HTML Encyclopaedia

Special Characters

It is well known that, in order to include the characters <, & and > in an HTML document the author has to write < & and > since these characters have special meanings to HTML interpreters. There are a significant number of special characters that can be included using this sort of notation. These are all characters outside the normal ASCII character set, their direct inclusion as binary is uncertain as they all have the "high" bit set, further there are several different interpretations of high bit set characters in use.

In HTML there are two ways of including such special characters

Use the notation &# followed immediately by the decimal value associated with the character in the table below.
Use the notation & followed by a vaguely descriptive code known as an entity, these are also listed below.

For example the French word for French is français. [Note the small hook under the letter c, this makes it into c cedilla] The HTML could be either

fran&ccedil;ais
     or
fran&#231;ais

There are some contexts in which HTML 3.2 distinguishes between letters and other symbols, the special characters that are treated as letters are indicated, these are the only characters for which the HTML 3.2 standard specifically lists entities.

Description Entity Decimal Value &#<decimal> &<entity> Treated as letter
required space nbsp 160 N
inverted exclamation iexcl 161 ¡ ¡ N
cent sign cent 162 ¢ ¢ N
pound sign pound 163 £ £ N
currency sign curren 164 ¤ ¤ N
yen sign yen 165 ¥ ¥ N
broken bar brvbar 166 ¦ ¦ N
section sign sect 167 § § N
umlaut uml 168 ¨ ¨ N
copyright sign copy 169 © © N
feminine ordinal ordf 170 ª ª N
left guillemot laquo 171 « « N
logical not sign not 172 ¬ ¬ N
soft hyphen shy 173 N
registered trademark reg 174 ® ® N
spacing macron macr 175 ¯ ¯ N
degree deg 176 ° ° N
plus-minus sign plusmn 177 ± ± N
superscript 2 sup2 178 ² ² N
superscript 3 sup3 179 ³ ³ N
spacing acute acute 180 ´ ´ N
mu micro 181 µ µ N
pilcrow para 182 ¶ ¶ N
middle dot middot 183 · · N
spacing cedilla cedil 184 ¸ ¸ N
superscript 1 sup1 185 ¹ ¹ N
masculine ordinal ordm 186 º º N
right guillemot raquo 187 » » N
one quarter frac14 188 ¼ ¼ N
half frac12 189 ½ ½ N
three quarters frac34 190 ¾ ¾ N
inverted question mark iquest 191 ¿ ¿ N
A grave Agrave 192 À À Y
A acute Aacute 193 Á Á Y
A circumflex Acirc 194 Â Â Y
A tilde Atilde 195 Ã Ã Y
A diaeresis Auml 196 Ä Ä Y
A ring Aring 197 Å Å Y
AE ligature AElig 198 Æ Æ Y
C cedilla Ccedil 199 Ç Ç Y
E grave Egrave 200 È È Y
E acute Eacute 201 É É Y
E circumflex Ecirc 202 Ê Ê Y
E diaeresis Euml 203 Ë Ë Y
I grave Igrave 204 Ì Ì Y
I acute Iacute 205 Í Í Y
I circumflex Icirc 206 Î Î Y
I diaeresis Iuml 207 Ï Ï Y
ETH ETH 208 Ð Ð Y
N tilde Ntilde 209 Ñ Ñ Y
O grave Ograve 210 Ò Ò Y
O acute Oacute 211 Ó Ó Y
O circumflex Ocirc 212 Ô Ô Y
O tilde Otilde 213 Õ Õ Y
O diaeresis Ouml 214 Ö Ö Y
multiplication sign times 215 × × N
O slash Oslash 216 Ø Ø Y
U grave Ugrave 217 Ù Ù Y
U acute Uacute 218 Ú Ú Y
U circumflex Ucirc 219 Û Û Y
U diaeresis Uuml 220 Ü Ü Y
Y acute Yacute 221 Ý Ý Y
THORN THORN 222 Þ Þ Y
sharp s szlig 223 ß ß Y
a grave agrave 224 à à Y
a acute aacute 225 á á Y
a circumflex acirc 226 â â Y
a tilde atilde 227 ã ã Y
a diaeresis auml 228 ä ä Y
a ring aring 229 å å Y
ae ligature aelig 230 æ æ Y
c cedilla ccedil 231 ç ç Y
e grave egrave 232 è è Y
e acute eacute 233 é é Y
e circumflex ecirc 234 ê ê Y
e diaeresis euml 235 ë ë Y
i grave igrave 236 ì ì Y
i acute iacute 237 í í Y
i circumflex icirc 238 î î Y
i diaeresis iuml 239 ï ï Y
eth eth 240 ð ð Y
n tilde ntilde 241 ñ ñ Y
o grave ograve 242 ò ò Y
o acute oacute 243 ó ó Y
o circumflex ocirc 244 ô ô Y
o tilde otilde 245 õ õ Y
o diaeresis ouml 246 ö ö Y
division sign divide 247 ÷ ÷ N
o slash oslash 248 ø ø Y
u grave ugrave 249 ù ù Y
u acute uacute 250 ú ú Y
u circumflex ucirc 251 û û Y
u diaeresis uuml 252 ü ü Y
y acute yacute 253 ý ý Y
thorn thorn 254 þ þ Y
y diaeresis yuml 255 ÿ ÿ Y

Description	Entity	Decimal Value	&#<decimal>	&<entity>	Treated as letter
required space	nbsp	160			N
inverted exclamation	iexcl	161	¡	¡	N
cent sign	cent	162	¢	¢	N
pound sign	pound	163	£	£	N
currency sign	curren	164	¤	¤	N
yen sign	yen	165	¥	¥	N
broken bar	brvbar	166	¦	¦	N
section sign	sect	167	§	§	N
umlaut	uml	168	¨	¨	N
copyright sign	copy	169	©	©	N
feminine ordinal	ordf	170	ª	ª	N
left guillemot	laquo	171	«	«	N
logical not sign	not	172	¬	¬	N
soft hyphen	shy	173			N
registered trademark	reg	174	®	®	N
spacing macron	macr	175	¯	¯	N
degree	deg	176	°	°	N
plus-minus sign	plusmn	177	±	±	N
superscript 2	sup2	178	²	²	N
superscript 3	sup3	179	³	³	N
spacing acute	acute	180	´	´	N
mu	micro	181	µ	µ	N
pilcrow	para	182	¶	¶	N
middle dot	middot	183	·	·	N
spacing cedilla	cedil	184	¸	¸	N
superscript 1	sup1	185	¹	¹	N
masculine ordinal	ordm	186	º	º	N
right guillemot	raquo	187	»	»	N
one quarter	frac14	188	¼	¼	N
half	frac12	189	½	½	N
three quarters	frac34	190	¾	¾	N
inverted question mark	iquest	191	¿	¿	N
A grave	Agrave	192	À	À	Y
A acute	Aacute	193	Á	Á	Y
A circumflex	Acirc	194	Â	Â	Y
A tilde	Atilde	195	Ã	Ã	Y
A diaeresis	Auml	196	Ä	Ä	Y
A ring	Aring	197	Å	Å	Y
AE ligature	AElig	198	Æ	Æ	Y
C cedilla	Ccedil	199	Ç	Ç	Y
E grave	Egrave	200	È	È	Y
E acute	Eacute	201	É	É	Y
E circumflex	Ecirc	202	Ê	Ê	Y
E diaeresis	Euml	203	Ë	Ë	Y
I grave	Igrave	204	Ì	Ì	Y
I acute	Iacute	205	Í	Í	Y
I circumflex	Icirc	206	Î	Î	Y
I diaeresis	Iuml	207	Ï	Ï	Y
ETH	ETH	208	Ð	Ð	Y
N tilde	Ntilde	209	Ñ	Ñ	Y
O grave	Ograve	210	Ò	Ò	Y
O acute	Oacute	211	Ó	Ó	Y
O circumflex	Ocirc	212	Ô	Ô	Y
O tilde	Otilde	213	Õ	Õ	Y
O diaeresis	Ouml	214	Ö	Ö	Y
multiplication sign	times	215	×	×	N
O slash	Oslash	216	Ø	Ø	Y
U grave	Ugrave	217	Ù	Ù	Y
U acute	Uacute	218	Ú	Ú	Y
U circumflex	Ucirc	219	Û	Û	Y
U diaeresis	Uuml	220	Ü	Ü	Y
Y acute	Yacute	221	Ý	Ý	Y
THORN	THORN	222	Þ	Þ	Y
sharp s	szlig	223	ß	ß	Y
a grave	agrave	224	à	à	Y
a acute	aacute	225	á	á	Y
a circumflex	acirc	226	â	â	Y
a tilde	atilde	227	ã	ã	Y
a diaeresis	auml	228	ä	ä	Y
a ring	aring	229	å	å	Y
ae ligature	aelig	230	æ	æ	Y
c cedilla	ccedil	231	ç	ç	Y
e grave	egrave	232	è	è	Y
e acute	eacute	233	é	é	Y
e circumflex	ecirc	234	ê	ê	Y
e diaeresis	euml	235	ë	ë	Y
i grave	igrave	236	ì	ì	Y
i acute	iacute	237	í	í	Y
i circumflex	icirc	238	î	î	Y
i diaeresis	iuml	239	ï	ï	Y
eth	eth	240	ð	ð	Y
n tilde	ntilde	241	ñ	ñ	Y
o grave	ograve	242	ò	ò	Y
o acute	oacute	243	ó	ó	Y
o circumflex	ocirc	244	ô	ô	Y
o tilde	otilde	245	õ	õ	Y
o diaeresis	ouml	246	ö	ö	Y
division sign	divide	247	÷	÷	N
o slash	oslash	248	ø	ø	Y
u grave	ugrave	249	ù	ù	Y
u acute	uacute	250	ú	ú	Y
u circumflex	ucirc	251	û	û	Y
u diaeresis	uuml	252	ü	ü	Y
y acute	yacute	253	ý	ý	Y
thorn	thorn	254	þ	þ	Y
y diaeresis	yuml	255	ÿ	ÿ	Y

eth and thorn are Icelandic letters.

A spacing cedilla (184) is a cedilla that appears after the character it was associated with. I.e. C cedilla would appear as c¸ rather than ç. The usefulnes of the spacing marks is unclear, non-spacing marks would have been much more useful as any composite special character could then have been formed, such as the w circumflex used in Welsh, u macron used in some Anglo-Saxon place names, l slash used in zloty (Polish Currency), S with upside down circumflex in Skoda (Czech car manufacturer) there would also then have been room for more of the Greek alphabet widely used in science and mathematics. Perhaps one day WWW browsers will be Unicode capable.

Both Netscape 3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 handled all these correctly although I'm not too sure what a masculine or feminine ordinal is supposed to look like.