Kitchen knife, U+1F52A, sits up top: knife emoji copy and paste takes one press of Copy. Unicode's name for the character is hocho, a Japanese kitchen knife. The 69 tiles below add Dagger, Crossed swords, plain-text blades and drawings.
Read the full guide
Find a blade
Search reads Unicode's names and its search words. Hocho finds the knife and one combo, katana finds four tiles, and footnote finds the three dagger marks: β , β‘ and βΉ. Only Ninja takes a skin tone.
Which blades survive the trip
Kitchen knife is from Emoji 0.6, Dagger 0.7, Crossed swords 1.0. Ninja and Rock arrived in Emoji 13.0, and an older phone shows an empty box. β and β‘ are punctuation, so they take the colour of your words. The hieroglyphs and the Linear B sword need a font that has them. All six drawings are 30 columns or narrower.
Tips
For sword symbol copy and paste in a name field, try β or Crossed swords, text style.
The kitchen knife drawing is 29 columns wide. In a narrower box its lines wrap and the blade breaks.
Questions and answers
Is there a sword emoji?
Not a single one. Unicode's emoji list, version 18.0, has Dagger and Crossed swords, and CLDR, Unicode's list of search words, files sword under Person fencing only. So sword emoji copy and paste means one of those three, or a text sword.
Why is the knife emoji filed under food?
Unicode puts it in Food & Drink, subgroup dishware, between the spoon and the jar. Dagger and Crossed swords sit in Objects, subgroup tool, between Hammer and wrench and Bomb. CLDR lists weapon for all three, and puts the knife's after chef and cooking.
What do crossed swords mean on a map?
A battleground. Unicode's notes on U+2694 read: military term, battleground (on maps), killed in action. CLDR gives it three search words, crossed, swords and weapon, and no other emoji has the plural.
What is the dagger symbol β used for?
Footnotes. The Wikipedia article on the mark records that β flags a footnote once the asterisk is taken, and β‘ the third. Unicode names the character DAGGER and lists obelisk and long cross as its other names.
βοΈCrossed swordsU+2694 U+FE0F. The only emoji with sword in its name, and there are two of them. Unicode's notes say the sign marks a battleground on maps. It has a text form. Emoji 1.0.
π‘οΈDaggerU+1F5E1 U+FE0F. The nearest thing to a single sword: no emoji is named sword. CLDR files it under knife and weapon, and it has a text form. Emoji 0.7.
π΄Fork and knifeU+1F374. A table knife, with its fork. CLDR lists knife, cutlery and restaurant. Emoji 0.6.
π½οΈFork and knife with plateU+1F37D U+FE0F. The place setting. CLDR lists knife, dinner and plate. Emoji 0.7.
πͺKitchen knifeU+1F52A. The knife emoji. Unicode files it with the dishes, between the spoon and the jar, and the character under it is named hocho, Japanese for kitchen knife. CLDR adds chef, cooking and weapon. Emoji 0.6.
π€ΊPerson fencingU+1F93A. The one emoji CLDR files under the singular word sword. It takes no skin tone. Emoji 3.0.
Show all 70 blades (64 more)
Shields and other blades 8
πͺAxeU+1FA93. CLDR lists chop, hatchet and wood: a woodcutter's axe, not a battle axe. Emoji 12.0.
πΉBow and arrowU+1F3F9. CLDR lists archer, archery and weapon, and Sagittarius. Emoji 1.0.
πͺCarpentry sawU+1FA9A. A blade with teeth. CLDR lists cut, lumber and trim. Emoji 13.0.
π₯·NinjaU+1F977. CLDR lists assassin, stealth and fighter. The only tile here that takes a skin tone. Emoji 13.0.
π΄ββ οΈPirate flagU+1F3F4 U+200D U+2620 U+FE0F. The Jolly Roger: CLDR lists Jolly, Roger, plunder and treasure. Emoji 11.0.
πͺRazorU+1FA92. The only emoji CLDR files under sharp. Emoji 12.0.
βοΈScissorsU+2702 U+FE0F. Two blades on a pivot. CLDR lists cut and cutting. Emoji 0.6.
π‘οΈShieldU+1F6E1 U+FE0F. What goes with a sword. CLDR files it under weapon, which a shield would dispute. Emoji 0.7.
Sword symbols in plain text 10
β οΈBlack spade suit, text styleU+2660 U+FE0E Black spade suit, asked for as text. A sword in disguise: the word spade in cards probably comes from the Old Spanish spada, sword, as Wikipedia records.
βοΈCrossed swords, text styleU+2694 U+FE0E Crossed swords, asked for as text. The sword symbol most people are after: the same character as the emoji, followed by the selector that asks for plain text, so it takes the colour and size of your words. The font has the last say.
β Dagger markU+2020 Dagger. A printer's mark that Unicode really does name dagger. It flags a footnote once the asterisk is taken. Plain text, so worth a try where a name field refuses emoji.
βΈΆDagger with left guardU+2E36 Dagger with left guard. Half a crossguard. A phonetic mark for retracted pronunciation, borrowed here for its looks.
βΈ·Dagger with right guardU+2E37 Dagger with right guard. The other half: advanced pronunciation, and the mirror of the one before.
π‘οΈDagger, text styleU+1F5E1 U+FE0E Dagger knife, asked for as text. One blade, as text. Unicode names the character dagger knife.
β‘Double daggerU+2021 Double dagger. Two hilts and two guards. In print it marks the third footnote, after the asterisk and the dagger. Unicode's notes call it diesis too.
βΉTriple daggerU+2E4B Triple dagger. Three guards, used by medievalists. It shows as an empty box where no font has it.
βΈΈTurned daggerU+2E38 Turned dagger. The dagger mark upside down, point up like a sword held aloft. Unicode's notes give its job in phonetics: retroflex pronunciation.
β€White spade suitU+2664 White spade suit. The same blade in outline. Not an emoji, so it never turns into a picture.
Older blades 11
εBlade, as a Han characterU+5203 CJK unified ideograph-5203. The knife character with one stroke added at the cutting edge. Unihan defines it as edged tool, cutlery, knife edge.
πDagger hieroglyphU+13311 Egyptian hieroglyph T008A. Unicode describes it as a dagger with a pointed tip.
πKhopesh hieroglyphU+1331B Egyptian hieroglyph T016. Unicode describes it as a scimitar (khopesh), written horizontally. The khopesh was an Egyptian sickle-like sword. It shows as an empty box where no font has hieroglyphs.
πͺKnife hieroglyphU+1332A Egyptian hieroglyph T030. Unicode describes it as a knife with a rounded blade and rounded handle.
π«Knife sharpener hieroglyphU+1332B Egyptian hieroglyph T031. Unicode describes it as a knife sharpener with a rounded body and a loop at the back. Every knife drawer has one somewhere.
εKnife, as a Han characterU+5200 CJK unified ideograph-5200. Unihan defines it as knife, in two strokes. Its Japanese reading is katana.
πLinear B swordU+100C9 Linear b ideogram B233 sword. A sword from Bronze Age Greek clay tablets. Unicode's notes gloss it pugio, the Roman soldier's dagger. It shows as an empty box where no font has Linear B.
πSheathed dagger hieroglyphU+13310 Egyptian hieroglyph T008. Unicode describes it as a dagger within a round tipped sheath.
ε£Sword, as written in JapanU+5263 CJK unified ideograph-5263. Unihan defines it as sword, dagger, saber, and lists it as the newer Japanese form of the 15-stroke character after it.
εSword, simplified ChineseU+5251 CJK unified ideograph-5251. The simplified form of the one before, as Unihan records it.
εSword, traditional ChineseU+528D CJK unified ideograph-528D. The full form, 15 strokes. Unihan gives it the same meaning: sword, dagger, saber.
One-line text swords 13
-|==>ASCII dagger, five characters
[####]>=========-ASCII kitchen knife, handle first
β βββββββ β Rule between two dagger marks
βββββ βοΈ βββββRule with crossed swords, text form
βββββββββββββͺβββBroadsword, point left
ββββΌββββββββββββββ·Light sword, single line
ββββββββββββββΊHeavy sword, thick line
ββββͺββββββββββββΊBroadsword in box drawing characters
<::::::::::::::::}==oASCII longsword, point left
o=(|--------------------ASCII rapier, cup hilt and thin blade
o=={::::::::::::::::>ASCII longsword, point right
XXXXX(|)==================-ASCII katana, long grip and round guard
@xx|=======>ASCII short sword, wrapped grip
ASCII swords and knives 6
CleaverA square blade with the hanging hole in its corner. Plain ASCII, 25 columns wide.
Crossed swords in ASCIITwo blades crossing, guards below the crossing and pommels at the bottom. Plain ASCII, 12 columns wide.
Dagger in ASCIISix lines of plain ASCII, point down.
Kitchen knife in ASCIITwo rivets in the handle, a straight edge and a spine that drops to the tip. Plain ASCII, 29 columns wide.
Sword in a stoneHilt up, blade sunk in the rock, waiting for the right pair of hands. Plain ASCII.
Upright swordTen lines of plain ASCII, point up. It holds its shape wherever the text is monospaced.
Knife and sword combos 16
π§βοΈπΉπ‘οΈAdventuring partyMage, then crossed swords, then bow and arrow, then shield. Wizard, fighter, ranger, tank.
πͺπ‘οΈβοΈAll three bladesKitchen knife, then dagger, then crossed swords. Every emoji with knife, dagger or swords in its name, minus the cutlery.
πΊοΈβοΈBattle on the mapWorld map, then crossed swords. Unicode's notes say crossed swords mark a battleground on maps. This is that, literally.
πͺπCarve the pumpkinKitchen knife, then jack-o-lantern. October, mostly.
π§βπ³πͺChef at workCook, then kitchen knife. CLDR lists chef for the knife. For a skin tone on the cook, copy the two separately.
πͺπ₯π₯Chopping vegKitchen knife, then carrot, then cucumber. Prep work. CLDR files the knife under cooking before it files it under weapon.
πͺπCut the cakeKitchen knife, then birthday cake. The one day a year everyone is glad to see the big knife.
π‘οΈπDragon slayerDagger, then dragon. Optimistic, given the size of the dagger.
π€ΊβοΈEn gardePerson fencing, then crossed swords. The fencer is the one emoji CLDR files under sword.
πͺπ§ πIt is the onionsKitchen knife, then onion, then loudly crying face. Nobody is crying. It is the onions.
π₯·π‘οΈNinja with a bladeNinja, then dagger. For a skin tone on the ninja, copy the two separately.
π΄ββ οΈπ‘οΈπ¦PiratePirate flag, then dagger, then parrot. CLDR lists pirate for the parrot too.
π‘οΈπͺ¨Pulled from the stoneDagger, then rock. Rock arrived in Emoji 13.0, so an older phone shows a sword and an empty box.
πͺππ£Sushi counterKitchen knife, then fish, then sushi. The character under the knife emoji is named hocho, the Japanese kitchen knife, so this is home ground.
βοΈπ‘οΈSword and shieldCrossed swords, then shield. CLDR files both under weapon.
βοΈπ€TruceCrossed swords, then handshake. Swords first, then the better idea.
How this list was compiled: Built by script on 2026-09-19, not typed by hand. The emoji, their names, code points and Emoji version numbers come from emoji-test.txt, version 18.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/emoji/emoji-test.txt); names are the CLDR short names printed in that file, in sentence case. Five names in that file hold knife, dagger or sword (fork and knife with plate, fork and knife, kitchen knife, dagger, crossed swords), and none is a single sword. The search words are from the CLDR English annotations (https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/annotations/en.xml and https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/annotationsDerived/en.xml, main branch). CLDR lists knife for four emoji, swords for crossed swords only and sword for person fencing only. The text forms come from emoji-variation-sequences.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/emoji/emoji-variation-sequences.txt). Every character that is not an emoji was checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt), and a note that names a character uses its name from that file. The character name hocho and its gloss Japanese kitchen knife, the map use of crossed swords, the other names of the dagger marks and the phonetic jobs of the guarded daggers come from NamesList.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt). The five hieroglyph descriptions are the kEH_Desc values of Unikemet.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Unikemet.txt). The meanings, readings, stroke counts and variant forms of the five Han characters are the kDefinition, kJapaneseKun, kTotalStrokes, kSimplifiedVariant and kJapaneseNewVariant values of the Unihan database, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Unihan.zip). Wikipedia supplied five facts, read as wikitext on 2026-09-20: the dagger as a footnote mark after the asterisk and the double dagger as the third (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger_(mark)), spade as probably from the Old Spanish spada, sword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spades_(suit)), the khopesh as an Egyptian sickle-like sword (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khopesh), the pugio as a Roman soldier's dagger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pugio), and hocho as the Japanese word for a kitchen knife (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_kitchen_knife). The 13 one-line swords, the 6 ASCII drawings and the 16 combos are this site's own work: drawn for this page from ASCII, box drawing characters and geometric shapes, with no letter from a right-to-left script, and the combo names are our own. Left out on purpose: real makes and models of knife, anything aimed at a person, and the water pistol, which has its own page. The Unicode and CLDR files were checked on 2026-09-19, and the Wikipedia pages on 2026-09-20. Licence: own work