Triangle symbols and what they mean
The triangles people copy most are the four large ones from the Unicode Geometric Shapes block: black up-pointing, black down-pointing, and their hollow ("white") twins, plus the sideways pair . They have been in Unicode since version 1.1 (1993), so every font has them. next to a number means it went up and that it fell, which is why stock tickers, weather tables and spreadsheets are full of them. is the universal play sign and back; side by side are a sort control, and a collapsed and an expanded menu.
The small triangles and sit on the text line like bullets, so they work inside a sentence ( next step) where would look oversized. The medium set was added in Unicode 7.0 (2014) together with to give player controls matching weights, and are the same triangles centred in their box for scroll arrows. are the "pointers": a slightly squatter triangle inherited from the old IBM PC character set, still the default bullet in many Windows programs.
Beyond those, Unicode has corner triangles (and hollow ) that tile into zigzags and shaded boxes, half-black triangles , a triangle with a dot , a double triangle , a rounded one , circled ones , the heavy outline that looks like a yield sign and the right-angled isosceles set . The newest of these ( , Unicode 11) may show as boxes on older phones, so use when the text must survive anywhere.
Delta, nabla and the triangle symbol in math and physics
In maths and physics the triangle is nearly always a delta. (U2206, named increment) means change in: x is a change in position, t a stretch of time, H the heat of a reaction. It is a separate character from the Greek capital letter Δ , though most fonts draw them the same; use Δ when you mean the letter itself and in formulas. A lowercase change is δ, and in medical notes Δ is shorthand for diagnosis (ΔΔ, differential diagnosis). On a chemistry arrow, Δ written above it means the reaction is heated.
The upside-down triangle is nabla, or del: the vector operator for gradient , divergence and curl , and ² is the Laplacian. The name is the Greek word for a Phoenician harp, whose shape it recalls. is the right triangle sign used in geometry, (delta equal to) means is defined as, and are the normal subgroup relations of group theory. put plus, minus and times inside a triangle for specialised operators, and come from the same mathematical blocks. For the full set of operators see the Math Symbols collection; the letters Δ δ live with the Greek Letters.
Triangle emoji: and friends
red triangle pointed up and red triangle pointed down arrived with Unicode 6.0 in 2010 from the Japanese carrier sets; they are solid red on every platform. In chat often marks a price drop or a downvote, a rise, and the pair is shorthand for "ups and downs". are the up and down buttons, a triangle on a rounded blue or grey tile (scroll up, see below), and stack two triangles for fast up and fast down.
and are the same code points as the text triangles with an invisible emoji selector added, so they turn into coloured buttons; are the double triangles of fast forward and rewind and is eject, a triangle resting on a bar. All of them are collected with their siblings on the Play, Pause & Media Button Symbols page. Three more emoji are triangles by shape rather than by name: the warning sign (the triangle with an exclamation mark that every road sign and dashboard uses for caution), the triangular ruler, or set square, and the triangular flag, which online has come to mean a "red flag", a warning about a person or situation.
Phones hide most of these under a search. Type "triangle" in the emoji keyboard to get , or "play" for . The plain text triangles are not on any emoji keyboard, which is exactly why this page exists: copy them from here and paste them anywhere, including places such as usernames and bios that strip emoji.
How to type a triangle symbol on the keyboard
On Windows, hold Alt and type a code on the numeric keypad: Alt30 gives , Alt31 , Alt16 and Alt17 . These four work because they were drawing characters on the original IBM PC; the other triangles have no short code. In Microsoft Word (and most Office apps) type the hex code and press AltX: 25B2 becomes , 25B3 , 25BC , 25BD , 25C0 , 25B6 , 2206 , 0394 Δ and 2207 . Insert › Symbol with the Geometric Shapes subset shows them all.
On a Mac, OptionJ types directly on the US keyboard; for the shapes, open the Character Viewer with CtrlCmdSpace and search "triangle". In HTML write ▲ for , ▼ for , Δ for Δ and ∇ for . In Excel and Google Sheets =UNICHAR(9650) returns and =UNICHAR(9660) , so a formula such as =IF(B2>A2,"▲","▼") gives you a trend column without conditional icons.
One triangle is typed after a letter: the combining enclosing triangle ⃤ draws a triangle over whatever precedes it, so A⃤ is how the "triangle name" style in gamer tags and bios is made. Paste ⃤ right after each letter you want framed. It renders well on Android and in most browsers; some iPhone fonts show it offset, so check before you commit a username to it.
The triangle in signs, cars and spiritual symbols
The warning triangle is standardised: a triangle with an exclamation mark means general caution on road signs and dashboards, and the yellow-and-black shape is the hazard sign of ISO 3864. In a car, the red triangle button on the dashboard switches on the hazard warning lights (all four indicators flashing), and a triangle with an exclamation mark on the instrument cluster is the master warning light telling you to read the message next to it. The reflective triangle drivers set up behind a broken-down car is the same idea in plastic. A plain inverted triangle on the road is the yield (give way) sign, which is why and read as "slow down" even without words.
In spiritual and esoteric use the two directions divide the elements. The alchemical signs, which have their own collection, are all triangles: fire is a triangle pointing up, water a triangle pointing down, air an up triangle with a bar and earth a down triangle with a bar, so an "upside down triangle with a line through it" is the earth sign. The upward triangle is also read as masculine, active and solar, the downward one as feminine, receptive and lunar, and the two overlapping form the hexagram. The eye in a triangle is the Eye of Providence seen on the US one-dollar bill, and the pink triangle, used to mark gay men in Nazi concentration camps, was reclaimed as a symbol of LGBTQ pride. For the Pride & LGBTQ Emoji see that collection.
Symbols
88Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
Triangle emoji
The solid red pair, the blue buttons, the double triangles of the media player, then three emoji that are triangles by shape: warning, set square and the red flag.
Text triangles by direction, size and fill
Each row is one style in the four directions. ◀ ▶ double as the Reverse and Play emoji; ► ◄ are the squat PC-era pointers.
Corner triangles
Half a square each. ◢◤ repeated makes a zigzag; ◤ ◥ frame a title.
Half-black, dotted and framed triangles
Triangles with something inside or around them. ⛛ is the yield-sign shape; ⃤ is the combining triangle that sits over the letter before it (A⃤).
Delta, nabla and maths triangles
∆ change and ∇ gradient first, then the triangle relations and operators of higher maths.
How to use them
6 situationsClick to copyTriangle Symbols combos
15Worth knowing
- can be typed with Alt30, Alt31, Alt16 and Alt17 on Windows because they were characters 16, 17, 30 and 31 of the original IBM PC's code page 437, where they doubled as cursor and menu arrows in text-mode programs.
- (increment, U2206) and the Greek letter Δ are different characters that most fonts draw identically; search for one in a document and you will not find the other, which trips up many a physics paper.
- The name nabla for is the Greek word for a Phoenician harp. It was suggested to the physicist Peter Guthrie Tait, who made the operator famous in the 1860s and 1870s, by his friend the Hebrew scholar William Robertson Smith.
- The play triangle points the way the tape travelled on reel-to-reel and cassette decks, so a triangle pointing left came to mean rewind; the convention outlived the tape and now lives in every streaming app.
- The medium triangles were added in Unicode 7.0 in 2014 specifically so that media players could have play, pause , stop and record buttons in matching weights, decades after the big arrived in Unicode 1.1.
Questions people ask
8How do I copy and paste the triangle symbol?
Tap or click any triangle on this page and it is copied, then paste with CtrlV (CmdV on a Mac, long-press and Paste on a phone). work in every app and font; the rarer ones such as or need a recent system.
How do I type a triangle symbol on the keyboard?
On Windows hold Alt and type 30 on the numeric keypad for , 31 for , 16 for or 17 for . In Word and Office type 25B2 and press AltX for (25BC for , 25B3 for , 25C0 for , 25B6 for ). On a Mac open the Character Viewer with CtrlCmdSpace and search "triangle"; OptionJ types .
How do I insert a triangle symbol in Word?
Use Insert › Symbol › More Symbols and pick the Geometric Shapes subset, or type the code followed by AltX: 25B2 for , 25BC for , 2206 for , 0394 for the Greek Δ and 2207 for . For a sorting or trend triangle inside a table, from here paste straight in.
What does the triangle symbol mean?
It depends on the direction. means up, more, increase or "go to the top"; means down, less, decrease or "see below"; means play or next and back. A triangle with an exclamation mark is a warning. In maths a triangle is delta, change; in spiritual symbolism an upward triangle stands for fire and the masculine and a downward one for water and the feminine.
What does the triangle symbol mean in math and physics?
(delta) means change in a quantity: x is the change in x, t a time interval. The upside-down triangle (nabla or del) is the vector operator for gradient, divergence and curl. marks a right triangle in geometry and means "is defined as". In chemistry a Δ above the reaction arrow means heat is applied.
What does the triangle symbol in a car mean?
The red triangle button on the dashboard turns on the hazard warning lights, which make all four indicators flash. A triangle with an exclamation mark on the instrument cluster is the master warning light: it comes on with a message or another lamp that explains the fault. A triangle around an arrow or car outline is usually traction or stability control.
What does the upside down triangle mean?
On the road an inverted triangle is the yield (give way) sign. In maths is nabla, the gradient operator. In alchemy and esoteric use the down-pointing triangle is water and the feminine, and with a bar through it it is earth. in a chat usually just means down, a drop or a downvote.
Is there a triangle emoji?
Yes: red triangle pointed up, red triangle pointed down, and the up and down buttons, the double ones, and the player buttons. are triangle-shaped too. Search "triangle" in your emoji keyboard to find them, or copy them from this page.
