HTML Entity for White Smiling Face (☺)

Beginner
⏱️ 5 min read
📚 Updated: Jun 2026
🎯 1 Code Example
Unicode U+263A
HTML entity for White Smiling Face (U+263A) tutorial illustration

What You'll Learn

How to display White Smiling Face (☺) in HTML and CSS. This character is U+263A in the Miscellaneous Symbols block (U+2600–U+26FF), approved in Unicode 1.1 (1993). Its Unicode name is WHITE SMILING FACE—a white-outline smiley, one of the earliest emoticon-style symbols in digital typography. The counterpart Black Smiling Face (☻ U+263B) has a filled outline.

There is no named HTML entity for U+263A. Use ☺ or ☺ in markup, or \263A in stylesheet content. Do not confuse ☺ with modern emoji 😊 (U+1F60A) or ☻ (black smiling face). Use aria-hidden="true" when purely decorative, or visible text for meaningful emotional cues.

⚡ Quick Reference — White Smiling Face

Unicode U+263A

Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600–U+26FF)

Hex Code ☺

Hexadecimal reference

HTML Code ☺

Decimal reference

Named Entity —

None (use numeric refs)

Reference Table
Name           Value
────────────   ──────────
Unicode        U+263A
Hex code       ☺
HTML code      ☺
Named entity   —
CSS code       \263A
Meaning        White smiling face
Related        U+263B = ☻ (black smiling face)
Block          Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600–U+26FF)
1

Complete HTML Example

This example shows U+263A using hexadecimal and decimal character references, plus a CSS content escape on a pseudo-element:

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
 <style>
  #point:after{
   content: "\263A";
  }
 </style>
</head>
<body>
<p>White Smiling Face using Hexa Decimal: &#x263A;</p>
<p>White Smiling Face using HTML Code: &#9786;</p>
<p id="point">White Smiling Face using CSS Entity: </p>
</body>
</html>
Try It Yourself

🌐 Browser Support

U+263A is widely supported in modern browsers; smiley glyph artwork varies by typeface:

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

👀 Live Preview

See the glyph at different sizes and beside the black smiling face (font-dependent):

Large glyph☺
Mood indicator☺ Welcome!  |  Thanks ☻
Smiley pair (U+263A & U+263B)☺ ☻
CaptionU+263A is WHITE SMILING FACE; U+263B is BLACK SMILING FACE in Miscellaneous Symbols.
Monospace refs&#x263A; &#9786; \263A

🧠 How It Works

1

Hexadecimal Code

&#x263A; references code point U+263A using hex digits 263A after the #x prefix.

HTML markup
2

Decimal HTML Code

&#9786; is the decimal equivalent (9786) for the same White Smiling Face character.

HTML markup
3

CSS Entity

\263A is the CSS escape for U+263A, used in the content property of ::before or ::after.

CSS stylesheet
=

Same visual result

Hex, decimal, and CSS escapes all produce ☺. There is no named HTML entity for U+263A. Not the same as ☻ (black smiling face) or emoji 😊.

✅

Use Cases

White Smiling Face (☺) is commonly used for:

💻 User interfaces

Buttons, notifications, and UI elements that convey friendliness and positive feedback.

📝 Blogs & content

Blog posts, articles, and content with a friendly, positive tone.

📱 Social content

Social media posts, comments, and content expressing happiness or friendliness.

💬 Customer service

Help pages, support sections, and welcoming customer-service content.

📋 Feedback forms

Surveys, feedback forms, and user interaction elements encouraging positive responses.

✅ Success messages

Confirmation dialogs, success notifications, and positive status indicators.

♿ Accessibility

Pair ☺ with text or aria-label when the symbol conveys emotional meaning.

💡 Best Practices

Do

  • Use hex or decimal consistently—there is no named entity for U+263A
  • Pair ☺ with ☻ (black smiling face) for contrast or mood variations
  • Pair the symbol with clear context (e.g. success text or friendly labels) so meaning is clear
  • Choose fonts that support the Miscellaneous Symbols block (U+2600–U+26FF)
  • Use \263A only inside CSS content, not inside HTML text nodes
  • Use aria-hidden="true" when purely decorative; add text when meaning matters

Don’t

  • Confuse U+263A with U+263B (black smiling face) or modern emoji 😊 (different code points)
  • Rely on ☺ alone to communicate critical emotional or status information
  • Assume every font renders smileys crisply at small sizes
  • Use smiley glyphs as the only feedback cue without visible text
  • Mix CSS escapes into HTML text nodes (use numeric refs in markup)

Key Takeaways

1

Two numeric references render the same glyph

&#x263A; &#9786;
2

CSS content escape

\263A
3

U+263A is WHITE SMILING FACE; pairs with Black Smiling Face U+263B

4

Miscellaneous Symbols block U+2600–U+26FF; no named HTML entity

5

Previous: White Shogi Piece (☖)   Next: White Spade Suit (♤)

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Use &#x263A; (hex), &#9786; (decimal), or \263A in CSS content. There is no named entity; all valid methods render ☺.
U+263A (hex 263A, decimal 9786). Miscellaneous Symbols (U+2600–U+26FF). Unicode name WHITE SMILING FACE.
For friendly expressions, positive messaging, user interfaces, blogs, social content, customer service sections, feedback forms, and success messages.
Numeric references belong in HTML. The \263A escape belongs in stylesheets (for example on pseudo-elements). Do not paste CSS escapes into HTML text nodes.
No. Use &#x263A;, &#9786;, or \263A in CSS depending on whether you are authoring markup or styles.

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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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