Symbol Meaning Guide: What Common Symbols Stand For

Symbols for Common Ideas: Quick Table

Use this table when you want a symbol for a card, poster, caption or school project.

Meanings can change from one culture to another. A sign that is lucky in one place may mean something else elsewhere.

Symbol of Love: ♥ and ∞

The heart ♥ is the best-known symbol of love around the world. The heart symbol meaning shifts a little with colour in chats: red ❤ is romantic love, while white 🤍 is often used for pure or calm love and for remembering someone. The infinity symbol meaning is "without end", so couples and friends use ∞ for a bond that lasts forever.

In India, many people also think of the Taj Mahal as a symbol of love, because it was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. For more designs, see heart symbols and the infinity symbol page.

Symbol of Knowledge and the Saraswati Symbol

In Indian tradition, Goddess Saraswati is linked with learning, music and the arts. There is no single Unicode Saraswati symbol, but the things shown with her are well known symbols of knowledge:

• The veena: a string instrument she holds, standing for music and the arts.
• A book (📖): for learning and the written word.
• A white lotus (🪷): for purity of mind.
• A swan: believed to separate milk from water, it stands for telling right from wrong.

A lit diya 🪔 is another common symbol of knowledge, as light removes darkness. Schools often use a lamp or an open book in their badges. In Western stories, the owl 🦉 stands for wisdom. These are beliefs and customs, and families may follow them in different ways.

Hope, Strength, Luck and Protection

Hope: the anchor ⚓ is an old symbol of hope because it keeps a ship steady in a storm. A sunrise 🌅 is also used for a fresh start.

Strength: the lion 🦁 and elephant 🐘 stand for courage and power. The trident 🔱 is linked with Lord Shiva; read more on the trishul symbol page. Note that the Greek letter Ψ looks a bit like a trident, but it is the letter psi (see the psi symbol), not a trishul. Celtic knots, lines that loop with no start or end, are also used for strength in Irish art.

Luck: the four-leaf clover 🍀 is a lucky sign in Irish tradition. In India, an elephant figure with its trunk raised is believed by many to bring good luck.

Protection: the nazar 🧿 is believed to keep away the evil eye. See the evil eye symbol page for more.

Religious and Cultural Symbol Meanings

Many symbols come from faith traditions. Use them with respect, especially in greetings and designs.

• Om (ॐ): a sacred sound and symbol in Hinduism, also used in Buddhism and Jainism.
• Swastik: an auspicious sign of good fortune in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions, drawn on doors and account books at Diwali.
• Yin yang (☯): balance of opposites in Chinese thought.
• Peace sign (☮): a modern sign of peace and the anti-war movement.

For more faiths, see religious symbols.

What Is the Meaning of This Symbol? How to Find Out

You saw a strange sign in a chat, a textbook or on a label, and you want to know what the meaning of this symbol is. Try these steps:

1. Copy it. Long-press the symbol on your phone, or select it on a PC and press Ctrl+C.
2. Paste it into a search engine. Most search engines show the symbol's name and meaning at the top.
3. Check its Unicode name. Every text symbol has an official name. On our pages the info table shows it, for example ⚖ is "Scales".
4. Look up the keyboard name. If it is a keyboard sign, our symbol names list tells you what this symbol is called.
5. Think about the place. A ⚕ on a clinic board means medicine (see doctor symbol). A ☣ on a lab door means a biohazard (see biohazard symbol).

Meaning of Symbol Signs on the Keyboard

Not every question is about culture. Many people simply want to know what a keyboard sign means in a sum or a sentence.

Symbol Meaning in Hindi

In Hindi, a symbol is called prateek (प्रतीक) or chinh (चिह्न). So "symbol of love" is prem ka prateek, and "plus sign" is jod ka chinh. When you search for any symbol meaning in Hindi, adding the word "prateek" or "chinh" usually brings better results. The same idea works in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and other Indian languages: search the symbol plus your language's word for "sign".