Dingbat Explained

In typography, a dingbat (sometimes more formally known as a printer's ornament or printer's character) is an ornament, specifically, a glyph used in typesetting, often employed to create box frames (similar to box-drawing characters), or as a dinkus (section divider). Some of the dingbat symbols have been used as signature marks or used in bookbinding to order sections.

In the computer industry, a dingbat font is a computer font that has symbols and shapes located at the code points normally designated for alphabetical or numeric characters. This practice was necessitated by the limited number of code points available in 20th century operating systems. Modern computer fonts containing dingbats are based on Unicode encoding, which has unique code points for dingbat glyphs.

Examples

Examples of characters included in Unicode (ITC Zapf Dingbats series 100 and others):

Dingbats Unicode block

See main article: Dingbats (Unicode block). Unicode provides code points for many commonly used dingbats, as listed below. Prior to widespread adoption of Unicode in the early 2010s, "dingbat fonts" were created that allocated dingbat glyphs to codepoints in code positions otherwise allocated to "normal" character sets.

Blockname:Dingbats
Rangestart:2700
Rangeend:27BF
Script1:Common
1 0 0:160
3 2:14
5 2:1
6 0:16
7 0:1
Sources:ITC Zapf Dingbats series 100
Note:[1] [2]

The Dingbats block (U+2700–U+27BF) (under the original block name "Zapf Dingbats", so named for type designer Hermann Zapf) was added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991, with the release of version 1.0.This code block contains decorative character variants, and other marks of emphasis and non-textual symbolism. Most of its characters were taken from Zapf Dingbats. The block name was changed from "Zapf Dingbats" to "Dingbats" in June 1993, with the release of 1.1.[3] [4]

Ornamental Dingbats Unicode block

See main article: Ornamental Dingbats.

Blockname:Ornamental Dingbats
Rangestart:1F650
Rangeend:1F67F
Script1:Common
Symbols:Leaf ornaments, ornamental punctuation
7 0:48
Sources:dingbat fonts Webdings, Wingdings, and Wingdings 2

The Ornamental Dingbats block was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.This code block contains ornamental leaves, punctuation, and ampersands, quilt squares, and checkerboard patterns.It is a subset of dingbat fonts Webdings, Wingdings, and Wingdings 2.[5]

Character table

CodeResultDescription
U+2700Black safety scissors
U+2701Upper blade scissors
U+2702Black scissors
U+2703Lower blade scissors
U+2704White scissors
U+2705White heavy check mark
U+2706Telephone location sign
U+2707Tape drive
U+2708Airplane
U+2709Envelope
U+270ARaised fist
U+270BRaised hand
U+270CVictory hand
U+270DWriting hand
U+270ELower right pencil
U+270FPencil
U+2710Upper right pencil
U+2711White nib
U+2712Black nib
U+2713Check mark
U+2714Heavy check mark
U+2715Multiplication X
U+2716Heavy multiplication X
U+2717Ballot X
U+2718Heavy ballot X
U+2719Outlined Greek cross
U+271AHeavy Greek cross
U+271BOpen center cross
U+271CHeavy open center cross
U+271DLatin cross
U+271EShadowed white Latin cross
U+271FOutlined Latin cross
U+2720Maltese cross
U+2721Star of David
U+2722Four teardrop-spoked asterisk
U+2723Four balloon-spoked asterisk
U+2724Heavy four balloon-spoked asterisk
U+2725Four club-spoked asterisk
U+2726Black four-pointed star
U+2727White four-pointed star
U+2728Sparkles
U+2729Stress outlined white star
U+272ACircled white star
U+272BOpen center black star
U+272CBlack center white star
U+272DOutlined black star
U+272EHeavy outlined black star
U+272FPinwheel star
U+2730Shadowed white star
U+2731Heavy asterisk
U+2732Open center asterisk
U+2733Eight spoked asterisk
U+2734Eight pointed black star
U+2735Eight pointed pinwheel star
U+2736Six pointed black star
U+2737Eight pointed rectilinear black star
U+2738Heavy eight pointed rectilinear black star
U+2739Twelve pointed black star
U+273ASixteen pointed asterisk
U+273BTeardrop spoked asterisk
U+273COpen center teardrop spoked asterisk
U+273DHeavy teardrop spoked asterisk
U+273ESix petalled black and white florette
U+273FBlack florette
U+2740White florette
U+2741Eight petalled outlined black florette
U+2742Circled open center eight pointed star
U+2743Heavy teardrop spoked pinwheel asterisk
U+2744Snowflake
U+2745Tight trifoliate snowflake
U+2746Heavy chevron snowflake
U+2747Sparkle
U+2748Heavy sparkle
U+2749Balloon spoked asterisk
U+274AEight teardrop spoked propeller asterisk
U+274BHeavy eight teardrop spoked propeller asterisk
U+274CCross mark
U+274DShadowed white circle
U+274ENegative squared cross mark
U+274FLower right drop-shadowed white square
U+2750Upper right drop-shadowed white square
U+2751Lower right shadowed white square
U+2752Upper right shadowed white square
U+2753Black question mark ornament
U+2754White question mark ornament
U+2755White exclamation mark ornament
U+2756Black diamond minus white X
U+2757Heavy exclamation mark symbol
U+2758Light vertical bar
U+2759Medium vertical bar
U+275AHeavy vertical bar
U+275BHeavy single turned comma quotation mark ornament
U+275CHeavy single comma quotation mark ornament
U+275DHeavy double turned comma quotation mark ornament
U+275EHeavy double comma quotation mark ornament
U+275FHeavy low single comma quotation mark ornament
U+2760Heavy low double comma quotation mark ornament
U+2761Curved stem paragraph sign ornament
U+2762Heavy exclamation mark ornament
U+2763Heavy heart exclamation mark ornament
U+2764Heavy black heart
U+2765Rotated heavy black heart bullet
U+2766Floral heart
U+2767Rotated floral heart bullet
U+2768Medium left parenthesis ornament
U+2769Medium right parenthesis ornament
U+276AMedium flattened left parenthesis ornament
U+276BMedium flattened right parenthesis ornament
U+276CMedium left-pointing angle bracket ornament
U+276DMedium right-pointing angle bracket ornament
U+276EHeavy left-pointing angle quotation mark ornament
U+276FHeavy right-pointing angle quotation mark ornament
U+2770Heavy left-pointing angle bracket ornament
U+2771Heavy right-pointing angle bracket ornament
U+2772Light left tortoise shell bracket ornament
U+2773Light right tortoise shell bracket ornament
U+2774Medium left curly bracket ornament
U+2775Medium left curly bracket ornament
U+2776Dingbat negative circled digit one
U+2777Dingbat negative circled digit two
U+2778Dingbat negative circled digit three
U+2779Dingbat negative circled digit four
U+277ADingbat negative circled digit five
U+277BDingbat negative circled digit six
U+277CDingbat negative circled digit seven
U+277DDingbat negative circled digit eight
U+277EDingbat negative circled digit nine
U+277FDingbat negative circled digit ten
U+2780Dingbat circled sans-serif digit one
U+2781Dingbat circled sans-serif digit two
U+2782Dingbat circled sans-serif digit three
U+2783Dingbat circled sans-serif digit four
U+2784Dingbat circled sans-serif digit five
U+2785Dingbat circled sans-serif digit six
U+2786Dingbat circled sans-serif digit seven
U+2787Dingbat circled sans-serif digit eight
U+2788Dingbat circled sans-serif digit nine
U+2789Dingbat circled sans-serif digit ten
U+278ADingbat negative circled sans-serif digit one
U+278BDingbat negative circled sans-serif digit two
U+278CDingbat negative circled sans-serif digit three
U+278DDingbat negative circled sans-serif digit four
U+278EDingbat negative circled sans-serif digit five
U+278FDingbat negative circled sans-serif digit six
U+2790Dingbat negative circled sans-serif digit seven
U+2791Dingbat negative circled sans-serif digit eight
U+2792Dingbat negative circled sans-serif digit nine
U+2793Dingbat negative circled sans-serif digit ten
U+2794Heavy wide-headed rightward arrow
U+2795Heavy plus sign
U+2796Heavy minus sign
U+2797Heavy division sign
U+2798Heavy south east arrow
U+2799Heavy rightward arrow
U+279AHeavy north east arrow
U+279BDrafting point rightward arrow
U+279CHeavy round-tipped rightward arrow
U+279DTriangle-headed rightward arrow
U+279EHeavy triangle-headed rightward arrow
U+279FDashed triangle-headed rightward arrow
U+27A0Heavy dashed triangle-headed rightward arrow
U+27A1Black rightward arrow
U+27A2Three-D top-lighted rightward arrowhead
U+27A3Three-D bottom-lighted rightward arrowhead
U+27A4Black rightward arrowhead
U+27A5Heavy black curved downward and rightward arrow
U+27A6Heavy black curved upward and rightward arrow
U+27A7Squat black rightward arrow
U+27A8Heavy concave-pointed black rightward arrow
U+27A9Right-shaded white rightward arrow
U+27AALeft-shaded white rightward arrow
U+27ABBack-tilted shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27ACFront-tilted shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27ADHeavy lower right-shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27AEHeavy upper right-shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27AFNotched lower right-shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27B0Curly loop
U+27B1Notched upper right-shadowed white rightward arrow
U+27B2Circled heavy white rightward arrow
U+27B3White-feathered rightward arrow
U+27B4Black-feathered south east arrow
U+27B5Black-feathered rightward arrow
U+27B6Black-feathered north east arrow
U+27B7Heavy black-feathered south east arrow
U+27B8Heavy black-feathered rightward arrow
U+27B9Heavy black-feathered north east arrow
U+27BATeardrop-barbed rightward arrow
U+27BBHeavy teardrop-shanked rightward arrow
U+27BCWedge-tailed rightward arrow
U+27BDHeavy wedge-tailed rightward arrow
U+27BEOpen-outlined rightward arrow
U+27BFDouble curly loop

Dingbat fonts

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Unicode character database. The Unicode Standard. 2023-07-26.
  2. Web site: Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard. The Unicode Standard. 2023-07-26.
  3. Web site: 3.8: Block-by-Block Charts . The Unicode Standard . version 1.0 . Unicode Consortium.
  4. Web site: Appendix E Block Names . The Unicode Standard . version 1.1 . Unicode Consortium.
  5. Web site: N4115: Proposal to add Wingdings and Webdings Symbols. 2 July 2014. 15 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200215052615/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n4115.pdf. dead.