U00A3

U+00A3 is the Unicode code point for the Pound Sign, the currency symbol used to denote the pound sterling. Its official Unicode name is POUND SIGN. It resides in the Latin-1 Supplement block and is categorized as a currency symbol (Sc). In UTF-8 it is encoded as the two-byte sequence 0xC2 0xA3, and in HTML it can be rendered with £ or £.

Origin and form: The symbol is traditionally derived from the letter L for libra, the Latin word for weight, with a horizontal stroke added to distinguish it from other characters. The crossbar design became a distinguishing feature of the modern £ glyph, and typography can show variations in how the bar is drawn or styled across fonts.

Usage: The Pound Sign denotes amounts in pounds and is commonly written before the numeral, as in £20. It is widely recognized in the United Kingdom and other regions that use the pound sterling. The glyph’s appearance varies by typeface, ranging from more ornamental forms to simplified, linear designs.

Encoding and compatibility: The Pound Sign is widely supported across modern text encodings and fonts, but users may encounter font or rendering differences. In programming and data contexts, it is important to distinguish U+00A3 from other currency signs such as the euro (U+20AC). The currency code for pounds in international finance is GBP.

See also: Pound sterling, Unicode currency symbols, HTML entities.