Cross Symbols
Tap a cross to copy it. Each shows its exact Unicode name. Some carry religious meaning, so the page says which and how they are used.
By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content
Christian crosses
Characters with a religious meaning for many Christians. Use them with the same care you would give the symbol in print.
Heraldic and ornamental crosses
Crosses used in heraldry, orders and decoration, without a single religious reading.
Daggers and footnote marks
Typographic crosses used for footnotes, with the section and paragraph signs that follow them in the traditional order.
Multiplication and cancel marks
X-shaped marks that are not religious crosses. They mean multiply, wrong or close.
Symbols of other traditions
Included because searchers often look for religious symbols in one place. Each belongs to its own tradition.
32 symbols on this page. Names are the official Unicode character names; "emoji" marks characters that often appear as colour pictures on phones.
Crosses are several families
People search “cross symbol” for at least four different things: a religious cross, a decorative cross, a typographic dagger, and an X mark. Unicode keeps them separate, which helps if you know which you need. The first group on this page covers the religious ones, and the others cover the rest.
Christian crosses
✝ is LATIN CROSS (U+271D), the cross with a longer lower arm, familiar from Western churches. ✞ (SHADOWED WHITE LATIN CROSS) and ✟ (OUTLINED LATIN CROSS) are decorative variants of it. ☦ is ORTHODOX CROSS (U+2626), with three horizontal bars: a short one at the top for the inscription, the main one, and a slanted bar at the bottom. It is used in Eastern Orthodox traditions. ☩ is CROSS OF JERUSALEM (U+2629), a cross with four smaller crosses. ☨ has the Unicode name CROSS OF LORRAINE (U+2628), a two-barred cross; similar double-barred forms are used in some Christian traditions under other names, and the Unicode name does not capture all of that. ☧ is CHI RHO (U+2627), formed from the first two Greek letters of “Christ”, used as an early Christian monogram. ⛪ (CHURCH) is an emoji of a building, listed because it is searched with these.
These characters carry meaning. Many Christians use them sincerely, and some prefer that they are not used decoratively. There is no rule against using them, but context matters: a cross next to an unrelated joke or an altered version, such as inverted, can offend. If you want only a cross-shaped ornament without a religious reading, the Greek crosses are neutral.
Heraldic and ornamental crosses
✠ is MALTESE CROSS (U+2720), with arms that widen toward the ends, associated with the Order of Malta. ✙ (OUTLINED GREEK CROSS) and ✚ (HEAVY GREEK CROSS) are equal-armed crosses; ✚ is the shape often used for first aid, though the Red Cross emblem itself is protected and should not be used casually. ✛ and ✜ have an open centre. ✢ ✣ ✤ ✥ are asterisk-like crosses with spokes ending in teardrops, balloons or clubs. All are Dingbats, and none has a fixed religious meaning in Unicode.
Daggers
† (DAGGER, U+2020) and ‡ (DOUBLE DAGGER, U+2021) are punctuation. In printing, they mark footnotes after the asterisk. In genealogy, † before a name means that person has died. ⸸ (TURNED DAGGER, U+2E38) is a rarer mark used in some philological texts. They look like crosses, but Unicode treats them as punctuation. The traditional footnote order after the asterisk is † ‡ § ¶, which is why § (SECTION SIGN) and ¶ (PILCROW SIGN) sit in that group. A Windows user can type † with Alt+0134.
Multiplication and cancel marks
✕ (MULTIPLICATION X), ✖ (HEAVY MULTIPLICATION X), ✗ (BALLOT X) and ✘ (HEAVY BALLOT X) are X shapes, used for no, wrong or close. ☓ (SALTIRE) is an X-shaped cross, named after the heraldic diagonal cross. The check mark symbols page covers the form-and-checklist use in more detail.
Other traditions
☥ is ANKH, an ancient Egyptian symbol of life. ✡ is STAR OF DAVID, a symbol of Jewish identity. ☪ is STAR AND CRESCENT and is associated with Islam. ☸ is WHEEL OF DHARMA, used in Buddhism, and ☯ is YIN YANG, from Chinese philosophy. They are listed so a reader looking for a symbol in this region can find it, and each carries sincere meaning for the people it belongs to, so do not treat any of them as meaningless decoration.
Text and emoji presentation
Several of these characters have two presentations. ✝ ☦ ☪ ✡ ☸ and ☯ exist as text and also as emoji, and phones often show the emoji form. ✞ ✟ ✠ ☨ ☩ ✙ ✚ and the daggers have no emoji form, so they stay in your text colour. The invisible selectors U+FE0E (text) and U+FE0F (emoji) request one or the other, but apps may ignore them.
| Character | Code point | Emoji form? |
|---|---|---|
| ✝ | U+271D | Yes |
| ☦ | U+2626 | Yes |
| ✠ | U+2720 | No |
| ✚ | U+271A | No |
| † | U+2020 | No |
Where crosses work
Bios and display names generally accept them as ordinary Unicode, but each platform sets and can change its own rules. We have not verified every game or field, so check after saving. In documents and websites, cross characters need a font that has them; the Latin and Greek crosses are in most current fonts. Our Instagram fonts page records what we have documented. If a cross appears as an empty box, the boxes guide explains why.
How to type a cross
- Windows Alt codes. On the numeric keypad with Num Lock on, hold Alt and type 0134 for † or 0135 for ‡. No Alt code exists for ✝ or the other crosses.
- Word on Windows. Type 271D and press Alt then X for ✝. Use 2626 for ☦, 2720 for ✠ and 271A for ✚.
- Mac. Option+T types † on a US keyboard, and Option+Shift+7 types ‡. The Character Viewer (Control, Command, Space) finds the others by searching “cross”.
- iPhone and Android. The emoji keyboard has ✝️ and ☦️. Other crosses usually need copy and paste or a text replacement.
- HTML. † gives † and ✝ gives ✝.
Accessibility
Screen readers announce the Unicode name: “latin cross”, “orthodox cross”, “maltese cross”, “dagger”. A cross in a username is spoken before or after the name. Keep it at the end and do not use it where a word is needed, such as a label or a link. A cross used as a multiplication sign or X mark should be replaced with the proper ×, which is read as “times”. The fancy text accessibility guide explains how symbols are read.
Related pages
The star symbols page has the star counterparts, crown symbols covers royal and heraldic marks, and aesthetic symbols has decoration with no religious reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ✝ ☦ and ✠?
Is it disrespectful to use ✝ in a username or as decoration?
What is the difference between ✝ and † ?
Why does ✝ turn into a coloured emoji?
How do I type a cross symbol?
Related symbols and tools
- Check Mark SymbolsTap a tick, box or cross to copy it. Each shows its exact Unicode name, and the page explains which version suits lists, forms and chat.
- Star SymbolsTap a star to copy it. Solid, outline, pinwheel and sparkle stars are grouped by look, each with its Unicode name and code point.
- Arrow SymbolsTap an arrow to copy it. Basic, two-way, double, heavy and triangle arrows are grouped, each with its Unicode name and code point.
- Crown SymbolsTap a crown to copy it. Unicode has only one true crown, the emoji, so most text crowns are chess pieces. Each shows its real name and code point.
- Aesthetic SymbolsTap a symbol to copy it. Aesthetic text is built from small borrowed characters, and each one below shows its true name so you know what it really is.
- Text Symbols to Copy and PasteText symbols are Unicode characters, such as hearts, stars, arrows, check marks and brackets, that you copy and paste into bios, names, messages and documents. Each one shows its Unicode name and code point, so you know exactly what you are pasting and can tell it apart from an emoji.