What is the Unicode value for the ampersand?

U+0026 (hex 26, decimal 38). Block: Basic Latin (ASCII). It is a reserved character in HTML and SGML/XML; always escape it when you mean a literal ampersand in markup.

When must I escape the ampersand in HTML?

In element text and in attribute values when you want a literal glyph. Typical cases: company names with and abbreviated, query strings in href attributes, and any dynamic or user content inserted into markup.

What is the difference between HTML references and a CSS escape for U+0026?

Markup uses named or numeric character references in HTML. CSS uses a backslash hex escape inside rules such as content on pseudo-elements. Same code point; different layer and syntax.

Is there a named HTML entity for the ampersand?

Yes: the predefined amp entity (ampersand plus the letters a-m-p plus semicolon). It is one of the five predefined entities in XML and is universally supported in HTML.

HTML Entity for Ampersand (&)

Q: How do I display an ampersand in HTML?

Use the named character reference for U+0026 (recommended in hand-authored HTML), or decimal 38 or hex 26 numeric references, or a CSS hex escape ending at semicolon or space in the content property. A raw U+0026 in text or attributes can start a character reference and break parsing.

Beginner

⏱️ 5 min read

📚 Updated: May 2026

🎯 1 Code Example

Unicode U+0026

What You'll Learn

How to display a literal ampersand (&) in HTML using the named reference &, numeric & / &, or a CSS escape in content. In HTML, & starts a character reference, so a bare & in text or attribute values is unsafe and often invalid.

The character is U+0026 in Basic Latin. Prefer & in hand-written markup for readability. In href query strings inside HTML, separate parameters with & (e.g. ?a=1&b=2). In CSS, \0026 or \26 emits the same glyph in content on pseudo-elements.

⚡ Quick Reference — Ampersand (&)

Unicode U+0026

Basic Latin (ASCII)

Hex Code &

Hexadecimal reference

HTML Code &

Decimal reference

Named Entity &

Preferred in HTML text and attributes

Reference Table

Name           Value
────────────   ──────────
Unicode        U+0026
Hex code       &#x26;
HTML code      &#38;
Named entity   &amp;
CSS code       \0026

Complete HTML Example

This example shows the ampersand using hexadecimal, decimal, the named entity &, and a CSS content escape:

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
 <style>
  #point:after{
   content: "\0026";
  }
 </style>
</head>
<body>

<p>Ampersand using Hexa Decimal: &#x26;</p>
<p>Ampersand using HTML Code: &#38;</p>
<p>Ampersand using HTML Entity: &amp;</p>
<p id="point">Ampersand using CSS Entity: </p>

</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

🌐 Browser Support

&, numeric references, and CSS escapes for U+0026 are supported in every HTML-capable browser. The glyph is always present in standard fonts because it is ASCII:

Chrome 1+

Firefox 1+

Safari 1+

Edge 12+

Opera 4+

Android 4.4+

iOS Safari 1+

👀 Live Preview

See U+0026 in typical snippets (all render the same character):

Named Smith & Co.

Numeric Rock & roll — same as Rock & roll

Query string search.html?q=1&sort=name (in HTML source, use & before sort)

Monospace U+0026 AMPERSAND

Tip Prefer your framework’s HTML escaper for dynamic text so & is never left raw by mistake.

🧠 How It Works

Named entity

& is the usual way to output a literal & in HTML. The first & starts the reference; amp names it; the closing ; ends it.

HTML markup

Numeric references

& (decimal) and & (hex) resolve to the same code point U+0026.

HTML markup

CSS escape

\0026 (or \26) in content on ::before / ::after inserts U+0026 from a stylesheet.

CSS stylesheet

Same code point

All paths yield U+0026 (ampersand). It is one of the five predefined XML entities; escaping is required when you mean a literal & in serialized HTML.

✅

Use Cases

You will use escaped ampersands constantly in real pages:

🏢 Brands & titles

Names like “Smith & Co.” or “Johnson & Johnson” in headings and body copy.

🔗 URLs in HTML

href values with multiple query parameters: ?a=1&b=2 in the HTML source (browser sends &).

📝 Prose

Phrases such as “rock & roll” or “R&D” in articles and UI strings.

⚙️ Forms & attributes

Literal & inside value, placeholder, or data attributes without breaking the parser.

📚 Docs & examples

Teaching markup: show entity syntax without the browser interpreting your sample as a real reference.

🔐 Dynamic content

Escape user-supplied text so stray & does not corrupt the DOM or enable injection.

♿ Accessibility

Valid, escaped markup avoids parser recoveries that confuse assistive tech or hide text.

💡 Best Practices

Do

Use & (or numeric refs) for literal & in HTML text and attribute values
Run validators or linters to catch stray & before < that are not part of a valid reference
Let templates and frameworks auto-escape text nodes by default
In href, write & between query parameters in the HTML file
Use \0026 in CSS content when you cannot embed raw UTF-8

Don’t

Leave raw & before text that could be parsed as an entity name (e.g. &copy without ;)
Double-escape already-safe UTF-8 unless your pipeline requires it
Paste CSS escapes into HTML text (wrong layer)
Assume URL copy-pasted from the address bar is safe to drop into HTML without encoding other reserved characters
Forget that attribute values in double quotes still need & escaped

Key Takeaways

Named + numeric ways to write U+0026

& & &

CSS content escape

\0026

Unicode U+0026 — ampersand

Reserved in HTML — always escape for a literal glyph

One of the five predefined XML/HTML character entities

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How do I display an ampersand (&) in HTML?

Use & (named), & or & (numeric), or UTF-8 with a correctly escaped serializer. For CSS-only text, \0026 in content works.

What is the Unicode value?

U+0026 (decimal 38, hex 26). Basic Latin; universal font coverage.

Why can a bare & break my page?

The tokenizer treats & as the start of a character reference. If what follows is not a valid reference, you can get validation errors or unexpected nodes.

HTML vs CSS: where does each escape go?

& / numeric refs belong in HTML (and SVG text). Backslash hex escapes belong in CSS property values such as content.

Is & the official named entity?

Yes. It is predefined in XML and universally recognized in HTML for the ampersand character itself.

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About the author

Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

AWS Certified Developer – Associate (Credly)

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