Thirty-second note

Half a sixteenth note, or 1/32 of a whole note.

Each flag halves the length: one flag is an eighth note, two a sixteenth, three a thirty-second. Eight of them fill the length of one quarter note, so at a moderate tempo they fly by as rapid runs and trills. When several are written together, their flags join into three straight beams. The British name stacks halvings: a quaver is an eighth note, a semiquaver half of that, a demisemiquaver half again.

Where did such short notes come from?

From medieval note shapes, divided ever smaller.

From the late 13th century, European music written for several voices used mensural notation, where a note's shape told its length. Performers kept splitting values for fast decorative runs called diminutions, and by 1607 a German keyboard book by Bernard Schmid already wrote groups of 32nd notes. As a text character, 𝅘𝅥𝅰 is handy for labels, teaching notes and lists; a full score is written by hand or in notation software.