Arrow (symbol)

Advertising billboards in Japan featuring many different arrow symbols.

An arrow is a graphical symbol such as ← or →, used to point or indicate direction, being in its simplest form a line segment with a triangle affixed to one end, and in more complex forms a representation of an actual arrow (e.g. ➵ U+27B5). The direction indicated by an arrow is the one along the length of the line towards the end capped by a triangle.

The typographical symbol developed in the 18th century as an abstraction from arrow projectiles. Its use is comparable to that of the older (medieval) manicule (pointing hand, ☞). Also comparable is the use of a fleur-de-lis symbol indicating north in a compass rose by Pedro Reinel (c. 1504). An early arrow symbol is found in an illustration of Bernard Forest de Bélidor's treatise L'architecture hydraulique, printed in France in 1737. The arrow is here used to illustrate the direction of the flow of water and of the water wheel's rotation. At about the same time, arrow symbols were used to indicate the flow of rivers in maps. A trend towards abstraction, in which the arrow's fletching is removed, can be observed in the mid-to-late 19th century. In a further abstraction of the symbol, John Richard Green's A Short History of the English People of 1874 contained maps by cartographer Emil Reich, which indicated army movements by curved lines, with solid triangular arrowheads placed intermittently along the lines. Use of arrow symbols in mathematical notation originates in the early 20th century. David Hilbert in 1922 introduced the arrow symbol representing logical implication. The double-headed arrow representing logical equivalence was introduced by Albrecht Becker in Die Aristotelische Theorie der Möglichkeitsschlüsse, Berlin, 1933.

Arrows in Unicode

In Unicode, the block Arrows occupies the hexadecimal range U+2190–U+21FF, as described below.

Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name
Hex		Hex		Hex		Hex
Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol
←	Leftwards Arrow	↬	Rightwards Arrow With Loop	⇈	Upwards Paired Arrows	⇤	Leftwards Arrow To Bar
U+2190		U+21ac		U+21c8		U+21e4
↑	Upwards Arrow	↭	Left Right Wave Arrow	⇉	Rightwards Paired Arrows	⇥	Rightwards Arrow To Bar
U+2191		U+21ad		U+21c9		U+21e5
→	Rightwards Arrow	↮	Left Right Arrow With Stroke	⇊	Downwards Paired Arrows	⇦	Leftwards Thick Arrow
U+2192		U+21ae		U+21ca		U+21e6
↓	Downwards Arrow	↯	Downwards Zigzag Arrow	⇋	Leftwards Harpoon Over Rightwards Harpoon	⇧	Upwards Thick Arrow
U+2193		U+21af		U+21cb		U+21e7
↔	Left Right Arrow	↰	Upwards Arrow With Tip Leftwards	⇌	Rightwards Harpoon Over Leftwards Harpoon	⇨	Rightwards Thick Arrow
U+2194		U+21b0		U+21cc		U+21e8
↕	Up Down Arrow	↱	Upwards Arrow With Tip Rightwards	⇍	Leftwards Double Arrow With Stroke	⇩	Downwards Thick Arrow
U+2195		U+21b1		U+21cd		U+21e9
↖	North West Arrow	↲	Downwards Arrow With Tip Leftwards	⇎	Left Right Double Arrow With Stroke	⇪	Upwards Thick Arrow From Bar
U+2196		U+21b2		U+21ce		U+21ea
↗	North East Arrow	↳	Downwards Arrow With Tip Rightwards	⇏	Rightwards Double Arrow With Stroke	⇫	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal
U+2197		U+21b3		U+21cf		U+21eb
↘	South East Arrow	↴	Rightwards Arrow With Corner Downwards	⇐	Leftwards Double Arrow	⇬	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal With Horizontal Bar
U+2198		U+21b4		U+21d0		U+21ec
↙	South West Arrow	↵	Downwards Arrow With Corner Leftwards	⇑	Upwards Double Arrow	⇭	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal With Vertical Bar
U+2199		U+21b5		U+21d1		U+21ed
↚	Leftwards Arrow With Stroke	↶	Anticlockwise Top Semicircle Arrow	⇒	Rightwards Double Arrow	⇮	Upwards Thick Double Arrow
U+219a		U+21b6		U+21d2		U+21ee
↛	Rightwards Arrow With Stroke	↷	Clockwise Top Semicircle Arrow	⇓	Downwards Double Arrow	⇯	Upwards Thick Double Arrow On Pedestal
U+219b		U+21b7		U+21d3		U+21ef
↜	Leftwards Wave Arrow	↸	North West Arrow To Long Bar	⇔	Left Right Double Arrow	⇰	Rightwards Thick Arrow From Wall
U+219c		U+21b8		U+21d4		U+21f0
↝	Rightwards Wave Arrow	↹	Leftwards Arrow To Bar Over Rightwards Arrow To Bar	⇕	Up Down Double Arrow	⇱	North West Arrow To Corner
U+219d		U+21b9		U+21d5		U+21f1
↞	Leftwards Two Headed Arrow	↺	Anticlockwise Open Circle Arrow	⇖	North West Double Arrow	⇲	South East Arrow To Corner
U+219e		U+21ba		U+21d6		U+21f2
↟	Upwards Two Headed Arrow	↻	Clockwise Open Circle Arrow	⇗	North East Double Arrow	⇳	Up Down Thick Arrow
U+219f		U+21bb		U+21d7		U+21f3
↠	Rightwards Two Headed Arrow	↼	Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards	⇘	South East Double Arrow	⇴	Right Arrow With Small Circle
U+21a0		U+21bc		U+21d8		U+21f4
↡	Downwards Two Headed Arrow	↽	Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards	⇙	South West Double Arrow	⇵	Downwards Arrow Leftwards Of Upwards Arrow
U+21a1		U+21bd		U+21d9		U+21f5
↢	Leftwards Arrow With Tail	↾	Upwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards	⇚	Leftwards Triple Arrow	⇶	Three Rightwards Arrows
U+21a2		U+21be		U+21da		U+21f6
↣	Rightwards Arrow With Tail	↿	Upwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards	⇛	Rightwards Triple Arrow	⇷	Leftwards Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21a3		U+21bf		U+21db		U+21f7
↤	Leftwards Arrow From Bar	⇀	Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards	⇜	Leftwards Squiggle Arrow	⇸	Rightwards Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21a4		U+21c0		U+21dc		U+21f8
↥	Upwards Arrow From Bar	⇁	Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards	⇝	Rightwards Squiggle Arrow	⇹	Left Right Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21a5		U+21c1		U+21dd		U+21f9
↦	Rightwards Arrow From Bar	⇂	Downwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards	⇞	Upwards Arrow With Double Stroke	⇺	Leftwards Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21a6		U+21c2		U+21de		U+21fa
↧	Downwards Arrow From Bar	⇃	Downwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards	⇟	Downwards Arrow With Double Stroke	⇻	Rightwards Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21a7		U+21c3		U+21df		U+21fb
↨	Up Down Arrow With Base	⇄	Rightwards Arrow Over Leftwards Arrow	⇠	Leftwards Dashed Arrow	⇼	Left Right Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21a8		U+21c4		U+21e0		U+21fc
↩	Leftwards Arrow With Hook	⇅	Upwards Arrow Leftwards Of Downwards Arrow	⇡	Upwards Dashed Arrow	⇽	Leftwards Open-Headed Arrow
U+21a9		U+21c5		U+21e1		U+21fd
↪	Rightwards Arrow With Hook	⇆	Leftwards Arrow Over Rightwards Arrow	⇢	Rightwards Dashed Arrow	⇾	Rightwards Open-Headed Arrow
U+21aa		U+21c6		U+21e2		U+21fe
↫	Leftwards Arrow With Loop	⇇	Leftwards Paired Arrows	⇣	Downwards Dashed Arrow	⇿	Left Right Open-Headed Arrow
U+21ab		U+21c7		U+21e3		U+21ff

See also

• Dingbat
• Box Drawing (Unicode Block)
• Block Elements (Unicode Block)
• Geometric Shapes (Unicode Block)
• Box-drawing character

References

• J. R. Finkel, "History of the Arrow", Up Down Left Right (2011)

External links

• Semantics of Simple Arrow Diagrams