What ♑ means
It labels a person or topic as Capricorn. The sea goat has a goat's front and a fish's tail. If you use this goat sign outside an astrology chat, write “Capricorn” beside it: people who don't know zodiac symbols may not recognise the curl.
The creature is far older than horoscope columns. Babylonian star lore pictured this patch of sky as a goat-fish linked with Ea, a god of fresh water and wisdom. Greek astronomers adapted the figure, and the Romans named it Capricornus, Latin for “horned like a goat.”
Why did someone send me ♑?
Usually, they're naming their sign or joking about its traits. After a story about a colour-coded calendar or working through a holiday, ♑ can stand in for “of course I did.” It plays on Capricorn's stereotype as serious, ambitious and disciplined, not proof of anyone's personality. Read the words around it before treating it as a personal hint.
Don't confuse it with
2Combination ideas
2Worth knowing
- The Tropic of Capricorn is named after the constellation Capricornus, where the Sun stood at the December solstice about two thousand years ago; precession has since moved that point into Sagittarius.
Questions people ask
1Why does ♑ look different on my phone?
It's presentation, not a different sign. ♑ supports text and emoji styles, so it can appear monochrome or as a coloured badge. A variation selector can request a style, but the app and font decide the result.
How to type ♑
:capricorn:the common shortcode; support varies by platform.♑Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.