HTML Entity for Black Smiling Face (☻)

Beginner

5 min read

Updated: Sep 2026

1 example

Unicode U+263B

HTML Entity for black smiling face (☻) tutorial illustration

Definition

What Is Black Smiling Face?

Black smiling face (☻) is Unicode U+263B in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. It is a filled (inverse) smiley — useful for retro mood cues and decorative markers. HTML has no standard named entity — use numeric or CSS forms (or type the character in UTF-8).

Remember

Character     ☻
Unicode       U+263B
Hex entity    &#x263B;
Decimal       &#9787;
Named entity  (none)
CSS escape    \263B
Not the same  ☺ U+263A (white smiling face)

All of these produce the same glyph: ☻. Prefer typing ☻ in UTF-8 when you can; use ☻ / ☻ or CSS for generated content.

Reference

Quick Reference

One table for every form you will actually use.

Form	Code	Where it goes
Direct character	`☻`	HTML text (UTF-8)
Named entity	None	—
Hex entity	`☻`	HTML markup
Decimal entity	`☻`	HTML markup
CSS escape	`\263B`	Stylesheet `content`

When to Use Which

Situation	Use
Filled (black) smiley	`☻` or type `☻`
Outline (white) smiley	☺ (U+263A)
Need an entity in HTML source	`☻` or `☻`
Icon via CSS	`content: "\263B"` on `::before`

See it

Live Preview

Black smiling face in study contexts.

Inline cue ☻ Happy day

Large glyph ☻

vs. white smiley ☺ white · ☻ black

Accessible label Good mood

With entities Hex: ☻ | Decimal: ☻

Code

Complete HTML Example

One page that shows ☻ with hex, decimal, CSS escape, and a typed character. Use View Output or open the live editor.

Hex + Decimal + CSS + Typed

Four ways to produce ☻ in a single document (no named entity).

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Black Smiling Face (☻) in HTML</title>
  <style>
    #point::after {
      content: "\263B";
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Black smiling face using Hex Code: &#x263B;</p>
  <p>Black smiling face using HTML Code: &#9787;</p>
  <p id="point">Black smiling face using CSS Entity: </p>
  <p>Typed directly: ☻</p>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

How It Works

1. Hex: U+263B → ☻ in HTML. The browser turns it into ☻.

2. Decimal: same code point as 9787 → ☻. Same result as hex.

3. CSS: use \263B in content (not an HTML entity). #point::after appends that ☻ after the paragraph text.

4. Typed ☻: fine in UTF-8 source. All four lines show the same glyph.

Pitfalls & Tips

Common mistakes when working with black smiling face (☻).

Named

No &name; form

U+263B has no standard named entity — use ☻ or ☻.

☺

Not the white smiley

For the outline form use ☺ (U+263A).

a11y

Say the mood

Screen readers may not announce “smiley.” Pair the glyph with visible or visually hidden text such as Happy.

Fonts

Check symbol coverage

Some UI fonts omit U+263B. Prefer fonts with solid Miscellaneous Symbols / smiley support.

CSS vs HTML

Do not mix escapes

\263B belongs in CSS. ☻ / ☻ belong in HTML.

Semicolon

End references

Always finish with ; — write ☻, not &#x263B.

Compatibility

Browser Support

Black smiling face (U+263B) and its entity forms (☻, ☻, CSS \\263B) are supported in all mainstream browsers. Glyph quality depends on font support for Miscellaneous Symbols.

✓ Universal support

Black Smiling Face (☻)

Type ☻, or encode with hex, decimal, or CSS escape — same glyph everywhere encoding is supported.

100% Browser coverage

Google Chrome Supported

Yes

Microsoft Edge Supported

Yes

Mozilla Firefox Supported

Yes

Apple Safari Supported

Yes

Opera Supported

Yes

Internet Explorer All versions

Yes

U+263B / entities Full support

Bottom line: Prefer a typed ☻ or ☻ for markers. Use decimal when generating markup, and \\263B only inside CSS content.

Remember

Key Takeaways

Unicode: black smiling face is U+263B (decimal 9787).
HTML: use ☻ or ☻ (no named entity).
CSS: use \263B inside content for generated icons.
Watch out: ☻ ≠ ☺ (black ≠ white smiling face).

One line: U+263B → ☻ / ☻ / CSS \263B.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I display black smiling face (☻) in HTML?

Use ☻ (hex), ☻ (decimal), or the CSS escape \263B in the content property. All render ☻. You can also paste ☻ directly if your file is UTF-8. There is no standard named entity.

What is the Unicode value for black smiling face?

U+263B (hex 263B, decimal 9787). Unicode names it BLACK SMILING FACE. It belongs to the Miscellaneous Symbols block.

Is there a named HTML entity for ☻ (U+263B)?

No. HTML5 / WHATWG does not define a named character reference for U+263B. Prefer ☻, ☻, or a typed ☻ in UTF-8.

How is ☻ different from ☺?

☻ (U+263B) is the filled (black) smiling face. ☺ (U+263A) is white smiling face. They are different code points.

What is the difference between HTML code and CSS entity for ☻?

HTML entities (☻ or ☻) go in markup. The CSS escape \263B is used in stylesheets (usually in the content property of ::before/::after). Both render ☻.

When should I use black smiling face?

Use ☻ for retro smileys, mood cues, and decorative markers. Prefer clear text or ARIA labels when the meaning must be obvious to screen readers.

Did you know?

Black smiling face is Unicode U+263B (decimal 9787) in the Miscellaneous Symbols block — official name BLACK SMILING FACE. There is no standard named HTML entity. It is not white smiling face (U+263A ☺).

Next: Black Spade Suit

Learn the HTML entity for the black spade suit (♠).

Next tutorial →

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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