Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards
Block: Arrows
- Symbol
- ↽
- Unicode
U+21BD- Unicode name
- LEFTWARDS HARPOON WITH BARB DOWNWARDS
- Block
- Arrows
- Category
- Symbol, Other
- Type
- Unicode symbol
Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards (↽) is encoded as U+21BD and has the formal Unicode name LEFTWARDS HARPOON WITH BARB DOWNWARDS. Unicode classifies it as Symbol, Other in the Arrows block. Separately encoded named neighbors include ↼ Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards (U+21BC) and ⇁ Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards (U+21C1); those records should be compared by name and code point rather than merged because their shapes or terminology are related.
How Context Narrows the Meaning of ↽
↽ is encoded as U+21BD and classified as Symbol, Other.
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.
Not the symbol you were looking for? Use what does the ↽ symbol mean? to identify another mark from pasted text, Unicode, or visual appearance.
Code-Point and UTF-8 Forms for ↽
U+21BD = decimal 8637 = HTML ↽ / ↽. A Unicode escape-style form is u21BD. Its UTF-8 bytes are E2 86 BD.
Use these identifiers in markup, source code, exports, or character diagnostics when the glyph alone is not enough.
Do Not Collapse Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards Into Nearby Named Variants
Unicode stores ↽ as U+21BD, while nearby records include ↼ Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards (U+21BC) and ⇁ Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards (U+21C1). 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.