Arrow (symbol)

An arrow is a graphical symbol, such as ← or →, or a pictogram, used to point or indicate direction. In its simplest form, an arrow is a triangle, chevron, or concave kite, usually affixed to a line segment or rectangle,^[1] and in more complex forms a representation of an actual arrow (e.g. ➵ U+27B5). The direction indicated by an arrow is the one along the length of the line or rectangle toward the single pointed end.

An older (medieval) convention is the manicule (pointing hand, 👈). Pedro Reinel in c. 1505 first used the fleur-de-lis as indicating north in a compass rose; the convention of marking the eastern direction with a cross is older (medieval).^[2] Use of the arrow symbol does not appear to pre-date the 18th century. An early arrow symbol is found in an illustration of Bernard Forest de Bélidor's treatise L'architecture hydraulique, printed in France in 1737. The arrow is here used to illustrate the direction of the flow of water and of the water wheel's rotation. At about the same time, arrow symbols were used to indicate the flow of rivers in maps.^[3]

A trend toward abstraction, in which the arrow's fletching is removed, can be observed in the mid-to-late 19th century. The arrow can be seen in the work of Paul Klee. In a further refinement of the symbol, John Richard Green's A Short History of the English People of 1874 contained maps by cartographer Emil Reich, which indicated army movements by curved lines, with solid triangular arrowheads placed intermittently along the lines.^[4]

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Arrows are universally recognised for indicating directions.^[1] They are widely used on signage and for wayfinding,^[1] and are often used in road surface markings. A two-way road may be indicated by "↕" or "⇅".

Upward arrows are often used to indicate an increase in a numerical value, and downward arrows indicate a decrease.

In mathematical logic, a right-facing arrow indicates material conditional, and a left-right (bidirectional) arrow indicates if and only if, an upwards arrow indicates the NAND operator (negation of conjunction), an downwards arrow indicates the NOR operator (negation of disjunction).

Use of arrow symbols in mathematical notation developed in the first half of the 20th century.^[5] David Hilbert in 1922 introduced the arrow symbol representing logical implication. The double-headed arrow representing logical equivalence was introduced by Albrecht Becker in Die Aristotelische Theorie der Möglichkeitsschlüsse, Berlin, 1933.^[4]

Knuth's up-arrow notation uses multiple up arrows, such as ⇈, for iterated, or repeated, exponentiation (tetration).

The quantum theory of electron spin uses either upward or downward arrows.

A vector may be denoted with an overhead arrow, such as in ${\displaystyle {\vec {x}}}$ or ${\textstyle {\stackrel {\longrightarrow }{AB}}}$.

Arrows are regularly used in contemporary graffiti designs, incorporated as an element in both simplistic tags and complex wildstyle pieces. Arrows are used as a visual technique to make a graffito stand out or give it a sense of movement.^[6] The graffiti theoretician RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ described adornments, such as arrows, in wildstyle paintings as ornaments that ‘armed’ the letters of a piece.^[7] The Philadelphia graffiti artist Cool Earl began using arrows in 1967,^[8] although the New York graffiti writer SJK 171 may have been the first to do so.^[9] The graffiti artist Mare139 is known for creating 3D sculptures of arrows.^[10]

In Unicode, the block Arrows occupies the hexadecimal range U+2190–U+21FF, as described below.

Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name
Hex		Hex		Hex		Hex
Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol		Picture of this symbol
←	Leftwards Arrow	↬	Rightwards Arrow With Loop	⇈	Upwards Paired Arrows	⇤	Leftwards Arrow To Bar
U+2190		U+21AC		U+21C8		U+21E4
↑	Upwards Arrow	↭	Left Right Wave Arrow	⇉	Rightwards Paired Arrows	⇥	Rightwards Arrow To Bar
U+2191		U+21AD		U+21C9		U+21E5
→	Rightwards Arrow	↮	Left Right Arrow With Stroke	⇊	Downwards Paired Arrows	⇦	Leftwards Thick Arrow
U+2192		U+21AE		U+21CA		U+21E6
↓	Downwards Arrow	↯	Downwards Zigzag Arrow	⇋	Leftwards Harpoon Over Rightwards Harpoon	⇧	Upwards Thick Arrow
U+2193		U+21AF		U+21CB		U+21E7
↔	Left Right Arrow	↰	Upwards Arrow With Tip Leftwards	⇌	Rightwards Harpoon Over Leftwards Harpoon	⇨	Rightwards Thick Arrow
U+2194		U+21B0		U+21CC		U+21E8
↕	Up Down Arrow	↱	Upwards Arrow With Tip Rightwards	⇍	Leftwards Double Arrow With Stroke	⇩	Downwards Thick Arrow
U+2195		U+21B1		U+21CD		U+21E9
↖	North West Arrow	↲	Downwards Arrow With Tip Leftwards	⇎	Left Right Double Arrow With Stroke	⇪	Upwards Thick Arrow From Bar
U+2196		U+21B2		U+21CE		U+21EA
↗	North East Arrow	↳	Downwards Arrow With Tip Rightwards	⇏	Rightwards Double Arrow With Stroke	⇫	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal
U+2197		U+21B3		U+21CF		U+21EB
↘	South East Arrow	↴	Rightwards Arrow With Corner Downwards	⇐	Leftwards Double Arrow	⇬	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal With Horizontal Bar
U+2198		U+21B4		U+21D0		U+21EC
↙	South West Arrow	↵	Downwards Arrow With Corner Leftwards	⇑	Upwards Double Arrow	⇭	Upwards Thick Arrow On Pedestal With Vertical Bar
U+2199		U+21B5		U+21D1		U+21ED
↚	Leftwards Arrow With Stroke	↶	Anticlockwise Top Semicircle Arrow	⇒	Rightwards Double Arrow	⇮	Upwards Thick Double Arrow
U+219A		U+21B6		U+21D2		U+21EE
↛	Rightwards Arrow With Stroke	↷	Clockwise Top Semicircle Arrow	⇓	Downwards Double Arrow	⇯	Upwards Thick Double Arrow On Pedestal
U+219B		U+21B7		U+21D3		U+21EF
↜	Leftwards Wave Arrow	↸	North West Arrow To Long Bar	⇔	Left Right Double Arrow	⇰	Rightwards Thick Arrow From Wall
U+219C		U+21B8		U+21D4		U+21F0
↝	Rightwards Wave Arrow	↹	Leftwards Arrow To Bar Over Rightwards Arrow To Bar	⇕	Up Down Double Arrow	⇱	North West Arrow To Corner
U+219D		U+21B9		U+21D5		U+21F1
↞	Leftwards Two Headed Arrow	↺	Anticlockwise Open Circle Arrow	⇖	North West Double Arrow	⇲	South East Arrow To Corner
U+219E		U+21BA		U+21D6		U+21F2
↟	Upwards Two Headed Arrow	↻	Clockwise Open Circle Arrow	⇗	North East Double Arrow	⇳	Up Down Thick Arrow
U+219F		U+21BB		U+21D7		U+21F3
↠	Rightwards Two Headed Arrow	↼	Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards	⇘	South East Double Arrow	⇴	Right Arrow With Small Circle
U+21A0		U+21BC		U+21D8		U+21F4
↡	Downwards Two Headed Arrow	↽	Leftwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards	⇙	South West Double Arrow	⇵	Downwards Arrow Leftwards Of Upwards Arrow
U+21A1		U+21BD		U+21D9		U+21F5
↢	Leftwards Arrow With Tail	↾	Upwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards	⇚	Leftwards Triple Arrow	⇶	Three Rightwards Arrows
U+21A2		U+21BE		U+21DA		U+21F6
↣	Rightwards Arrow With Tail	↿	Upwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards	⇛	Rightwards Triple Arrow	⇷	Leftwards Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21A3		U+21BF		U+21DB		U+21F7
↤	Leftwards Arrow From Bar	⇀	Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Upwards	⇜	Leftwards Squiggle Arrow	⇸	Rightwards Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21A4		U+21C0		U+21DC		U+21F8
↥	Upwards Arrow From Bar	⇁	Rightwards Harpoon With Barb Downwards	⇝	Rightwards Squiggle Arrow	⇹	Left Right Arrow With Vertical Stroke
U+21A5		U+21C1		U+21DD		U+21F9
↦	Rightwards Arrow From Bar	⇂	Downwards Harpoon With Barb Rightwards	⇞	Upwards Arrow With Double Stroke	⇺	Leftwards Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21A6		U+21C2		U+21DE		U+21FA
↧	Downwards Arrow From Bar	⇃	Downwards Harpoon With Barb Leftwards	⇟	Downwards Arrow With Double Stroke	⇻	Rightwards Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21A7		U+21C3		U+21DF		U+21FB
↨	Up Down Arrow With Base	⇄	Rightwards Arrow Over Leftwards Arrow	⇠	Leftwards Dashed Arrow	⇼	Left Right Arrow With Double Vertical Stroke
U+21A8		U+21C4		U+21E0		U+21FC
↩	Leftwards Arrow With Hook	⇅	Upwards Arrow Leftwards Of Downwards Arrow	⇡	Upwards Dashed Arrow	⇽	Leftwards Open-Headed Arrow
U+21A9		U+21C5		U+21E1		U+21FD
↪	Rightwards Arrow With Hook	⇆	Leftwards Arrow Over Rightwards Arrow	⇢	Rightwards Dashed Arrow	⇾	Rightwards Open-Headed Arrow
U+21AA		U+21C6		U+21E2		U+21FE
↫	Leftwards Arrow With Loop	⇇	Leftwards Paired Arrows	⇣	Downwards Dashed Arrow	⇿	Left Right Open-Headed Arrow
U+21AB		U+21C7		U+21E3		U+21FF

Additional arrows can be found in the Combining Diacritical Marks, Combining Diacritical Marks Extended, Combining Diacritical Marks for Symbols, Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms, Miscellaneous Mathematical Symbols-B, Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs, Miscellaneous Technical, Modifier Tone Letters and Spacing Modifier Letters Unicode blocks.

• Dingbat
• Box Drawing (Unicode Block)
• Block Elements (Unicode Block)
• Geometric Shapes (Unicode block)
• Box-drawing character

• J. R. Finkel, "History of the Arrow", Up Down Left Right (2011)

• Semantics of Simple Arrow Diagrams Archived 2020-11-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Emojipedia
• arrow symbol