U+26E8 "⛨" Black Cross on Shield Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
⛨
U+26E8 "⛨" Black Cross on Shield is a symbolic glyph that features a bold black cross centered on an upright shield shape, often associated with medical or protective contexts, such as representing emergency medical services or first aid stations, though it is distinct from the more common Red Cross emblem. Its design merges the defensive imagery of a shield with the universal symbol of aid and care, making it suitable for use in maps, signage, or digital interfaces where a sense of safety and assistance is conveyed. The character is part of the Miscellaneous Symbols block in Unicode, and its specific black coloration confirms its role as a neutral, non-affiliated variant of the traditional cross-on-shield motif.
General Properties
| Code Point | U+26E8 |
| Version Added | 5.2 |
| Name | Black Cross on Shield |
| Block | Miscellaneous Symbols |
| General Category | Other Symbol |
| Canonical Combining Class | Not Reordered |
| Bidirectional Class | Other Neutral |
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding | ⛨ |
| HTML Hex Encoding | ⛨ |
| UTF-8 Encoding | 0xE2 0x9B 0xA8 |
| UTF-16 Encoding | 0x26E8 |
| UTF-32 Encoding | 0x000026E8 |
| C/C++/Java Escape | \u26e8 |