Planetary symbols#Sesquiquadrate

{{Main article|Classical planet}}

The origins of the planetary symbols can be found in the attributes given to classical deities. The Roman planisphere of Bianchini (2nd century, currently in the Louvre, inv. Ma 540){{cite web

| url = https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010278829

| title = plaque; planisphère de Bianchini

| publisher = Louvre

| location = Paris

| access-date = 2022-07-23

}} shows the seven planets represented by portraits of the seven corresponding gods, each a bust with a halo and an iconic object or dress, as follows: Mercury has a caduceus and a winged cap; Venus has a necklace and a shining mirror; Mars has a war-helmet and a spear; Jupiter has a laurel crown and a staff; Saturn has a conical headdress and a scythe; the Sun has rays emanating from his head; and the Moon has a crescent atop her head.

Bianchini planisphere - Luna.png|Luna with a crescent

Bianchini planisphere - Mercury.png|Mercury with a caduceus

Bianchini planisphere - Venus.png|Venus with a shining mirror

Bianchini planisphere - Sol.png|Sol emanating rays

Bianchini planisphere - Mars.png|Mars with a spear

Bianchini planisphere - Jupiter.png|Jupiter with a staff

Bianchini planisphere - Saturn.png|Saturn with a scythe

The written symbols for Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have been traced to forms found in late Greek papyri.

{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MokzymQ43IC |title=Astronomical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus: (P. Oxy. 4133-4300a) |date=1999 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-233-7 |language=en}}

{{efn|

"It is now possible to trace the medieval symbols for at least four of the five planets to forms that occur in some of the latest papyrus horoscopes ([ P.Oxy. ] 4272, 4274, 4275 [...]). Mercury's is a stylized caduceus. ... The ideal form of Mars' symbol is uncertain, and perhaps not related to the later circle with an arrow {{nobr|through it." — Jones (1999)}}

}}

Early forms are also found in medieval Byzantine codices which preserve horoscopes.

{{cite book

| last = Neugebauer | first = Otto

| year = 1975

| title = A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy

| isbn = 0-387-06995-X

| pages = 788–789

}}

Moon symbol (medieval ms).png|The symbol for the Moon in a medieval Byzantine (11th c.) ms. The appearance in late Classical times was similar.

Mercury symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The symbol for Mercury in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss

Venus symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The symbol for Venus in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss

Sun symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The disk with a ray as a symbol for the Sun in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss

Mars symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The symbol for Mars in late Classical (6th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss.

Jupiter symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The symbol for Jupiter in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss

Saturn symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png|The symbol for Saturn in late Classical (4th & 5th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss. Cf. kappa-rho, {{angbr|κρ}}.

A diagram in the astronomical compendium by Johannes Kamateros (12th century) closely resembles the 11th-century forms shown above, with the Sun represented by a circle with a single ray, Jupiter by the letter zeta (the initial of Zeus, Jupiter's counterpart in Greek mythology), Mars by a round shield in front of a diagonal spear, and the remaining classical planets by symbols resembling the modern ones, though without the crosses seen in modern versions of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} These crosses first appear in the late 15th or early 16th century. According to Maunder, the addition of crosses appears to be "an attempt to give a savour of Christianity to the symbols of the old pagan gods."Maunder (1934)

The modern forms of the classical planetary symbols are found in a woodcut of the seven planets in a Latin translation of Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi's De Magnis Coniunctionibus printed at Venice in 1506, represented as the corresponding gods riding chariots.Maunder (1934:239)

File:Fotothek df tg 0007129 Theosophie ^ Alchemie.jpg|Early modern depiction of the planet symbols in an alchemical context (Musaeum Hermeticum, 1678)

File:Translation of Albumasar Venice 1515 De Magnis Coniunctionibus.jpg|Page spread (with the signs for Mars and Venus) from a 1515 illustrated edition of Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi's De Magnis Coniunctionibus (in the by translation by Herman of Carinthia, {{Circa|1140}}, editio princeps by Erhard Ratdolt of Augsburg, 1489).

Abu Ma'shar(Ibn Balkhi)-850AD.png|Depiction of the planets in a 15th-century Arabic manuscript of Abu Ma'shar's "Book of nativities"{{efn|BNF Arabe 2583 folio 15v: Saturn is shown as a black bearded man, kneeling and holding a scythe or axe; Mercury is shown as a scribe holding an open codex; Jupiter as a man of the law wearing a turban; Venus as a lute-player; Mars as a helmeted warrior holding a sword and the head of an enemy.}}

File:F4.v. zodiac circle with planets - NLW MS 735C.png|Medieval planisphere showing the zodiac and the classical planets. The planets are represented by seven faces.

File:Zug - Zytturm 2010-06-18 calendar crop.jpg|16th-century mechanical clock + calendar, using the symbols of the eponymous planets for the days of the week.

File:Royal Society of Chemistry - Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science - 2014 - Andy Mabbett - 06 (cropped - planetary symbols).jpg|Planetary-metal symbols at the center of the coat of arms of the Royal Society of Chemistry

{{main|Earth symbol}}

File:Earth symbol (fixed width).svg

File:Globus cruciger (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Earth symbols}}

Earth is not one of the classical planets, as "planets" by definition were "wandering stars" as seen from Earth's surface.

Earth's status as planet is a consequence of heliocentrism in the 16th century.

Nonetheless, there is a pre-heliocentric symbol for the world, now used as a planetary symbol for the Earth. This is a circle crossed by two lines, horizontal and vertical, representing the world divided by four rivers into the four quarters of the world (often translated as the four "corners" of the world): File:Earth symbol (fixed width).svg. A variant, now obsolete, had only the horizontal line: file:Salt symbol (alchemical).svg.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Solar System |encyclopedia=The English Cyclopaedia of Arts and Sciences |volume=VII–VIII |year=1861}}

A medieval European symbol for the world – the globus cruciger, File:Globus cruciger (fixed width).svg (the globe surmounted by a Christian cross) – is also used as a planetary symbol; it resembles an inverted symbol for Venus.

The planetary symbols for Earth are encoded in Unicode at {{unichar|1F728|Alchemical symbol for verdigris}} and {{unichar|2641|earth}}.

Marriage of Cupid and Psyche.jpg|The Olympian gods, atop a File:Earth symbol (fixed width).svg-shaped world

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 42-48.jpg|Stylized Earth symbol

DEU Oberwallmenach COA.svg|A simple globus cruciger

File:Maschwanden-blazon.svg|Three globi crucigeri in the coat of arms of Maschwanden in Switzerland

Uppsala län vapenflagga.svg|In the flag of Uppland, the globe of the globus cruciger is stylized as a T-and-O map, 16px

Mosaic in the Tunis Cathedral.jpg|In this globus cruciger, the cross is surmounted on a celestial orb with stars

{{further|Classical planets|Days of the week}}

{{further|Crescent|Astronomical symbols#Symbols for the Sun and Moon}}

File:Moon decrescent symbol (fixed width).svg

File:Moon crescent symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Luna symbols}}

{{commons category|Crescent moon symbols}}

The crescent shape has been used to represent the Moon since antiquity. In classical antiquity, it is worn by lunar deities (Selene/Luna, Artemis/Diana, Men, etc.) either on the head or behind the shoulders, with its horns pointing upward.

The representation of the moon as a simple crescent with the horns pointing to the side (as a heraldic crescent increscent or crescent decrescent) is attested from late Classical times.

The same symbol can be used in a different context not for the Moon itself but for a lunar phase, as part of a sequence of four symbols

for "new moon" (U+1F311 🌑︎), "waxing" (U+263D ☽︎), "full moon" (U+1F315 🌕︎) and "waning" (U+263E ☾︎).

Sala_vapen.svg| The Moon symbol, representing silver mining, in the municipal arms of Sala in Sweden

Silvberg vapen.svg|The Moon symbol in the municipal arms of Silvberg ('Silver Mountain') in Sweden

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 74-80.jpg|Stylized Moon symbol

Silver at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|The Moon for silver

{{clear}}

File:Mercury symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Mercury symbols}}

The symbol {{big|{{char|☿}}}} for Mercury is a caduceus (a staff intertwined with two serpents), a symbol associated with Mercury / Hermes throughout antiquity. Some time after the 11th century, a cross was added to the bottom of the staff to make it seem more Christian.

Early classical white ground lekythos ARV extra Hermes Psychopompos leading deceased woman to Charon (02).jpg|The god Hermes (Mercury) with his caduceus

File:Hermész.png|The caduceus, copied from pottery

File:Hermes and caduceus, Loulan tapestry, 3rd century CE.jpg|The caduceus in a tapestry, 3rd century

DEU Stahlberg COA.svg|Mercury symbol, representing quicksilver mining, in the municipal coat of arms of Stahlberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 52-58.jpg|Stylized Mercury symbol

Mercury at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|Mercury for quicksilver

{{clear}}

The {{big|{{char|☿}}}} symbol has also been used to indicate intersex, transgender, or non-binary gender.

{{cite book

|last=van den Akker |first=Olga B.A.

|year=2012

|title=Reproductive Health Psychology

|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell

|isbn=978-1-119-96747-7

|page=40

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TjWIp25pOjcC&pg=PA40

|via=Google Books

}}

A related usage is for the 'worker' or 'neuter' sex among social insects that is neither male nor (due to its lack of reproductive capacity) fully female, such as worker bees.{{cite book|last1=Bingham|first1=C. T.|date=1903|title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-Wasps|location=London|publisher=Taylor and Francis|page=v|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10943626}} It was also once the designated symbol for hermaphroditic or 'perfect' flowers, but botanists now use {{big|{{char|⚥}}}} for these.

{{cite journal

|last=Simpson |first=Niki

|year=2010

|title=Botanical symbols: A new symbol set for new images

|journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

|volume=162 |issue=2 |pages=117–129

|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.01021.x |doi-access=free

|url=https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/article/162/2/117/2418432

}}

Its Unicode codepoint is {{unichar|263F|Mercury|html=}}.

File:Venus symbol (fixed width).svg

The Venus symbol, ♀, consists of a circle with a small cross below it.

It has been interpreted as a depiction of the hand-mirror of the goddess, which may also explain Venus's association with the planetary metal copper, as mirrors in antiquity were made of polished copper,

{{cite book

|first=Dieter |last=Rehder

|year=2011

|title=Chemistry in Space: From interstellar matter to the origin of life

|publisher=Wiley-VCH

}}

{{efn|

"The symbol, the stylized hand mirror of the Goddess Venus, also represents femininity. It has also been used for the element copper: Mirrors had been manufactured {{nobr|from polished copper." — Rehder (2011)}}

}}

though this is not certain. In the Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri 235, the symbols for Venus and Mercury did not have the cross on the bottom stem, and Venus appears without the cross (⚲) in Johannes Kamateros (12th century).{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

In botany and biology, the symbol for Venus is used to represent the female sex, alongside the symbol for Mars representing the male sex,

{{cite journal

|last=Schott |first=G.D.

|date=December 2005

|title=Sex symbols ancient and modern: their origins and iconography on the pedigree

|journal=The British Medical Journal

|volume=331 |issue=7531 |pages=1509–1510

|doi=10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1509

|pmid=16373733 |issn=0959-8138

|pmc=1322246

}}

following a convention introduced by Linnaeus in the 1750s.{{cite journal

|last=Stearn |first=William T. |author-link=William T. Stearn

|date=May 1962

|title=The origin of the male and female symbols of biology

|journal=Taxon

|volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=109–113

|jstor=1217734 |issn=0040-0262

|doi=10.2307/1217734

|url=https://iapt-taxon.org/historic/Congress/IBC_1964/male_fem.pdf

}}

{{efn|

"In his Systema Naturae (Leyden, 1735) he [Linnaeus] used them with their traditional associations for metals. Their first biological use is in the Linnaean dissertation {{lang|la|Plantae hybridae xxx sistit J.J. Haartman}} (1751) where in discussing hybrid plants Linnaeus denoted the supposed female parent species by the sign ♀, the male parent by the sign ♂, the hybrid by ☿: '{{lang|la|matrem signo ♀, patrem ♂ & plantam hybridam ☿ designavero}}'. In subsequent publications he retained the signs ♀ and ♂ for male and female individuals but discarded ☿ for hybrids; the last are now indicated by the multiplication sign ×."

:

"Linnaeus's first general use of the signs of ♀ and ♂ was in his Species Plantarum (1753) written between 1746 and 1752 and surveying concisely the whole plant kingdom as then known. ... In order to save space Linnaeus employed the astronomical symbols of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and the Sun to denote woody, herbaceous perennial, biennial and annual plants respectively {{small|[ed.: the orbital periods of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Earth about the Sun are 29, 12, 2, and 1 year]}} ... and Mercury, Mars and Venus for the hermaphrodite, male and female conditions" ...

:

"Later, in his Mantissa Plantarum (1767) and Mantissa Plantarum altera (1771), Linnaeus regularly used ♂, ♀ and ☿ for male, female and hermaphrodite flowers respectively. Their aptness made them easy to remember and their convenience led to their general acceptance in zoology as well as botany. Koelreuter found them especially convenient when recording his experiments in hybridization; as late as 1778 he used the sign ☿ to denote a {{nobr|hybrid plant." — Stearn (1962)}}

}}

Arising from the biological convention, the symbol also came to be used in sociological contexts to represent women or femininity. This gendered association of Venus and Mars has been used to pair them heteronormatively, describing women and men stereotypically as being so different that they can be understood as coming from different planets, an understanding popularized in 1992 by the book titled Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

{{cite web

| last=Brammer | first=John Paul

| date=2020-02-10

| title=Love / hate reads: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, revisited

| website=VICE

| url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/lovehate-reads-men-are-from-mars-women-are-from-venus-revisited/

| access-date=2023-04-17

}}

{{cite magazine

| last=Morin | first=Amy

| date=2016-08-19

| title=Why the Mars and Venus conversations must end: The truth about gender differences in the workplace

| magazine=Forbes

| url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2016/08/19/why-the-mars-and-venus-conversations-must-end-the-truth-about-gender-differences-in-the-workplace/

| access-date=2023-04-17

}}

Unicode encodes the symbol as {{unichar|2640|Female sign}}, in the Miscellaneous Symbols block.{{efn|

Glossed in the official Unicode code chart as " {{=}} Venus {{=}} alchemical symbol for copper → 1F469 👩 woman → 1F6BA 🚺 women's symbol".

{{cite report

|title=U+2640

|series=Unicode code chart

|volume=U+26××

|website=unicode.org

|publisher=The Unicode Consortium

|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf

}}

}}

{{commons category|Venus symbols}}

Bronze mirror MET DP254654.jpg|A bronze mirror, of the type associated with Venus

File:Ostia antica-19.jpg|Cupid holding up a similar mirror to Venus

Falun vapen.svg|The Venus symbol, representing copper mining, in the municipal coat of arms of Falun Municipality in Sweden (1932)

Feminism symbol.svg|Raised fist within Venus symbol, used as a symbol of second-wave feminism (1960s){{efn|The raised fist symbol is attributed to Robin Morgan, in the 1960s: "Morgan designed the universal logo of the women's movement, the woman's symbol centered with a raised fist."[http://www.robinmorgan.net/activism/ "Activism"], robinmorgan.net, September 8, 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-02.}}

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 58-64.jpg|Stylized Venus symbol

Copper at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|Venus for copper

{{further|Solar symbol|Astronomical_symbols#Symbols_for_the_Sun_and_Moon|label2=Symbols for the Sun and Moon}}

File:Sun symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Sun symbols}}

The modern astronomical symbol for the Sun, the circumpunct ({{unichar|2609|Sun|html=}}), was first used in the Renaissance. It possibly represents Apollo's golden shield with a boss; it is unknown if it traces descent from the nearly identical Egyptian hieroglyph for the Sun.

Bianchini's planisphere, produced in the 2nd century, shows a circlet with rays radiating from it.

In late Classical times, the Sun is attested as a circle with a single ray. A diagram in Johannes Kamateros' 12th century Compendium of Astrology shows the same symbol.

{{cite book

| last1 = Neugebauer | first1 = Otto

| last2 = Van Hoesen | first2 = H.B.

| year = 1987

| title = Greek Horoscopes

| pages = 1, 159, 163

}}

This older symbol is encoded by Unicode as {{unichar|1F71A|ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL FOR GOLD|html=}} in the Alchemical Symbols block. Both symbols have been used alchemically for gold, as have more elaborate symbols showing a disk with multiple rays or even a face.

Outlines from the figures and compositions upon the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan vases of the late Sir William Hamilton; with engraved borders (1804) (14779549222).jpg|A buckler with a sun symbol and dot at center

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 10-16.jpg|Stylized circumpunct symbol for the Sun

Gold at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|The Sun for gold

Sun symbol (medieval).svg|🜚, the medieval astronomical symbol for the Sun

{{clear}}

Image:Mars symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Mars symbols}}

The Mars symbol, ♂, is a depiction of a circle with an arrow emerging from it, pointing at an angle to the upper right in Europe and to the upper left in India.

{{cite magazine

|last=Maunder |first=A.S.D.

|date=August 1934

|title=The origin of the symbols of the planets

|magazine=The Observatory

|volume=57 |pages=238–247

|bibcode=1934Obs....57..238M

}}

{{cite book

|first=James |last=Evans

|year=1998

|title=The History & Practice of Ancient Astronomy

|publisher=Oxford University Press/U.S.

|isbn=0-19-509539-1

|page=350

}}

It is also the old and obsolete symbol for iron in alchemy. In zoology and botany, it is used to represent the male sex (alongside the astrological symbol for Venus representing the female sex), following a convention introduced by Linnaeus in the 1750s.

The symbol dates from at latest the 11th century, at which time it was an arrow across or through a circle, thought to represent the shield and spear of the god Mars; in the medieval form, for example in the 12th-century Compendium of Astrology by Johannes Kamateros, the spear is drawn across the shield. The Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri show a different symbol, perhaps simply a spear.

File:ALEXANDER SEVERUS-RIC IV 246-737118 MARS.jpg|3rd-century coin with Mars on the reverse, with lance and shield. The same symbols were used for Athena (Pallas).

File:Fresco of a statue of Mars in the House of Venus, Pompeii (3824215212).jpg|Mars with spear and shield, Pompeii.

File:Karlskoga vapen.svg|The Mars symbol, representing iron mining, in the municipal coat of arms of Karlskoga in Sweden

File:Loppi vaakuna.svg|The Mars symbol in the municipal coat of arms of Loppi in Finland

File:Project Viking Logo - Patch Style 1974-L-01916.jpg|Mars symbol in the patch for NASA's Viking mission

File:Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van De Genestetlaan 20-28.jpg|Stylized Mars symbol. The spear partly crosses the shield.

File:Iron at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|The Mars symbol was used as the symbol for iron

Its Unicode codepoint is {{unichar|2642|Male sign|html=}}.

File:Jupiter symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Jupiter symbols}}

The symbol for Jupiter, ♃, was originally a Greek zeta, Ζ, with a stroke indicating that it is an abbreviation (for Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Roman Jupiter).

Its Unicode codepoint is {{unichar|2643|Jupiter|html=}}.

Mariner Jupiter-Saturn logo.jpg|Jupiter and Saturn symbols in patch for NASA's Mariner Jupiter-Saturn mission

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 76-82.jpg|Stylized Jupiter symbol

Tin at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|Jupiter for tin

Jupiter monogram (serif).svg|A modern form of the monogram reflects its origin in the letter 'Z'

{{clear}}

File:Saturn symbol (fixed width).svg

{{commons category|Saturn symbols}}

Salmasius and earlier attestations show that the symbol for Saturn, ♄, derives from the initial letters (Kappa, rho) of its ancient Greek name {{lang|grc|Κρόνος}} ({{transliteration|grc|Kronos}}), with a stroke to indicate an abbreviation. By the time of Kamateros (12th century), the symbol had been reduced to a shape similar to a lower-case letter eta η, with the abbreviation stroke surviving (if at all) in the curl on the bottom-right end.

Its Unicode codepoint is {{unichar|2644|Saturn|html=}}.

FraternitasSaturniSiegel.svg|Emblem of the Fraternitas Saturni, a German magical order founded in 1926

DEU Bleiwäsche COA.png|The Saturn symbol representing lead in the municipal coat of arms of Bleiwäsche, since 1975 part of Bad Wünnenberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 60-66.jpg|Stylized Saturn symbol

Lead at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg|Saturn for lead (Pb)

Saturn monogram (serif).svg|A ligature of kappa {{char|ϰ}} and rho {{char|ϱ}} for Kronos, the ancestor of the symbol for Saturn

{{clear}}

File:Uranus symbol (fixed width).svg

File:Uranus monogram (fixed width).svg

The symbols for Uranus were created shortly after its discovery in 1781. One symbol, ⛢, invented by J. G. Köhler and refined by Bode, was intended to represent the newly discovered metal platinum; since platinum, commonly called white gold, was found by chemists mixed with iron, the symbol for platinum combines the alchemical symbols for iron, ♂, and gold, ☉.

{{cite book

| last = Bode | first = J.E. |author-link=Johann Elert Bode

| year = 1784

| title = Von dem neu entdeckten Planeten |language=de

| trans-title = On the newly discovered planets

| bibcode = 1784vdne.book.....B

| publisher = Beim Verfaszer

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZqA5AAAAcAAJ/page/n98 95]–96

| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ZqA5AAAAcAAJ |via=Internet Archive

}}

{{cite book

| last = Gould | first = B.A.

| year = 1850

| title = Report on the history of the discovery of Neptune

| publisher = Smithsonian Institution

| page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_uyANAQAAIAAJ/page/n8 5]

| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_uyANAQAAIAAJ |via=Archive.org

}}

Gold and iron are the planetary metals for the Sun and Mars, and so share their symbols. Several orientations were suggested, but an upright arrow is now universal.

Another symbol, File:Uranus monogram (serif).svg, was suggested by Lalande in 1784. In a letter to Herschel, Lalande described it as "a globe surmounted by the first letter of your name".

{{cite magazine

|first=Francisca |last=Herschel

|date=August 1917

|title=The meaning of the symbol H+o for the planet Uranus

|magazine=The Observatory

|volume=40 |page=306

|bibcode=1917Obs....40..306H

}}

The platinum symbol tends to be used by astronomers, and the monogram by astrologers.

{{cite report

|last=Iancu |first=Laurentiu

|date=14 August 2009

|title=Proposal to encode the astronomical symbol for Uranus

|id=L2009/09300

|website=unicode.org

|publisher=The Unicode Consortium

|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09300-uranus.pdf

}}

For use in computer systems, the symbols are encoded {{unichar|26E2|Astronomical symbol for Uranus}} and {{unichar|2645|Uranus}}.

Planetary symbols (1784).png|The planetary symbols as rendered in 1784, including the newly discovered Uranus (left)

William Herschel heraldry cropped.jpg|The Uranus platinum symbol on William Herschel's coat of arms (center, blue background)

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 26-32.jpg|Stylized Uranus monogram

File:Neptune symbol (fixed width).svg

Several symbols were proposed for Neptune to accompany the suggested names for the planet. Claiming the right to name his discovery, Urbain Le Verrier originally proposed to name the planet for the Roman god Neptune

{{cite book

| first1=Mark |last1=Littmann

| first2=E.M. |last2=Standish

| year=2004

| title=Planets Beyond: Discovering the outer Solar System

| page=50

| publisher=Courier Dover Publications

|isbn=0-486-43602-0

}}

and the symbol of a trident,

{{cite journal

| last = Pillans | first = James

| year = 1847

| title = Ueber den Namen des neuen Planeten |language=de

| trans-title = Regarding the names of the new planets

| journal = Astronomische Nachrichten

| volume = 25 | issue = 26 | pages = 389–392

| doi = 10.1002/asna.18470252602 | bibcode=1847AN.....25..389.

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yOAzAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA39-IA11

| via = Google Books

}}

while falsely stating that this had been officially approved by the French Bureau des Longitudes. In October, he sought to name the planet Leverrier, after himself, and he had loyal support in this from the observatory director, François Arago,

{{cite book

| last1=Baum |first1=Richard

| last2=Sheehan |first2=William

| date=2003|pages=109–110

| title=In Search of Planet Vulcan: The ghost in Newton's clockwork universe

| publisher=Basic Books

|isbn=0-7382-0889-2

}}

who in turn proposed a new symbol for the planet, File:Neptune monogram (serif).svg.

{{cite journal

| last = Schumacher | first = H.C.

| date = 1846

| title = Name des Neuen Planeten |language=de

| trans-title = Names of the new planets

| journal = Astronomische Nachrichten

| volume = 25 | pages = 81–82

| bibcode = 1846AN.....25...81L |doi = 10.1002/asna.18470250603

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wlc_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA89

}}

However, this suggestion met with resistance outside France, and French almanacs quickly reintroduced the name Herschel for Uranus, after that planet's discoverer Sir William Herschel, and Leverrier for the new planet,

{{cite report

|last=Gingerich |first=Owen

|date=October 1958

|title=The naming of Uranus and Neptune

|series=ASP Leaflets

|volume=8 |issue=352 |pages=9–15

|publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific

|bibcode=1958ASPL....8....9G

}}

though it was used by anglophone institutions.

{{cite journal

|title={{grey|[title not cited]}}

|year=1848

|journal=Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

|volume=1 |pages=287 ff, 334 ff

}}

Professor James Pillans of the University of Edinburgh defended the name Janus for the new planet, and proposed a key for its symbol. Meanwhile, Struve presented the name Neptune on December 29, 1846, to the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

{{cite journal

|last=Hind |first=J.R.

|year=1847

|title=Second report of proceedings in the Cambridge Observatory relating to the new planet (Neptune)

|journal=Astronomische Nachrichten

|volume=25 |issue=21 |pages=309–314

|doi=10.1002/asna.18470252102

|bibcode = 1847AN.....25..309.

|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424623 |via=zenodo.org

}}

In August 1847, the Bureau des Longitudes announced its decision to follow prevailing astronomical practice and adopt the choice of Neptune, with Arago refraining from participating in this decision.

{{cite book

| title = Connaissance des Temps: ou des mouvementes célestes, à l'usage des astronomes

| language = fr

| trans-title = Information on timing: or celestial movements, for the use of astronomers

| year = 1847

| series = Connaissance des Temps |volume=1847

| page = [unnumbered front matter]

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5q03AAAAMAAJ&pg=PP9

| publisher = Bureau des Longitudes

| place = Paris, France

}}

The planetary symbol was Neptune's trident, with the handle stylized either as a crossed 16px, following Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the asteroids, or as an orb 16px, following the symbols for Uranus, Earth, and Mars. The crossed variant is the more common today.

For use in computer systems, the symbols are encoded as {{unichar|2646|Neptune}} and {{unichar|2bc9|Neptune form two}}.

Athena Poseidon Cdm Paris DeRidder222.jpg|Athena (Pallas) with her lance and Poseidon (Neptune) with his trident. These weapons became the symbols of the planets Pallas and Neptune, respectively.

File:Poseidon Penteskouphia Louvre CA452.jpg|Poseidon with a trident, 6th century BCE

File:Poseidon with fish Nationalmuseet 13407.jpg|Poseidon with a trident, 6th century CE

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 68-74.jpg|Stylized Neptune symbol (orb base)

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 84-90.jpg|Stylized Neptune symbol (cross base)

Neptune monogram (fixed width).svg|⯉, the obsolete Le Verrier monogram for Neptune

File:Pluto symbol (large orb, fixed width).svg

File:Pluto monogram (fixed width).svg

Pluto was almost universally considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until its re-classification as a dwarf planet (planetoid) by the IAU in 2006. Planetary geologists

{{cite journal

|first1=Philip T. |last1=Metzger |first2=W.M. |last2=Grundy

|first3=Mark V. |last3=Sykes |first4=Alan |last4=Stern

|first5=James F. III |last5=Bell |first6=Charlene E. |last6=Detelich

|first7=Kirby |last7=Runyon |first8=Michael |last8=Summers

|author-link1=Philip T. Metzger

|display-authors=6

|date=March 2022

|title= Moons are planets: Scientific usefulness versus cultural teleology in the taxonomy of planetary science

|journal=Icarus

|volume=374 |page=114768

|doi= 10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114768 |doi-access= free

|s2cid= 240071005 |issn=0019-1035

|arxiv=2110.15285}}

and astrologers continue to treat it as a planet. The original planetary symbol for Pluto was File:Pluto monogram (serif).svg, a monogram of the letters P and L. Astrologers generally use a bident with an orb. NASA has used the bident symbol since Pluto's reclassification. These symbols are encoded as {{unichar|2647|Pluto}} and {{unichar|2BD3|Pluto form two}}.

{{commons category|Pluto symbols}}

Plate 7- Pluto in a niche, holding a bident, with Cerberus next to him, from a series of mythological gods and goddesses MET DP830883.jpg|Pluto holding a bident

File:SerapisHellenistic.jpg|Pluto with a bident

Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 90-96.jpg|Pluto symbol stylized as an inverted Mercury

File:Pluto - NASA 2015 What is a dwarf planet?.jpg|Pluto compared in size to Earth's moon in a NASA publication

Pluto symbol (northern Europe, variant).svg|⯖, an astrological symbol used for Pluto in Germany and Denmark, representing Pluto's orbit crossing Neptune's

Pluto_symbol_(southern_Europe).svg|⯔, an astrological symbol used in the Mediterranean and Germany. The globe at bottom may be larger or omitted altogether.

[[File:Bezeichnung der Himmelskörper Encke 1850.png|thumb|upright=0.75|"Designation of celestial bodies" in a German almanac printed 1850

{{cite book

|editor-first=J.F. |editor-last=Encke |editor-link=Johann Franz Encke

|publication-date=1850

|title=Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch für 1853

|place=Berlin, DE

|page={{mvar|viii}}

}}

]]

In the 19th century, planetary symbols for the major asteroids were also in use, including 1 Ceres (a reaper's sickle, encoded {{unichar|26B3|Ceres|nlink=Ceres (mythology)}}), 2 Pallas (a lance, {{unichar|26B4|Pallas|nlink=Pallas (mythology)}}) and 3 Juno (a sceptre, encoded {{unichar|26B5|Juno|nlink=Juno (mythology)}}).

Encke (1850) used symbols for 5 Astraea, 6 Hebe, 7 Iris, 8 Flora and 9 Metis in the {{lang|de|Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch}}.

In the late 20th century, astrologers abbreviated the symbol for 4 Vesta (the sacred fire of Vesta, encoded {{unichar|26B6|Vesta|nlink=Vesta (mythology)}}),

{{cite report

| last = Faulks | first = David

| date = 9 May 2006

| title = Proposal to add some western astrology symbols to the UCS

| page = 4

| website = unicode.org

|id=L2006/06171

| publisher = The Unicode Consortium

| url = https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06171-astroprop.pdf

| access-date = 20 November 2017 | url-status=live

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615214658/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06171-astroprop.pdf

| archive-date=June 15, 2018

}}

and introduced new symbols for 5 Astraea (16px, a stylised % sign, shift-5 on QWERTY keyboards for asteroid 5), 10 Hygiea encoded {{unichar|2BDA|Hygiea}}) and for 2060 Chiron, discovered in 1977 (a key, {{unichar|26B7|Chiron|nlink=Chiron (mythology)}}). Chiron's symbol was adapted as additional centaurs were discovered; symbols for 5145 Pholus and 7066 Nessus have been encoded in Unicode.

{{cite report

|last=Faulks |first=David

|date=15 April 2016

|title=Additional symbols for astrology

|website=unicode.org

|id=L2016/16080

|publisher=The Unicode Consortium

|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2016/16080-add-astrology.pdf

}}

The abbreviated Vesta symbol is now universal, and the astrological symbol for Pluto has been used astronomically for Pluto as a dwarf planet.

In the early 21st century, symbols for the trans-Neptunian dwarf planets have been given Unicode codepoints, particularly Eris (the hand of Eris, ⯰, but also ⯱), Sedna, Haumea, Makemake, {{dp|Gonggong}}, {{dp|Quaoar}} and {{dp|Orcus}} which are in Unicode. All (except Eris, for which the hand of Eris is a traditional Discordian symbol) were devised by Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer in Massachusetts.

{{cite report

|last=Miller |first=Kirk

|date=26 October 2021

|title=Unicode request for dwarf-planet symbols

|website=unicode.org

|id=L2021/21224

|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21224-dwarf-planet-syms.pdf

}}

{{cite press release |last=Anderson |first=Deborah |date=4 May 2022 |title=Out of this world: New astronomy symbols approved for the Unicode standard |website=unicode.org |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |url=http://blog.unicode.org/2022/05/out-of-this-world-new-astronomy-symbols.html |access-date=6 August 2022}}

Other symbols have also been invented by Moskowitz, for some smaller TNOs as well as many planetary moons. (Charon in particular coincidentally matches a symbol already existing in Unicode as an astrological Pluto.) However, these have not been broadly adopted.{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2025/25079-phobos-and-deimos.pdf |title=Phobos and Deimos symbols |last1=Bala |first1=Gavin Jared |last2=Miller |first2=Kirk |date=7 March 2025 |website=unicode.org |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |access-date=14 March 2025 |quote=}}

{{special characters|Unicode}}

Ceres, Bacchus and Amor Dutch School Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed B618.jpg|Ceres with her sickle

Athena Poseidon Cdm Paris DeRidder222.jpg|Athena (Pallas) with her lance (left)

Abraham Bloemaert, Juno, c.1610, NGA 152769.jpg|Juno with her scepter

D'Antoine - Consécration d'une jeune vestale en présence des déesses Minerve et Vesta.jpg|Vesta's sacred fire

Hygeia-Hermitage.jpg|Hygiea with her snake (old astr. symbol File:Hygiea symbol (original, fixed width).svg)

Makemake.jpg|Petroglyph of Makemake

Bomarzo parco mostri orco.jpg|Orcus's gape

File:Shan hai jing Zhuyin.jpg|A human-headed serpent similar to depictions of Gonggong

Hand of Eris.svg|The Hand of Eris from the {{lang|la|Principia Discordia}}

From 1845 to 1855, many symbols were created for newly discovered asteroids. But by 1851, the spate of discoveries had led to a general abandonment of these symbols in favour of numbering all asteroids instead.

{{cite report

| last = Hilton | first=James L. | author-link = James L. Hilton

| date = 14 June 2011

| title = When did the asteroids become minor planets?

| place = Washington, DC

| publisher = United States Naval Observatory

| series = Astronomical Almanac Division

| url = http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/minorplanets.php

| access-date = April 24, 2013 | url-status=dead

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810175312/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/minorplanets.php

| archive-date=August 10, 2018

}}

AstraeaVSH.JPG|Astraea with her scales (astronomical symbol {{nowrap|File:Astraea symbol (fixed width).svg or File:Astraea symbol (scales, fixed width).svg)}}

Canova-Hebe 30 degree view.jpg|Hebe (mythology) bearing a cup (astr. symbol File:Hebe symbol (fixed width).svg)

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien 2016 Kunstkammer Gaetano Matteo Monti Iris als Regenbogengöttin KK 5503 b.jpg|Iris as the rainbow (astr. symbol File:Iris symbol (simple, fixed width).svg)

File:Wall painting - Flora - Stabiae (villa di Arianna) - Napoli MAN 8834.jpg|Flora dispensing flowers (astr. symbol File:Flora symbol (fixed width).svg)

File:Winged goddess Louvre F32.jpg|Metis (astr. symbol File:Metis symbol (fixed width).svg)

File:Hygea, copia romana da originale greco del III sec. ac.JPG|Hygiea with her snake (astr. symbol File:Hygiea symbol (original, fixed width).svg)

File:Sirena Napoli2.JPG|Parthenope (astr. symbol File:Parthenope symbol (fixed width).svg)

NAMA Sirène.jpg|Parthenope with her lyre (astr. symbol File:Lyra symbol (fixed width).svg)

Victory Column or Siegessäule in Berlin Tiergarten 0962.jpg|Victory (Victoria) with a laurel wreath (astr. symbol File:Victoria symbol (fixed width).svg or File:Victoria symbol (simple, fixed width).svg)

File:La ninfa Egeria dictando a Numa.jpg|Egeria (astr. symbol File:Egeria symbol (fixed width).svg) dictating the laws of Rome to Numa Pompilius

Alegorie míru, náměstí Míru, Vinohrady, Praha.jpg|Peace (Irene) as a freed dove (astr. symbol File:Irene symbol (fixed width).svg)

Germania frieden.jpg|Peace with wings and an olive branch

File:Jacob Jordaens- Al·legoria de la Pau.jpg|Eunomia (astr. symbol File:Eunomia symbol (fixed width).svg) at left, as allegory of law and good order; Irene in centre

Psyche on a camel.jpg|Psyche with butterfly wings (astr. symbol File:Psyche symbol (elaborate, fixed width).svg)

Hermes-Psyche-Palais-Garnier (cropped).jpg|Psyche accompanied by a butterfly, and Hermes with a multiply twisted caduceus

Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern (1902) (14759296956).jpg|Psyche with butterfly wings, and Charon standing in his lunate boat

File:Psyche insignia.svg|Insignia of the NASA Psyche mission, possibly influenced by the Psyche symbol{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2023/23207-historical-asteroids.pdf |title=Unicode request for historical asteroid symbols |last1=Bala |first1=Gavin Jared |last2=Miller |first2=Kirk |date=18 September 2023 |website=unicode.org |publisher=Unicode |access-date=26 September 2023 |quote=}}

Museo Arqueológico Nacional - 2001-89-2 - Dinos de Tetis y Peleo 03.jpg|Thetis with a dolphin (astro. symbol file:Thetis symbol (fixed width).svg)

Melpomene Pio-Clementino Inv299.jpg|Melpomene with a dagger (astr. symbol file:Melpomene symbol (fixed width).svg)

Fortune et sa roue détail.png|Fortuna with her wheel (astro. symbol file:Fortuna symbol (fixed width).svg)

Hymen is kneeling before Fortune, who is balancing blindfold Wellcome V0047969.jpg|blindfolded Fortuna balanced on a wheel

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Proserpine - Google Art Project.jpg|Proserpina with a pomegranate (astr. symbol file:Proserpina symbol (fixed width).svg)

Jan Muller after Bartholomaeus Spranger, Bellona Leading the Imperial Armies Against the Turks, 1600, NGA 153994.jpg|Bellona with a lance and flail (astro. symbol file:Bellona symbol (fixed width).svg)

Amphitrite LACMA M.88.91.381b.jpg|Amphitrite on a shell (astr. symbol file:Amphitrite symbol (fixed width).svg)

File:Leukothea, Goddess of Sailors, from the Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans series (N188) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. MET DPB871036.jpg|Leukothea (astr. symbol File:Leukothea symbol (fixed width).svg) as goddess of sailors

File:Triumph of Faith over Idolatry Theodon.jpg|Faith (Fides, astr. symbol File:Fides symbol (fixed width).svg) triumphs over idolatry

{{Portal|Astronomy|Stars|Spaceflight|Outer space|Solar System}}

• Astrological symbol
• Astronomical symbol
• Gender symbol
• Classical planets in Western alchemy

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|25em}}

{{commons category|Planet symbols}}

{{commons category|Alchemical symbols}}

{{Zodiac}}

Category:Alchemical symbols

Category:Astronomical symbols

Category:History of astrology