HTML Entity for Lowercase A Circumflex (â)

Beginner
⏱️ 5 min read
📚 Updated: Jun 2026
🎯 1 Code Example
Unicode U+00E2
HTML Entity for Lowercase A Circumflex tutorial illustration

What You'll Learn

How to display the lowercase a with circumflex (â) in HTML using named entity, hexadecimal, decimal, and CSS escape methods. The circumflex accent is used in French (e.g. âge, pâté), Portuguese, Romanian, and other languages. This character is U+00E2 in the Latin-1 Supplement block.

Render it with â, â, â, or CSS escape \E2. The named entity â is often the most readable option in HTML source.

⚡ Quick Reference — Lowercase A Circumflex Entity

Unicode U+00E2

Latin-1 Supplement

Hex Code â

Hexadecimal reference

HTML Code â

Decimal reference

Named Entity â

Most readable option

Reference Table
Name           Value
────────────   ──────────
Unicode        U+00E2
Hex code       â
HTML code      â
Named entity   â
CSS code       \E2
Meaning        Latin small letter a with circumflex
Related        U+00C2 = Â (uppercase)
Block          Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
1

Complete HTML Example

A simple example showing the lowercase a circumflex (â) using hexadecimal code, decimal HTML code, the named entity, and a CSS content escape:

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
 <style>
  #point:after{
   content: "\E2";
  }
 </style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Symbol (hex): &#xE2;</p>
<p>Symbol (decimal): &#226;</p>
<p>Symbol (named): &acirc;</p>
<p id="point">Symbol (CSS): </p>
</body>
</html>
Try it Yourself

🌐 Browser Support

The lowercase a circumflex (â) and the named entity &acirc; are supported in modern browsers:

Chrome1+
Firefox1+
Safari1+
Edge12+
Opera4+
Android4.4+
iOS Safari1+

👀 Live Preview

See the lowercase a circumflex (â) in French, Portuguese, and Romanian contexts:

Large glyphâ
Frenchâge, pâté, château
Portugueseângulo, âmbito
RomanianRomânia
Named entity&acirc; renders as â
Numeric refs&#xE2; &#226; &acirc; \E2

🧠 How It Works

1

Hexadecimal Code

&#xE2; uses the Unicode hexadecimal value E2 to display the character. The x prefix indicates hexadecimal format.

HTML markup
2

Decimal HTML Code

&#226; uses the decimal Unicode value 226 to display the same character. A common method for Latin-1 characters.

HTML markup
3

Named Entity

&acirc; is the standard named entity for â—readable in source HTML and part of the HTML Latin-1 entity set.

HTML markup
4

CSS Entity

\E2 is used in CSS stylesheets, particularly in the content property of pseudo-elements like ::before and ::after.

CSS stylesheet
=

Same visual result

All four methods produce the glyph: â. Unicode U+00E2 sits in Latin-1 Supplement. Uppercase equivalent: U+00C2 (&Acirc;). Do not confuse with plain a (U+0061)—meaning can change (âge vs age).

✅

Use Cases

The lowercase a circumflex (â) is commonly used in:

🇫🇷 French

Essential in words like âge, pâté, château, and crâne. The circumflex often marks a historical dropped letter.

🇧🇷 Portuguese & Romanian

Used in Portuguese (e.g. ângulo, âmbito) and Romanian (e.g. România). Correct accent is required for meaning.

📝 Proper names

Names of people, cities, and brands that include â must display correctly for accessibility and SEO.

🔤 Linguistics

Language learning apps, dictionaries, and phonetic content teaching French and other languages.

📄 Publishing

Legal, academic, and editorial content in French, Portuguese, or Romanian.

🎨 Typography

Headlines, logos, and styled text in French or Portuguese requiring correct spelling.

🔍 Search & SEO

Correct rendering so users can find content (e.g. searching for “pâté” or “România”).

💡 Best Practices

Do

  • Use &acirc; in HTML when possible for readability
  • Serve pages as UTF-8; you can also type â directly in UTF-8 source
  • Set lang attributes (e.g. lang="fr", lang="ro") for correct pronunciation
  • Use fonts that support Latin-1 Supplement characters
  • Distinguish â (U+00E2) from plain a (U+0061)—meaning can change (âge vs age)

Don’t

  • Substitute plain a when â is required for correct spelling
  • Confuse circumflex â with acute á, breve ă, or caron ǎ
  • Put CSS escape \E2 in HTML text nodes
  • Assume all fonts render accented Latin-1 glyphs identically
  • Omit UTF-8 encoding on pages with accented characters

Key Takeaways

1

Four references render â; named entity is most readable

&#xE2; &#226; &acirc;
2

For CSS stylesheets, use the escape in the content property

\E2
3

Unicode U+00E2 — LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX

4

Essential for French, Portuguese, Romanian, and i18n content

5

Previous: Lowercase A Caron (ǎ)   Next: Lowercase A Diaeresis Macron

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Use &acirc; (named), &#xE2; (hex), &#226; (decimal), or \E2 in CSS content. The named entity &acirc; is the most readable for HTML content.
U+00E2 (LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX). Latin-1 Supplement block. Hex E2, decimal 226. Used in French, Portuguese, Romanian, and other languages.
When writing French (e.g. âge, pâté), Portuguese (e.g. ângulo), Romanian (e.g. România), or other languages that use the circumflex, plus proper names and internationalized web content.
HTML code (&#226; or &#xE2;) or the named entity &acirc; is used in HTML content. The CSS entity (\E2) is used in CSS, e.g. in the content property of pseudo-elements. Both produce â but in different contexts.
Yes. The named HTML entity is &acirc;. It is part of the standard HTML Latin-1 entity set and is well supported. You can also use &#226; or &#xE2; for numeric references.

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About the author

Mari Selvan M P
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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