Leftwards Arrow With Stroke
Block: Arrows
- Symbol
- ↚
- Unicode
U+219A- Unicode name
- LEFTWARDS ARROW WITH STROKE
- Block
- Arrows
- Category
- Symbol, Math
- Type
- Unicode symbol
Leftwards Arrow With Stroke (↚) is encoded as U+219A and has the formal Unicode name LEFTWARDS ARROW WITH STROKE. Unicode classifies it as Symbol, Math in the Arrows block. Its name places it in the arrow/directional family, which gives the page a narrower identity than the glyph alone. Separately encoded named neighbors include ↛ Rightwards Arrow With Stroke (U+219B); those records should be compared by name and code point rather than merged because their shapes or terminology are related.
Unicode Identity First, Local Meaning Second
↚ is encoded as U+219A and classified as Symbol, Math. Its formal name narrows it to the arrow/directional family rather than leaving the mark as an unidentified shape.
The Unicode identity and the surrounding document answer different questions: the code point tells you which character is present, while the surrounding formula, interface, document, or notation system determines the local interpretation. Keeping those layers separate prevents a visual guess from being treated as a character definition.
Need to identify another character? Use what does ↚ mean? with the symbol itself, its Unicode value, or a description of how it looks.
Digital Representations of U+219A
U+219A = decimal 8602 = HTML ↚ / ↚. A Unicode escape-style form is u219A. Its UTF-8 bytes are E2 86 9A.
Use these identifiers in markup, source code, exports, or character diagnostics when the glyph alone is not enough.
Do Not Collapse Leftwards Arrow With Stroke Into Nearby Named Variants
Unicode stores ↚ as U+219A, while nearby records include ↛ Rightwards Arrow With Stroke (U+219B). These are separate encoded identities, not alternate font drawings of one character.
The comparison is useful because a shared word in the name, a mirrored direction, or a similar outline can make two symbols appear interchangeable. When the distinction matters, compare the complete Unicode name and code point before replacing one record with another.