Variation Selector-45

VS45 selects a registered glyph variant after a supported ideograph. On its own, VS45 does nothing visible. It must immediately follow a particular ideograph; the effect depends on that exact pair, so “45” is not a style number that works across characters.

Variation-selector work was discussed in 2000. In 2003, a proposal for ideographic variants addressed names, places, and historical text whose exact forms differed across national, scholarly, and publishing needs. The first registration in the Unicode Ideographic Variation Database (IVD) was Adobe-Japan1, in 2007. Such registries give systems a shared way to specify exact ideograph forms, including for Japanese names and administrative records.

How do I use VS45?

Use VS45 only in a complete registered base-plus-selector sequence. Insert it immediately after the base ideograph with an editor’s hexadecimal Unicode input; the two characters together form the sequence. A CJK input method may offer a registered sequence as a choice beside the base, so select the complete sequence when available.

As of 2026-08-03, the Unicode IVD lists 邉󠄜 in both the Hanyo-Denshi and Moji_Joho collections. It identifies one registered Japanese glyph variant for 邉; VS45 does not request that same shape after every ideograph. The font must support that exact pair to render the variant.

Why is VS45 invisible?

VS45 is invisible by design and has no standalone glyph. If the app or font lacks support for the exact pair, the selector is ignored and the base character keeps its ordinary appearance.

VS16 requests emoji presentation in supported sequences; VS45 requests a registered ideographic form. Zero width space vs VS45: the first marks a line-break opportunity; the second follows a base character to select a glyph variant.