What ૨ means
They belong to a wider Indian numeral tradition.
Brahmi was an early Indian script; its numerals are known from inscriptions and coins around the middle of the third century BCE. Gupta forms followed in the fourth to sixth centuries CE, then Nagari forms from around the seventh century CE. Gujarati script developed from Nagari and uses its own numeral shapes.
In Gujarati numbers, ૨૧ is twenty-one and ૧૨ is twelve: the same ૨ marks two tens in one and two ones in the other.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ૨ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ૨
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 0AE8, then Alt+X to get ૨.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “gujarati digit two”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 0ae8, then Enter or Space.
HTML
૨CSS
\0AE8Windows IME
Add Gujarati input in Windows and select INSCRIPT or Phonetic. As of 2026, the Gujarati keyboard layout places ૨ on the digit row.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
૨
HTML hex
૨
CSS content
content: "\0AE8";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E0%AB%A8
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.