Planetary symbols are used in

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

and traditionally in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

to represent a

classical planet A classical planet is an astronomical object that is visible to the naked eye and moves across the sky and its backdrop of fixed stars (the common stars which seem still in contrast to the planets), appearing as wandering stars. Visible to huma ...

(which includes the Sun and the Moon) or one of the modern planets. The classical symbols were also used in

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

for the seven metals known to the ancients, which were associated with the planets, and in calendars for the seven days of the week associated with the seven planets. The original symbols date to Greco-Roman astronomy; their modern forms developed in the 16th century, and additional symbols would be created later for newly discovered planets. The seven classical planets, their symbols, days and most commonly associated planetary metals are: The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

(IAU) discourages the use of these symbols in modern journal articles, and their style manual proposes one- and two-letter abbreviations for the names of the planets for cases where planetary symbols might be used, such as in the headings of tables. The modern planets with their traditional symbols and IAU abbreviations are: The symbols of Venus and Mars are also used to represent

female An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...

and

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

in biology following a convention introduced by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in the 1750s.

History

Classical planets

The origins of the planetary symbols can be found in the attributes given to classical deities. The Roman

planisphere In astronomy, a planisphere () is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It is an instrument to assist i ...

of Bianchini (2nd century, currently in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, inv. Ma 540) shows the seven planets represented by portraits of the seven corresponding gods, each a bust with a

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

and an iconic object or dress, as follows: Mercury has a

caduceus The caduceus (☤; ; , ) is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was borne by other heralds like Iris (mythology), Iris, the messenger of Hera. The s ...

and a winged cap; Venus has a necklace and a shining mirror; Mars has a war-helmet and a spear; Jupiter has a laurel crown and a staff; Saturn has a conical headdress and a scythe; the Sun has rays emanating from his head; and the Moon has a crescent atop her head. Bianchini planisphere - Luna.png,

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

with a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

Bianchini planisphere - Mercury.png, Mercury with a

Bianchini planisphere - Venus.png,

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

with a shining mirror Bianchini planisphere - Sol.png, Sol emanating rays Bianchini planisphere - Mars.png,

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

with a spear Bianchini planisphere - Jupiter.png,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

with a staff Bianchini planisphere - Saturn.png,

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

with a

scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

The written symbols for Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have been traced to forms found in late Greek papyri. Early forms are also found in medieval Byzantine codices which preserve horoscopes. Moon symbol (medieval ms).png, The symbol for the Moon in a medieval Byzantine (11th c.) ms. The appearance in late Classical times was similar. Mercury symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The symbol for Mercury in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss Venus symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The symbol for Venus in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss Sun symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The disk with a ray as a symbol for the Sun in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss Mars symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The symbol for Mars in late Classical (6th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss. Jupiter symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The symbol for Jupiter in late Classical (4th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss Saturn symbol (late classical and medieval mss).png, The symbol for Saturn in late Classical (4th & 5th c.) and medieval Byzantine (11th c.) mss. Cf. kappa-rho, . A diagram in the astronomical compendium by Johannes Kamateros (12th century) closely resembles the 11th-century forms shown above, with the Sun represented by a circle with a single ray, Jupiter by the letter ''

zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

'' (the initial of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, Jupiter's counterpart in Greek mythology), Mars by a round shield in front of a diagonal spear, and the remaining classical planets by symbols resembling the modern ones, though without the crosses seen in modern versions of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. These crosses first appear in the late 15th or early 16th century. According to Maunder, the addition of crosses appears to be "an attempt to give a savour of Christianity to the symbols of the old pagan gods."Maunder (1934) The modern forms of the classical planetary symbols are found in a woodcut of the seven planets in a Latin translation of

Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi, Latinized as Albumasar (also ''Albusar'', ''Albuxar'', ''Albumazar''; full name ''Abū Maʿshar Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Balkhī'' ; , AH 171–272), was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be ...

's ''De Magnis Coniunctionibus'' printed at Venice in 1506, represented as the corresponding gods riding chariots.Maunder (1934:239) File:Fotothek df tg 0007129 Theosophie ^ Alchemie.jpg, Early modern depiction of the planet symbols in an alchemical context (''

Musaeum Hermeticum ''Musaeum Hermeticum'' (" Hermetic library") is a compendium of alchemical texts first published in German, in Frankfurt, 1625 by Lucas Jennis. Additional material was added for the 1678 Latin edition, which in turn was reprinted in 1749. Pu ...

'', 1678) File:Translation of Albumasar Venice 1515 De Magnis Coniunctionibus.jpg, Page spread (with the signs for Mars and Venus) from a 1515 illustrated edition of

's ''De Magnis Coniunctionibus'' (in the by translation by

Herman of Carinthia Herman of Carinthia (1105/1110 – after 1154), also called Hermanus Dalmata or Sclavus Dalmata, Secundus, by his own words born in the "heart of Istria", was a philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and translator of Arabic works int ...

, , ''editio princeps'' by Erhard Ratdolt of Augsburg, 1489). Abu Ma'shar(Ibn Balkhi)-850AD.png, Depiction of the planets in a 15th-century Arabic manuscript of Abu Ma'shar's "Book of nativities" File:F4.v. zodiac circle with planets - NLW MS 735C.png, Medieval

showing the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

and the

classical planets A classical planet is an astronomical object that is visible to the naked eye and moves across the sky and its backdrop of fixed stars (the common stars which seem still in contrast to the planets), appearing as wandering stars. Visible to huma ...

. The planets are represented by seven faces. File:Zug - Zytturm 2010-06-18 calendar crop.jpg, 16th-century mechanical clock + calendar, using the symbols of the eponymous planets for the days of the week. File:Royal Society of Chemistry - Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science - 2014 - Andy Mabbett - 06 (cropped - planetary symbols).jpg, Planetary-metal symbols at the center of the coat of arms of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

Earth symbol

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

is not one of the classical planets, as "planets" by definition were "wandering stars" as seen from Earth's surface. Earth's status as planet is a consequence of

heliocentrism Heliocentrism (also known as the heliocentric model) is a superseded astronomical model in which the Earth and planets orbit around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed t ...

in the 16th century. Nonetheless, there is a pre-heliocentric symbol for the world, now used as a planetary symbol for the Earth. This is a circle crossed by two lines, horizontal and vertical, representing the world divided by four rivers into the four quarters of the world (often translated as the four "corners" of the world): . A variant, now obsolete, had only the horizontal line: 16px, 🜔. A medieval European symbol for the world – the

globus cruciger The for, la, globus cruciger, cross-bearing orb, also known as ''stavroforos sphaira'' () or "the orb and cross", is an Sphere, orb surmounted by a Christian cross, cross. It has been a Christian Church, Christian symbol of authority since the M ...

, (the globe surmounted by a

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

) – is also used as a planetary symbol; it resembles an inverted symbol for Venus. The planetary symbols for Earth are encoded in Unicode at and . Marriage of Cupid and Psyche.jpg, The Olympian gods, atop a -shaped world Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 42-48.jpg, Stylized Earth symbol DEU Oberwallmenach COA.svg, A simple ''globus cruciger'' File:Maschwanden-blazon.svg, Three ''globi crucigeri'' in the coat of arms of Maschwanden in Switzerland Uppsala län vapenflagga.svg, In the flag of

Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...

, the globe of the ''globus cruciger'' is stylized as a T-and-O map, 16px Mosaic in the Tunis Cathedral.jpg, In this ''globus cruciger'', the cross is surmounted on a celestial orb with stars

Classical planets

Moon

The

shape has been used to represent the Moon since antiquity. In classical antiquity, it is worn by lunar deities ( Selene/Luna, Artemis/Diana,

Men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

, etc.) either on the head or behind the shoulders, with its horns pointing upward. The representation of the moon as a simple crescent with the horns pointing to the side (as a heraldic ''crescent increscent'' or ''crescent decrescent'') is attested from late Classical times. The same symbol can be used in a different context not for the Moon itself but for a

lunar phase A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth. Because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth. In common usage, the four maj ...

, as part of a sequence of four symbols for "new moon" (U+1F311 🌑︎), "waxing" (U+263D ☽︎), "full moon" (U+1F315 🌕︎) and "waning" (U+263E ☾︎). Sala_vapen.svg, The Moon symbol, representing

silver mining Silver mining is the extraction of silver by mining. Silver is a precious metal and holds high economic value. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires the use of complex technologies. In ...

, in the municipal arms of Sala in Sweden Silvberg vapen.svg, The Moon symbol in the municipal arms of Silvberg ('Silver Mountain') in Sweden Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 74-80.jpg, Stylized Moon symbol Silver at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, The Moon for silver

Mercury

The symbol for Mercury is a

(a staff entwined with two serpents), a symbol associated with Mercury / Hermes throughout antiquity. Some time after the 11th century, a cross was added to the bottom of the staff to Christianize the symbol. Early classical white ground lekythos ARV extra Hermes Psychopompos leading deceased woman to Charon (02).jpg, The god Hermes (Mercury) with his caduceus File:Hermész.png, The caduceus, copied from pottery File:Hermes and caduceus, Loulan tapestry, 3rd century CE.jpg, The caduceus in a tapestry, 3rd century DEU Stahlberg COA.svg, Mercury symbol, representing quicksilver mining, in the municipal coat of arms of Stahlberg,

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, Germany. Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 52-58.jpg, Stylized Mercury symbol Mercury at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, Mercury for quicksilver The symbol was once the designated symbol for hermaphroditic or 'perfect' flowers, but botanists now use for these. A related usage is for the 'worker' or 'neuter' sex among

social insects Eusociality (Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations with ...

that is neither male nor (due to its lack of reproductive capacity) fully female, such as

worker bee A worker bee is any female bee that lacks the reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee and carries out the majority of tasks needed for the functioning of the hive. While worker bees are present in all eusocial bee species, the term is rar ...

s. More recently, it has been used to indicate

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, or

non-binary gender Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

. The Unicode

codepoint A code point, codepoint or code position is a particular position in a table, where the position has been assigned a meaning. The table may be one dimensional (a column), two dimensional (like cells in a spreadsheet), three dimensional (sheets in ...

is .

Venus

The Venus symbol, ♀, consists of a circle with a small

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

below it. It is believed to be a depiction of the hand-mirror of the goddess, which may also explain Venus's association with the planetary metal copper, as mirrors in antiquity were made of polished copper, though this is not certain. The addition of the cross is relatively recent – in the Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri 235, the symbols for Venus and Mercury did not have the cross on the bottom stem, and Venus appears without the cross (⚲) in Johannes Kamateros' 12th-century ''Compendium of Astrology''. In

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, the symbol for Venus is used to represent the female sex, alongside the symbol for

representing the

sex, following a convention introduced by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in the 1750s.

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

encodes the symbol as , in the

Miscellaneous Symbols Miscellaneous Symbols is a Unicode block (U+2600–U+26FF) containing glyphs representing concepts from a variety of categories: astrological, astronomical, chess, dice, musical notation, political symbols, recycling, religious symbols, trig ...

block. Bronze mirror MET DP254654.jpg, A bronze mirror, of the type associated with Venus File:Ostia antica-19.jpg, Cupid holding up a similar mirror to Venus Falun vapen.svg, The Venus symbol, representing copper mining, in the municipal coat of arms of

Falun Municipality Falun Municipality () is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Falun. Falun is the second biggest city and provincial capital of Dalarna County. Falun was originally famous for its copper mine. ...

in Sweden (1932) Feminism symbol.svg,

Raised fist The raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a long-standing image of mixed meaning, often a symbol of solidarity, especially with a political movement. It is a common symbol representing a wide range of political ideologies, most notably socialism, ...

within Venus symbol, used as a symbol of

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...

(1960s) Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 58-64.jpg, Stylized Venus symbol Copper at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, Venus for copper

Sun

The modern astronomical symbol for the Sun, the circumpunct (), was first used in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. It possibly represents Apollo's golden shield with a

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

. ''Bianchini's

'', produced in the 2nd century, shows a

circlet A circlet is a piece of headwear that is similar to a diadem or a corolla. The word 'circlet' is also used to refer to the base of a crown or a coronet, with or without a cap. Diadem and circlet are often used interchangeably, and 'open crowns' w ...

with rays radiating from it. In late Classical times, the Sun is attested as a circle with a single ray. A diagram in Johannes Kamateros' 12th century ''Compendium of Astrology'' shows the same symbol. This older symbol is encoded by

as in the

Alchemical Symbols Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemy, alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy ...

block. Both symbols have been used alchemically for gold, as have more elaborate symbols showing a disk with multiple rays or even a face. Outlines from the figures and compositions upon the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan vases of the late Sir William Hamilton; with engraved borders (1804) (14779549222).jpg, A buckler with a sun symbol and dot at center Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 10-16.jpg, Stylized circumpunct symbol for the Sun Gold at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, The Sun for gold Sun symbol (medieval).svg, 🜚, the medieval astronomical symbol for the Sun

Mars

The Mars symbol, ♂, is a depiction of a shield aand a spear, indicating the god of war. It is also the old and

obsolete Obsolescence is the process of becoming antiquated, out of date, old-fashioned, no longer in general use, or no longer useful, or the condition of being in such a state. When used in a biological sense, it means imperfect or rudimentary when comp ...

symbol for

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

in alchemy. In zoology and botany, it is used to represent the male sex (alongside the astrological symbol for Venus representing the female sex), following a convention introduced by

in the 1750s. The symbol dates from at latest the 11th century, at which time it was an arrow across or through a circle, thought to represent the shield and spear of the god Mars; in the medieval form, for example in the 12th-century ''Compendium of Astrology'' by Johannes Kamateros, the spear is drawn across the shield. The Greek

Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrology, papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient Landfill, rubbish dump near Oxyrhync ...

show a different symbol, perhaps simply a spear. File:ALEXANDER SEVERUS-RIC IV 246-737118 MARS.jpg, 3rd-century coin with Mars on the reverse, with lance and shield. The same symbols were used for Athena (Pallas). File:Fresco of a statue of Mars in the House of Venus, Pompeii (3824215212).jpg, Mars with spear and shield, Pompeii. File:Karlskoga vapen.svg, The Mars symbol, representing

iron mining Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

, in the municipal coat of arms of

Karlskoga Karlskoga () is a urban areas of Sweden, locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, Sweden. It is located within Örebro County, 45 km (28 mi) west of Örebro, and 10 km (6 mi) north of Degerfors. With a 2020 population o ...

in Sweden File:Loppi vaakuna.svg, The Mars symbol in the municipal coat of arms of

Loppi Loppi (; , also ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kanta-Häme regions of Finland, region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 mil ...

in Finland File:Project Viking Logo - Patch Style 1974-L-01916.jpg, Mars symbol in the patch for NASA's ''

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' mission File:Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van De Genestetlaan 20-28.jpg, Stylized Mars symbol. The spear partly crosses the shield. File:Iron at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, The Mars symbol was used as the symbol for iron Its Unicode

is .

Jupiter

The symbol for

, ♃, was originally a Greek zeta, Ζ, with a stroke indicating that it is an abbreviation (for

, the Greek equivalent of Roman Jupiter). Its Unicode

is . Mariner Jupiter-Saturn logo.jpg, Jupiter and Saturn symbols in patch for NASA's Mariner Jupiter-Saturn mission Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 76-82.jpg, Stylized Jupiter symbol Tin at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, Jupiter for tin Jupiter monogram (serif).svg, A modern form of the monogram reflects its origin in the letter 'Z'

Saturn

Salmasius and earlier attestations show that the symbol for Saturn, ♄, derives from the initial letters (

Kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

) of its ancient Greek name (), with a stroke to indicate an abbreviation. By the time of Kamateros (12th century), the symbol had been reduced to a shape similar to a lower-case letter ''

eta Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

'' η, with the abbreviation stroke surviving (if at all) in the curl on the bottom-right end. Its Unicode

is . FraternitasSaturniSiegel.svg, Emblem of the ''

Fraternitas Saturni Fraternitas Saturni (lat.: "Brotherhood of Saturn") is a German magical order, founded in 1926 by Eugen Grosche a.k.a. Gregor A. Gregorius and four others. It is one of the oldest continuously running magical groups in Germany. The lodge is, a ...

'', a German magical order founded in 1926 DEU Bleiwäsche COA.png, The Saturn symbol representing

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

in the municipal coat of arms of ''Bleiwäsche'', since 1975 part of

Bad Wünnenberg Bad Wünnenberg () is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Aabach, approximately 20 km south of Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', al ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 60-66.jpg, Stylized Saturn symbol Lead at Sterling Chemistry Laboratory of Yale.jpg, Saturn for lead ( Pb) Saturn monogram (serif).svg, A ligature of kappa and rho for ''Kronos'', the ancestor of the symbol for Saturn

Modern discoveries

Uranus

The symbols for

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

were created shortly after its discovery in 1781. One symbol, ⛢, invented by J. G. Köhler and refined by Bode, was intended to represent the newly discovered metal

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

; since platinum, commonly called white gold, was found by chemists mixed with iron, the symbol for platinum combines the alchemical symbols for

, ♂, and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, ☉. Gold and iron are the planetary metals for the Sun and Mars, and so share their symbols. Several orientations were suggested, but an upright arrow is now universal. Another symbol, , was suggested by Lalande in 1784. In a letter to Herschel, Lalande described it as "a globe surmounted by the first letter of your name". The platinum symbol tends to be used by astronomers, and the monogram by astrologers. For use in computer systems, the symbols are encoded and . Planetary symbols (1784).png, The planetary symbols as rendered in 1784, including the newly discovered Uranus (left) William Herschel heraldry cropped.jpg, The Uranus platinum symbol on

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

's coat of arms (center, blue background) Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 26-32.jpg, Stylized Uranus monogram

Neptune

Several symbols were proposed for

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

to accompany the suggested names for the planet. Claiming the right to name his discovery,

Urbain Le Verrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune using only mathematics. ...

originally proposed to name the planet for the

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the Latin literature, literature and Roman art, visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these ...

'' and the symbol of a

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

, while falsely stating that this had been officially approved by the French

Bureau des Longitudes __NOTOC__ The ''Bureau des Longitudes'' () is a French scientific institution, founded by decree of 25 June 1795 and charged with the improvement of nautical navigation, standardisation of time-keeping, geodesy and astronomical observation. Durin ...

. In October, he sought to name the planet ''Leverrier'', after himself, and he had loyal support in this from the observatory director,

François Arago Dominique François Jean Arago (), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: , ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of the Carbonari revolutionaries and politician. Early l ...

, who in turn proposed a new symbol for the planet, . However, this suggestion met with resistance outside France, and French almanacs quickly reintroduced the name ''Herschel'' for ''Uranus'', after that planet's discoverer Sir

, and ''Leverrier'' for the new planet, though it was used by anglophone institutions. Professor

James Pillans James Pillans FRSE (1778–1864) was a Scottish classical scholar, Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh, and educational reformer. He is credited with inventing the blackboard, alongside his colleague Jack Smart but more cor ...

of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

defended the name ''

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

'' for the new planet, and proposed a key for its symbol. Meanwhile, Struve presented the name ''Neptune'' on December 29, 1846, to the

Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. In August 1847, the Bureau des Longitudes announced its decision to follow prevailing astronomical practice and adopt the choice of ''Neptune'', with Arago refraining from participating in this decision. The planetary symbol was

Neptune's trident Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

, with the handle stylized either as a crossed , following Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the asteroids, or as an orb , following the symbols for Uranus, Earth, and Mars. The crossed variant is the more common today. For use in computer systems, the symbols are encoded as and . Athena Poseidon Cdm Paris DeRidder222.jpg, Athena (Pallas) with her lance and Poseidon (Neptune) with his trident. These weapons became the symbols of the planets Pallas and Neptune, respectively. File:Poseidon Penteskouphia Louvre CA452.jpg, Poseidon with a trident, 6th century BCE File:Poseidon with fish Nationalmuseet 13407.jpg, Poseidon with a trident, 6th century CE Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 68-74.jpg, Stylized Neptune symbol (orb base) Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Surinamelaan 84-90.jpg, Stylized Neptune symbol (cross base) Neptune monogram (fixed width).svg, ⯉, the obsolete Le Verrier monogram for Neptune

Pluto

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

was almost universally considered a planet from its discovery in 1930 until its re-classification as a

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the ...

(planetoid) by the IAU in 2006. Planetary geologists and astrologers continue to treat it as a planet. The original planetary symbol for Pluto was , a

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

of the letters P and L. Astrologers generally use a

bident A bident is a two-pronged implement resembling a pitchfork. In Renaissance art, the bident is associated with the Greek god Pluto (mythology), Pluto. Etymology The word 'bident' was brought into the English language before 1871, and is derived f ...

with an orb. NASA has used the bident symbol since Pluto's reclassification. These symbols are encoded as and . Plate 7- Pluto in a niche, holding a bident, with Cerberus next to him, from a series of mythological gods and goddesses MET DP830883.jpg, Pluto holding a bident File:SerapisHellenistic.jpg, Pluto with a bident Amersfoort - Reliëf op de wand van Arubalaan 90-96.jpg, Pluto symbol stylized as an inverted Mercury File:Pluto - NASA 2015 What is a dwarf planet?.jpg, Pluto compared in size to Earth's moon in a NASA publication Pluto symbol (northern Europe, variant).svg, ⯖, an astrological symbol used for Pluto in Germany and Denmark, representing Pluto's orbit crossing Neptune's Pluto_symbol_(southern_Europe).svg, ⯔, an astrological symbol used in the Mediterranean and Germany. The globe at bottom may be larger or omitted altogether.

Minor planets

In the 19th century, planetary symbols for the major

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s were also in use, including

1 Ceres Ceres ( minor-planet designation: 1 Ceres) is a dwarf planet in the middle main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first known asteroid, discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical O ...

(a reaper's

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

, encoded ),

2 Pallas Pallas (minor-planet designation: 2 Pallas) is the List of largest asteroids, third-largest asteroid in the Solar System by volume and mass. It is the second asteroid to have been discovered, after 1 Ceres, Ceres, and is likely a remnant ...

(a lance, ) and

3 Juno Juno (minor-planet designation: 3 Juno) is a large asteroid in the asteroid belt. Juno was the third asteroid discovered, in 1804, by German astronomer Karl Harding. It is tied with three other asteroids as the thirteenth largest asteroid, and ...

(a sceptre, encoded ). Encke (1850) used symbols for

5 Astraea 5 Astraea () is an asteroid in the asteroid belt. This object is orbiting the Sun at a distance of with a period of and an orbital eccentricity of 0.19. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.37° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is sp ...

6 Hebe 6 Hebe () is a large main-belt asteroid, containing around 0.5% of the mass of the belt. However, due to its apparently high bulk density (greater than that of the Moon), Hebe does not rank among the top twenty asteroids by volume. This high bu ...

7 Iris 7 Iris is a large main-belt asteroid and possible remnant planetesimal orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It is the fourth-brightest object in the asteroid belt. 7 Iris is classified as an S-type asteroid, meaning that it has a stony co ...

8 Flora 8 Flora is a large, bright main-belt asteroid. It is the innermost ''large'' asteroid: no asteroid closer to the Sun has a diameter above 25 kilometers (20% that of Flora), and not until 20-km 149 Medusa was discovered was an asteroid known to ...

and

9 Metis 9 Metis is one of the larger main-belt asteroids. It is composed of silicates and metallic nickel-iron, and may be the core remnant of a large asteroid that was destroyed by an ancient collision. Metis is estimated to contain just under half a ...

in the . In the late 20th century, astrologers abbreviated the symbol for

4 Vesta Vesta (minor-planet designation: 4 Vesta) is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of . It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta (mytho ...

(the

sacred fire of Vesta The sacred fire of Vesta was a sacred Eternal flame#Extinguished flames, eternal flame in ancient Rome. The Vestal Virgins, originally numbering two, later four, and eventually six, were Cleromancy, selected by lot and served for thirty years, te ...

, encoded ), and introduced new symbols for

(, a stylised % sign, shift-5 on

QWERTY QWERTY ( ) is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...

keyboards for asteroid 5),

10 Hygiea 10 Hygiea is a large asteroid located in the outer main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the tenth known asteroid, discovered on 12 April 1849 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis at the Astronomical Observa ...

encoded ) and for

2060 Chiron 2060 Chiron is a ringed small Solar System body in the outer Solar System, orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. Discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal, it was the first-identified member of a new class of objects now known as centaurs— ...

, discovered in 1977 (a key, ). Chiron's symbol was adapted as additional centaurs were discovered; symbols for 5145 Pholus and 7066 Nessus have been encoded in Unicode. The abbreviated Vesta symbol is now universal, and the astrological symbol for Pluto has been used astronomically for Pluto as a dwarf planet. In the early 21st century, symbols for the trans-Neptunian dwarf planets have been given Unicode

s, particularly Eris (the

hand of Eris A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand ...

, ⯰, but also ⯱), Sedna,

Haumea Haumea ( minor-planet designation: 136108 Haumea) is a dwarf planet located beyond Neptune's orbit. It was discovered in 2004 by a team headed by Mike Brown of Caltech at the Palomar Observatory, and formally announced in 2005 by a team heade ...

Makemake Makemake ( minor-planet designation: 136472 Makemake) is a dwarf planet and the largest of what is known as the classical population of Kuiper belt objects, with a diameter approximately that of Saturn's moon Iapetus, or 60% that of Pluto. It ...

, , and which are in Unicode. All (except Eris, for which the hand of Eris is a traditional Discordian symbol) were devised by Denis Moskowitz, a software engineer in Massachusetts. Other symbols have also been invented by Moskowitz, for some smaller TNOs as well as many planetary moons. (Charon in particular coincidentally matches a symbol already existing in Unicode as an astrological Pluto.) However, these have not been broadly adopted. Ceres, Bacchus and Amor Dutch School Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed B618.jpg, Ceres with her sickle Athena Poseidon Cdm Paris DeRidder222.jpg, Athena (Pallas) with her lance (left) Abraham Bloemaert, Juno, c.1610, NGA 152769.jpg, Juno with her scepter D'Antoine - Consécration d'une jeune vestale en présence des déesses Minerve et Vesta.jpg, Vesta's sacred fire Hygeia-Hermitage.jpg, Hygiea with her snake (old astr. symbol ) Makemake.jpg,

Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

of Makemake Bomarzo parco mostri orco.jpg, Orcus's gape File:Shan hai jing Zhuyin.jpg, A human-headed serpent similar to depictions of

Gonggong Gonggong () is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpen ...

Hand of Eris.svg, The

Hand of Eris A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "hand ...

from the

Historical symbols

From 1845 to 1855, many symbols were created for newly discovered asteroids. But by 1851, the spate of discoveries had led to a general abandonment of these symbols in favour of numbering all asteroids instead. AstraeaVSH.JPG, Astraea with her scales (astronomical symbol Canova-Hebe 30 degree view.jpg,

Hebe (mythology) In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Hebe (; ) is the goddess of youth or of the prime of life. She was the cup-bearer for the gods of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia. On Sicyon, she was worshipped as a god ...

bearing a cup (astr. symbol ) Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien 2016 Kunstkammer Gaetano Matteo Monti Iris als Regenbogengöttin KK 5503 b.jpg, Iris as the rainbow (astr. symbol ) File:Wall painting - Flora - Stabiae (villa di Arianna) - Napoli MAN 8834.jpg, Flora dispensing flowers (astr. symbol ) File:Winged goddess Louvre F32.jpg, Metis (astr. symbol ) File:Hygea, copia romana da originale greco del III sec. ac.JPG, Hygiea with her snake (astr. symbol ) File:Sirena Napoli2.JPG, Parthenope (astr. symbol ) NAMA Sirène.jpg, Parthenope with her lyre (astr. symbol ) Victory Column or Siegessäule in Berlin Tiergarten 0962.jpg, Victory (Victoria) with a laurel wreath (astr. symbol or ) File:La ninfa Egeria dictando a Numa.jpg, Egeria (astr. symbol ) dictating the laws of Rome to

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the Roman mythology, legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political ins ...

Alegorie míru, náměstí Míru, Vinohrady, Praha.jpg, Peace (Irene) as a freed dove (astr. symbol ) Germania frieden.jpg, Peace with wings and an olive branch File:Jacob Jordaens- Al·legoria de la Pau.jpg, Eunomia (astr. symbol ) at left, as allegory of law and good order; Irene in centre Psyche on a camel.jpg, Psyche with butterfly wings (astr. symbol ) Hermes-Psyche-Palais-Garnier (cropped).jpg, Psyche accompanied by a butterfly, and Hermes with a multiply twisted caduceus Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern (1902) (14759296956).jpg, Psyche with butterfly wings, and Charon standing in his lunate boat File:Psyche insignia.svg, Insignia of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

'' Psyche'' mission, possibly influenced by the Psyche symbol Museo Arqueológico Nacional - 2001-89-2 - Dinos de Tetis y Peleo 03.jpg, Thetis with a dolphin (astro. symbol file:Thetis symbol (fixed width).svg) Melpomene Pio-Clementino Inv299.jpg, Melpomene with a dagger (astr. symbol file:Melpomene symbol (fixed width).svg) Fortune et sa roue détail.png, Fortuna with her wheel (astro. symbol file:Fortuna symbol (fixed width).svg) Hymen is kneeling before Fortune, who is balancing blindfold Wellcome V0047969.jpg, blindfolded Fortuna balanced on a wheel Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Proserpine - Google Art Project.jpg, Proserpina with a pomegranate (astr. symbol file:Proserpina symbol (fixed width).svg) Jan Muller after Bartholomaeus Spranger, Bellona Leading the Imperial Armies Against the Turks, 1600, NGA 153994.jpg, Bellona with a lance and flail (astro. symbol file:Bellona symbol (fixed width).svg) Amphitrite LACMA M.88.91.381b.jpg, Amphitrite on a shell (astr. symbol file:Amphitrite symbol (fixed width).svg) File:Leukothea, Goddess of Sailors, from the Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans series (N188) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. MET DPB871036.jpg, Leukothea (astr. symbol ) as goddess of sailors File:Triumph of Faith over Idolatry Theodon.jpg, Faith (Fides, astr. symbol ) triumphs over idolatry

Footnotes

References

{{Zodiac Alchemical symbols Astronomical symbols History of astrology

History

Classical planets

Earth symbol

Classical planets

Moon

Mercury

Venus

Sun

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Modern discoveries

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

Minor planets

Historical symbols

See also

Footnotes

References