Triangle Symbols

Triangles in four directions, each one filled ▲ ▼, outline △ ▽, and small ▴ ▾ for a sort arrow. Filled reads as a state that is set and outline as one that is not, which is why a table sorts with the solid form and offers the hollow one.

Copy and Paste Triangle Symbols

Triangles are the most functional shape on this site. ▶ is a play button, ▲ ▼ sort a column, ◀ ▶ step through a gallery, and ◢ ◣ ◤ ◥ fill a corner. Every one is an ordinary text character, so it works in a plain-text table, a spreadsheet header or a README where an icon would need loading.

What Are Triangle Symbols?

Most of these come from the Geometric Shapes block at U+25A0, which Unicode organises with unusual discipline: for each direction there is a filled version, an outline version, and a small version of each. ▲ U+25B2 is the black up-pointing triangle, △ U+25B3 the white one, ▴ and ▵ the small pair. The same four exist pointing down, left and right.

"Black" and "white" mean filled and hollow rather than colour — both take whatever colour your text is. The distinction matters because it is what carries meaning in an interface: filled reads as a state that has been set, outline as one that has not.

How to Use Triangle Symbols

Triangle Symbols as Play and Media Controls

▶ is the play button, and it is a text character rather than an icon. Pause is not here, because Unicode draws it from two bars rather than a triangle, but the rest of the transport set is: ⏩ fast forward, ⏪ rewind, ⏭ next track, ⏮ previous, ⏯ play-pause, and ⏫ ⏬ for fast up and down. Their formal names all say "double triangle", which is why they belong here.

Triangle Symbols for Sorting and Direction

The small pair ▴ ▾ is what a sortable table header wants — full-size triangles crowd a line of text, and the small ones sit at cap height. ▲ ▼ work where the triangle is the control rather than a decoration on one. ◄ ► are the pointers, drawn slightly differently from ◀ ▶ and originally intended as cursor marks.

Typing Triangle Symbols on a Keyboard

Four of these are unusually easy on Windows, because the original PC character set put them in its first thirty-two positions: Alt and 30 gives ▲, 31 gives ▼, 16 gives ► and 17 gives ◄. That is the same low table that produces a heart at Alt+3 and a music note at Alt+13.

The outline forms need the full value — Alt and 9651 for △, 9661 for ▽ — and in Word you can type 25B3 then Alt+X. A Mac reaches them through the Character Viewer at Ctrl+Cmd+Space.

Types of Triangle Symbols

Directional Triangle Symbols

▲ △ ▴ ▵ up, ▼ ▽ ▾ ▿ down, ◀ ◁ ◂ ◃ left, ▶ ▷ ▸ ▹ right — filled, outline, and small versions of each. ⏶ ⏷ ⏴ ⏵ are the medium-weight set added later for media interfaces.

Corner Triangle Symbols

◤ ◥ ◣ ◢ are the filled half-squares, useful for building a corner or a diagonal fill out of characters. ◸ ◹ ◺ ◿ are their outline counterparts, and ⊿ is the right triangle used in geometry.

Divided Triangle Symbols

◬ carries a dot, ◭ ◮ are half-filled up-pointing triangles and ⧨ ⧩ their down-pointing equivalents. ⟁ is a triangle inside a triangle, ⧊ has a dot above it, ⧋ an underbar and ⧍ serifs along the base.

Circle and Triangle Symbols

People look for a triangle inside a circle more often than for almost anything else on this subject, and Unicode gives exactly one: ⎊ U+238A Circled Triangle Down. There is no circled up-pointing triangle, no triangle containing a circle, and no character for the recycling or warning marks that people are usually picturing — those are drawn, not encoded.

Emoji Triangle Symbols

🔺 🔻 are the red up and down triangles, and ⛛ is the heavy white down-pointing one. The two red ones arrive in colour at a fixed size; everything else on this page takes your text colour.

Best Uses for Triangle Symbols

Triangle Symbols in Tables and Interfaces

A sort indicator built from ▴ ▾ survives a copy into a spreadsheet, an email or a plain-text export, which an icon does not. The same applies to a play marker in a chat message or a documentation file.

Triangle Symbols in Text and Lists

▸ works as a bullet where a round dot would read as too soft; a small square, if you want something squarer still, lives on the square page. ◢ ◣ pair either side of a heading to make a bar out of characters.

Triangle Symbols Unicode Names and Codes

The formal names describe direction and fill and nothing else: ▲ is U+25B2 Black Up-Pointing Triangle, △ U+25B3 White Up-Pointing Triangle, ◢ U+25E2 Black Lower Right Triangle, ⏩ U+23E9 Black Right-Pointing Double Triangle, ⊿ U+22BF Right Triangle. Each tile shows its own value.

The Geometric Shapes run from U+25A0 to U+25FF is old and universally supported. The media set from U+23E9 and the divided forms above U+29CA are newer, so check them where you cannot control the font.

Frequently Asked Questions About Triangle Symbols

How do I type a triangle symbol?

On Windows, Alt and 30 gives ▲, Alt and 31 gives ▼, Alt and 16 ►, Alt and 17 ◄ — all on the numeric keypad. Outline forms need the full value, such as Alt and 9651 for △. In Word, type 25B2 and press Alt+X.

What is the play button symbol?

▶ U+25B6, the black right-pointing triangle. ⏩ is fast forward, ⏭ next track and ⏯ play-pause. All are real characters, so a play marker made from them works in plain text.

Is there a triangle in a circle symbol?

One: ⎊ U+238A Circled Triangle Down. Unicode has no circled up-pointing triangle and no character for a triangle containing a circle. The recycling mark and the warning triangle people usually mean are drawn images rather than characters.

Why is ▲ called a black triangle when it is not black?

Because black means filled and white means hollow in Unicode names. ▲ takes the colour of your text, so in white text it renders white while still being called black. △ is the outline of the same shape.

What is the upside down triangle symbol?

▼ filled or ▽ outline. In mathematics the same shape is the nabla operator, which is a separate character with its own meaning and lives with the maths symbols rather than here.

Which triangle symbol should I use for a sort arrow?

▴ and ▾, the small pair. They sit at roughly cap height so they do not push a table row apart, where ▲ ▼ do. Use the filled form for the active direction and the outline ▵ ▿ for the inactive one.

Related Collections for Triangle Symbols

For the maths triangles — delta, nabla, therefore — see math symbols. For pointing rather than shape, arrow symbols holds the arrows with triangular heads. The filled and outline convention here matches square symbols and circle symbols. Everything else is indexed at symbol collections.