U+269A Staff of Hermes
U+269A was added to Unicode in version 4.1 (2005). It belongs to the block
This character is a Other Symbol and is commonly used, that is, in no specific script.
The glyph is not a composition. It has a Neutral East Asian Width. In bidirectional context it acts as Other Neutral and is not mirrored. In text U+269A behaves as Alphabetic regarding line breaks. It has type Other for sentence and Other for word breaks. The Grapheme Cluster Break is Any.
The Wikipedia has the following information about this codepoint:
The caduceus (☤; ; Latin: cādūceus, from Greek: κηρύκειον kērū́keion "herald's wand, or staff") is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography, it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods.
Some accounts suggest that the oldest known imagery of the caduceus has its roots in Mesopotamia with the Sumerian god Ningishzida; his symbol, a staff with two snakes intertwined around it, dates back to 4000 BC to 3000 BC.
As a symbolic object, it represents Hermes (or the Roman Mercury), and by extension trades, occupations, or undertakings associated with the god. In later Antiquity, the caduceus provided the basis for the astrological symbol representing the planet Mercury. Thus, through its use in astrology, alchemy, and astronomy it has come to denote the planet and elemental metal of the same name. It is said the wand would wake the sleeping and send the awake to sleep. If applied to the dying, their death was gentle; if applied to the dead, they returned to life.
By extension of its association with Mercury and Hermes, the caduceus is also a recognized symbol of commerce and negotiation, two realms in which balanced exchange and reciprocity are recognized as ideals. This association is ancient, and consistent from the Classical period to modern times. The caduceus is also used as a symbol representing printing, again by extension of the attributes of Mercury (in this case associated with writing and eloquence).
Although the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and is never depicted with wings, is the traditional and more widely used symbol of medicine, the Caduceus is sometimes used by healthcare organizations. Given that the caduceus is primarily a symbol of commerce and other non-medical symbology, many healthcare professionals disapprove of this usage.
Representations
System | Representation |
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Nº | 9882 |
UTF-8 | E2 9A 9A |
UTF-16 | 26 9A |
UTF-32 | 00 00 26 9A |
URL-Quoted | %E2%9A%9A |
HTML-Escape | ⚚ |
Wrong windows-1252 Mojibake | â |
Elsewhere
Complete Record
Property | Value |
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4.1 (2005) | |
STAFF OF HERMES | |
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Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs | |
Other Symbol | |
Common | |
Other Neutral | |
Not Reordered | |
None | |
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✘ | |
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✘ | |
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✘ | |
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✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✔ | |
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Any | |
✔ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
— | |
NA | |
Other | |
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✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
Yes | |
Yes | |
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Yes | |
Yes | |
✘ | |
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✔ | |
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✘ | |
Other | |
✘ | |
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✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
Other | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
✘ | |
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None | |
Neutral | |
Not Applicable | |
— | |
No_Joining_Group | |
Non Joining | |
Alphabetic | |
None | |
not a number | |
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U |