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Sharique Siddiqui
Sharique Siddiqui

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HTML Entities, Symbols, and Emojis: A Complete Guide

#html #intermediate #webdev #frontend

HTML entities, symbols, and emojis are essential tools for enhancing the text and visual expressiveness of your web content. They help display special characters that have specific meanings in HTML or represent visual icons that enrich user communication. This blog post covers what HTML entities are, how to use symbols and emojis, and best practices for embedding them in your webpages.

What Are HTML Entities?

HTML entities are special codes used to represent reserved or special characters that cannot be directly used in HTML because they have structural roles or are not part of the standard keyboard. For example, characters like < and > are reserved for HTML tags, so to display them as text, you use entities.

Syntax of HTML Entities

An HTML entity can be written in two ways:

  • Named entity: &entity_name;
  • Numeric entity: &#entity_number; (decimal) or&#xhex_number; (hexadecimal)
Common Reserved Entities
Character Entity Name Decimal Code
< &lt; &#60;
> &gt; &#62;
& &amp; &#38;
" &quot; &#34;
' &apos; &#39;

These entities ensure browsers display the characters correctly without interpreting them as HTML syntax.

HTML Symbols: Special Characters Beyond the Keyboard

Symbols like copyright ©, trademark ™, currency signs, arrows, mathematical operators, and many others are widely used in web content.

Examples of Common Symbols
Symbol Entity Name Description
© © Copyright symbol
® ® Registered trademark
™ ™ Trademark
€ € Euro currency
£ £ Pound currency
¥ ¥ Yen currency
→ → Rightwards arrow
∞ ∞ Infinity symbol
± ± Plus-minus sign
Usage Example 
xml
<p>Pricing: 50 &euro; or 45 &pound;</p>
<p>Copyright &copy; 2025 Your Company</p>
<p>Click &rarr; to proceed</p>
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HTML Emojis: Adding Emotions and Fun

Emojis are characters from the UTF-8 Unicode character set that represent pictograms like smiley faces, objects, animals, and symbols.

How to Use Emojis in HTML

You can add emojis either directly as Unicode characters, by using their decimal or hexadecimal HTML entity codes, or via copy-pasting from an emoji keyboard.

Examples
Using decimal entity: 
xml
<p>I love coding &#128512; <!-- 😀 --></p>
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Using hexadecimal entity: 
xml
<p>Have a great day! &#x1F600;</p>
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Direct UTF-8 character (ensure your document uses UTF-8 encoding): 
xml
<p>Good morning! 😃</p>
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Popular Emoji Examples
Emoji Entity Number Hex Code Description
😀 😀 😀 Grinning Face
😂 😂 😂 Face with Tears of Joy
❤️ ❤ ❤ Red Heart
👍 👍 👍 Thumbs Up
🎉 🎉 🎉 Party Popper

Why Use HTML Entities and Emojis?

  • Prevent HTML Parsing Issues: Reserved characters like < and & are essential parts of HTML syntax. Using entities ensures they appear as intended in content.
  • Support Special Characters: Many symbols and accented letters are not available on standard keyboards but are often needed in content.
  • Enhance User Experience: Emojis add emotional context and visual interest to plain text content.
  • Ensure Cross-browser Compatibility: Entities are understood consistently across all browsers.
  • Accessibility: Screen readers can interpret entities and symbols properly, improving accessibility.

How to Insert HTML Entities and Emojis Easily

  • Using Character Maps or On-screen Keyboard: Most operating systems provide character and emoji pickers.
  • Mac: Press Command + Control + Space to open the emoji picker.
  • Windows: Press Win + . (period) or Win + ; (semicolon) to open the emoji keyboard.
  • Copy and Paste: Directly copy emojis or symbols and paste into your HTML.
  • Using Named or Numeric Entities: Type the entity code directly in your HTML source.
Basic Example Showing Entities, Symbols, and Emojis 
xml
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>HTML Entities and Emojis</title>
</head>
<body>

<h2>HTML Entities, Symbols, and Emojis</h2>

<p>Comparison operators: &lt; (less than), &gt; (greater than), &le; (less than or equal to), &ge; (greater than or equal to)</p>

<p>Currency Symbols: Dollar &#36;, Euro &euro;, Pound &pound;, Yen &yen;</p>

<p>Special Symbols: Copyright &copy;, Trademark &trade;, Registered &reg;</p>

<p>Arrows: &larr; &uarr; &rarr; &darr;</p>

<p>Emojis: Smile &#128512; Laughing &#128514; Heart &#10084; Thumbs Up &#128077;</p>

</body>
</html>
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Final Thoughts

HTML entities are crucial for representing reserved or special characters in web content without confusing browsers. Symbols provide visual cues and semantic richness beyond basic text, and emojis bring expressive, playful elements to web pages. Using them effectively ensures your content is both visually appealing and functionally robust across browsers and devices.

If you want, I can provide extensive tables of HTML entities, symbols, or emojis commonly used for quick reference or help with advanced usage tips.

Check out the YouTube Playlist for great HTML content for basic to advanced topics.

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Top comments (4)

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indianmodassir profile image
Indian Modassir •

Bro your documentation not proper setup, entity name, entity number are same

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sharique_siddiqui_8242dad profile image
Sharique Siddiqui •

@indianmodassir could you please specify under which topic. So that I can correct from my end ASAP.

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indianmodassir profile image
Indian Modassir •

See ## Common Reserved Entities
Character | Entity name | Decimal code
Are equal decimal code not valid, check it

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sharique_siddiqui_8242dad profile image
Sharique Siddiqui •

Thanks @indianmodassir for Giving Constructive Feedback. Done. Corrected.