html.spec.whatwg.org/entities.json, the HTML 4 name first where there is one, else the shortest. LaTeX macros are listed only when LaTeX's own fontdef.dtx or ltoutenc.dtx (https://github.com/latex3/latex2e/tree/develop/base) or the amssymb and amsfonts sources (https://mirrors.ctan.org/fonts/amsfonts/source/) define them, matched to a code point through unicode-math-table.tex (https://github.com/latex3/unicode-math). The last group holds characters that one ordinary computer had no font for on the day this list was checked; your device may differ. That \S, \P, \dag and \ddag work in text and in maths is from ltoutenc.dtx, which defines each as a switch between the maths and the text command. The plural §§ with its example, and the paragraphos theory, are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_sign; the capitulum's history is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow; the dagger after an asterisk, the double dagger for a third footnote, the triple dagger and the crosses and the click letter the daggers should not be confused with are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger_%28mark%29; the traditional order of six footnote marks, the remark that only the first three are familiar, and the house styles with a double asterisk are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_%28typography%29; the reference mark's job is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_mark; and the asterism as a divider, nearly obsolete, with three asterisks in a row in its place, is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28typography%29. All checked 2026-09-20. Asterisks in general are on the star page and divider lines on the divider page, so both are left out here. The Start here rows are this site's own pick. Licence: own work (facts from the Unicode Character Database, Unicode License v3, and from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, restated in our own words; aliases and notes marked as Unicode's are quoted from NamesList.txt, Copyright © 1991-2026 Unicode, Inc., https://www.unicode.org/license.txt)