Upwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards
Block: Arrows
- Symbol
- ↿
- Unicode
U+21BF- Unicode name
- UPWARDS HARPOON WITH BARB LEFTWARDS
- Block
- Arrows
- Category
- Symbol, Other
- Type
- Unicode symbol
Upwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards (↿) is encoded as U+21BF and has the formal Unicode name UPWARDS HARPOON WITH BARB LEFTWARDS. Unicode classifies it as Symbol, Other in the Arrows block. Separately encoded named neighbors include ↾ Upwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards (U+21BE) and ⇃ Downwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards (U+21C3); 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+21BF 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.
If your character differs from this one, try what symbol is ↿? to find the exact mark from pasted text, Unicode, or visual clues.
Digital Representations of U+21BF
U+21BF = decimal 8639 = HTML ↿ / ↿. A Unicode escape-style form is u21BF. Its UTF-8 bytes are E2 86 BF.
Use these identifiers in markup, source code, exports, or character diagnostics when the glyph alone is not enough.
Do Not Collapse Upwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards Into Nearby Named Variants
Unicode stores ↿ as U+21BF, while nearby records include ↾ Upwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards (U+21BE) and ⇃ Downwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards (U+21C3). 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.