What Are Cross Symbols?
Cross symbols are Unicode text characters, not a font and not icons. The best-known Latin cross ✝ is U+271D in the Dingbats block, next to its shadowed version ✞ (U+271E) and the outlined ✟ (U+271F). Miscellaneous Symbols holds the crosses tied to particular traditions: the Orthodox cross ☦ (U+2626) with its three bars, the cross of Lorraine ☨ (U+2628) with two, the cross of Jerusalem ☩ (U+2629), the West and East Syriac crosses ♰ ♱, and the ankh ☥ from ancient Egypt. The Maltese cross ✠ (U+2720) has eight points formed by four arrow-shaped arms and returns to the Dingbats block.
The dagger † (U+2020) and double dagger ‡ (U+2021) are punctuation for footnotes, not religious signs, although the single dagger's shape means it is often used as a small cross beside a name and a date. The turned dagger ⸸ (U+2E38), an inverted form, is used in some subcultures for the opposite effect, which is worth knowing before you paste it.
Equal-armed Greek crosses ✚ ✛ ✜ and the heavy plus ➕ come from Dingbats and the emoji set, while the graded 🞡 to 🞧 crosses and the saltires 🞨 to 🞫 belong to the Geometric Shapes Extended block, which many phones cannot draw. The "rare crosses" section collects cross-shaped letters from the Bamum, Manichaean and Meroitic scripts; they are attractive but are genuine letters in those languages and have no cross meaning. A screen reader speaks the Unicode name, so ✝ is "Latin cross", ☦ is "Orthodox cross" and 𖠁 is announced as a Bamum letter, which will confuse a listener who expected decoration.
Why Use Cross Symbols?
People reach for a cross symbol for two quite different reasons, and the page is organised to serve both. The first is faith. A ✝ in a bio, a ☦ beside a name or a ✠ on a parish account states a belonging in one character, and the specific form matters: an Orthodox believer will notice the difference between ☦ and ✝, and a Catholic organisation may prefer ✚ or ✝ over ✞. The names in the sections above help you choose the right one rather than the nearest one.
The second reason is style. The shadowed ✞ and outlined ✟, framed as ༺✞༻ or ꧁✞꧂, are staples of the gothic look on Discord, TikTok and Instagram, usually next to blackletter text from the gothic fonts generator. Here the cross works as an ornament, the same way ⚔ or ☠ do. Tattoo references are the third common use: a small ✝ or † beside a name and a year is the standard memorial format, and the outline forms suit a design mock-up in a tattoo fonts style.
Because the same characters serve both groups, it is worth being deliberate. Using ⸸ or an inverted arrangement in a religious context reads as mockery to many people, and using ☦ purely for its shape can look careless to Orthodox readers. When you want a cross-shaped mark with no religious weight, ✚, ✛ or the plus-shaped ╋ are neutral choices, and if you are after the X for "wrong" or "no", the check mark symbols page treats those as a set with the ticks.
Where Can You Use Cross Symbols?
Where crosses display well, and what to expect on each platform:
- Instagram: ✝ in a display name or bio is common on faith-based accounts, and the emoji version ✝️ appears as a purple square on iPhone. The gothic combos ༺✞༻ show in full in the bio field.
- TikTok: ✞ and † are frequent in usernames within alternative and goth communities; the 80-character bio fits one framed cross plus a short line.
- Discord: ✞ and ⸸ are popular in nicknames and server names, and ✠ ⚔ ✠ style headers in channel names. Everything in the first three sections renders in the desktop app and on mobile.
- Twitter and Threads: the Latin cross and dagger render as text in display names; ✝ may flip to the emoji tile if the app decides so.
- WhatsApp and iMessage: a lone † after a name in a memorial message displays correctly on both sides, and ✝ is generally shown as an emoji on iPhones.
- Church websites and newsletters: ☦, ✚ and ✠ are all in the standard system fonts on Windows and macOS, so they can be used in headings without a custom font.
The rare script crosses 𖠁 𖤞 𐫱 and the Geometric Shapes Extended set 🞡 to 🞫 are the ones to be careful with; they display on desktop browsers with full symbol fonts but show as boxes on a large share of phones.
How to Copy and Paste Cross Symbols
- Identify the cross you actually mean: Latin ✝, Orthodox ☦, Maltese ✠, Greek ✚ or a footnote dagger †. Hover or read the section names if you are unsure.
- Tap the cross to copy it. To build a framed version, tap ༺, then ✞, then ༻ in turn, and the bar at the top joins them into ༺✞༻.
- Paste into your name, bio, caption or document. For a memorial line, add the dagger before the year, as in † 2019, which is the conventional typographic form.
Tips for Using Cross Symbols
Knowing the crosses apart
The Latin cross ✝ has a long lower arm and is the general Western Christian form. The Greek cross ✚ has four equal arms. The Orthodox cross ☦ adds a short top bar for the inscription and a slanted footrest. The cross of Lorraine ☨ has two horizontal bars and is also known from the French Resistance. The Maltese cross ✠ has four V-shaped arms meeting at the centre and is associated with the Knights of Malta and with fire services. The cross of Jerusalem ☩ in Unicode is a cross potent, with small bars at the end of each arm.
Text cross or emoji cross
✝ is one of the characters with both a text and an emoji form. Adding the emoji selector (✝️) produces the coloured tile, adding the text selector (✝︎) keeps it as a flat glyph, and the combo ⋆⁺₊✝︎₊⁺⋆ on this page already includes the text selector for that reason. Without either, iPhones usually choose the emoji.
The dagger in memorials
Typographic tradition uses † before a date of death, as in "Maria Ruiz, * 1934 † 2020", where the asterisk marks the birth. The double dagger ‡ has no such meaning and is only a second footnote mark, so keep it out of memorial lines.
Respectful use
If you are decorating a name with a cross for style, prefer the neutral Dingbats forms ✞ ✟ over ☦ or ⳩, which belong to specific churches. Avoid ⸸ unless you intend its inverted meaning. In faith contexts, one cross is enough; a row of five reads as decoration rather than devotion.
Keyboard entry
In Word, type 271D and press Alt + X for ✝, 2626 for ☦ or 2720 for ✠. The dagger has a classic Windows Alt code, Alt + 0134 for † and Alt + 0135 for ‡, and on a Mac, Option + T types † directly.