HTML Entity for Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark («)
What You'll Learn
How to display the left guillemet («) in HTML using named, hexadecimal, decimal, and CSS entity methods. This character is U+00AB (LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK) in the Latin-1 Supplement block (U+0080–U+00FF)—the opening chevron quote used in French, Russian, and many European languages.
Render it with «, «, «, or CSS escape \00AB. Pair with the closing guillemet » (») for balanced quotes: «…».
⚡ Quick Reference — Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark
U+00ABLatin-1 Supplement block
«Hexadecimal reference
«Decimal reference
«Most readable option
Name Value
──────────── ──────────
Unicode U+00AB
Hex code «
HTML code «
Named entity «
CSS code \00ABComplete HTML Example
This example demonstrates the Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark symbol («) using hexadecimal code, decimal HTML code, the named entity, and a CSS content escape on a pseudo-element:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#point:after{
content: "\00AB";
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark using Hexadecimal: «</p>
<p>Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark using HTML Code: «</p>
<p>Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark using Named Entity: «</p>
<p id="point">Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark using CSS Entity: </p>
</body>
</html>🌐 Browser Support
U+00AB is universally supported in modern browsers; Latin-1 Supplement glyphs render in virtually all fonts:
👀 Live Preview
See the left guillemet («) in multilingual quotation typography:
🧠 How It Works
Named Entity
« is the HTML named entity for the Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark («) — the most readable option in source code.
Hexadecimal Code
« uses the Unicode hexadecimal value 00AB to display the Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark symbol. The x prefix indicates hexadecimal format.
Decimal HTML Code
« uses the decimal Unicode value 171 to display the same character.
CSS Entity
\00AB is used in CSS stylesheets, particularly in the content property of pseudo-elements like ::before and ::after.
Same visual result
All four methods produce: «. Unicode U+00AB. Pair with » (») for the closing guillemet—not straight quotes (“ ”) unless your locale uses them.
Use Cases
The Double Left-Pointing Angle Quotation Mark symbol («) commonly appears in the following scenarios:
Opening guillemet for quoted text in French (« … ») and other European languages.
Opening quotation mark in Russian and Cyrillic-script content.
Blockquotes, dialogue, and citations with typographically correct guillemets.
Books, articles, and editorial content using angle quotes for the target language.
Multilingual sites with locale-appropriate quotation marks.
Use <q> or <blockquote> with guillemets for semantic quoted content.
💡 Best Practices
Do
- Prefer
«for readable HTML source - Pair « with » (
») for balanced guillemets - Use
<q>or<blockquote>for semantic quoted content - Set
langattributes on localized content (e.g.lang="fr") - Pick one entity style per project for consistency
Don’t
- Confuse « (
«) with » (», closing) - Use CSS escape
\00ABinside HTML markup - Mix guillemets and straight quotes inconsistently in one locale
- Forget UTF-8 (
<meta charset="utf-8">) on multilingual pages - Forget UTF-8 (
<meta charset="utf-8">) in your document
Key Takeaways
Four ways to render « in HTML
« « «For CSS stylesheets, use the escape in the content property
\00ABUnicode U+00AB — opening left guillemet
Prefer « for readability in HTML source
Open « («) vs close » (»)
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
« (named), « (hex), « (decimal), or \00AB in CSS content. All produce «.U+00AB (LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK). Latin-1 Supplement block (U+0080–U+00FF). Hex AB, decimal 171. Opening guillemet in French, Russian, and many languages.« («, U+00AB) is the opening left guillemet. » (», U+00BB) is the closing right guillemet. Use both for balanced quotes: «…».« (laquo = left angle quote) is the named HTML entity for U+00AB. It renders as « and is the most readable option when writing HTML by hand.Explore More HTML Entities!
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