About Wingdings Translator
Wingdings Translator is a tool that converts text into the Wingdings font and decodes Wingdings back into Text. The font was created in 1990 by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes at Microsoft. It is called Wingdings because it belongs to a class of symbols known as dingbats. The purpose of inventing Wingdings was to provide a decorative set of symbols that users could easily insert into documents before emojis existed. Over the years, it became popular as a creative way to encode messages using shapes instead of letters.
The sections below explain what Wingdings font is in detail, list all its characters with their meanings and translations, describe the different types of Wingdings fonts with their history and uses, show how to translate between Wingdings and English, explore why the font was created, and compare Wingdings with Webdings. Wingdings is a font substitution rather than an encoding, which is the single most useful thing to know before you paste its output anywhere, and it is what separates this page from the other text and symbol converters on the site. Where you need symbols that survive a copy and paste, a real character does the job and the Unicode generator emits one.
What is the Wingdings Font?
Wingdings font is a symbolic typeface made of dingbats. A dingbat is a typographic ornament or symbol used for decoration or functional markings. Wingdings includes arrows, hands, stars, and shapes. The typeface does not follow an alphabet structure but instead replaces letters with symbols.
Examples of Wingdings characters include:
- “A” → ✌ (hand symbol)
- “B” → ✍ (writing hand)
- “C” → ✈ (airplane)
Dingbat typefaces like Wingdings helped users insert symbols before the Unicode Standard was widely available.
The upcoming sections describe the complete character set, expand on each version of the Wingdings family, provide step-by-step translation methods, and discuss its creation, modern uses, and differences from Webdings.
Characters in the Wingdings Font
There are 224 characters in Wingdings. Each symbol represents an object, shape, or action. They can be translated into English or other languages such as Spanish.
Here is a list of the full set of 224 characters with their meanings, English translations, and Spanish translations:
| Character | Unicode | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A | ✌ | Peace sign / Victory hand |
| B | ✍ | Writing hand |
| C | ✈ | Airplane |
| D | ✉ | Envelope / Mail |
| E | ✆ | Telephone |
| F | ✇ | Bow / Gift ribbon |
| G | ✒ | Writing pen / Quill |
| H | ✘ | Cross mark / X |
| I | ✙ | Heavy cross / Plus |
| J | ☺ | Smiling face |
| K | ♣ | Club suit |
| L | ♠ | Spade suit |
| M | ♦ | Diamond suit |
| N | ♥ | Heart suit |
| O | ★ | Star |
| P | ☀ | Sun |
| Q | ☁ | Cloud |
| R | ☂ | Umbrella |
| S | ☃ | Snowman |
| T | ☄ | Comet |
| U | ☎ | Telephone |
| V | ☏ | White telephone |
| W | ☐ | Ballot box |
| X | ☑ | Ballot box with check |
| Y | ☒ | Ballot box with X |
| Z | ☓ | Saltire / St. Andrew's cross |
| 0 | ☔ | Umbrella with rain drops |
| 1 | ☕ | Hot beverage |
| 2 | ☖ | White shogi piece |
| 3 | ☗ | Black shogi piece |
| 4 | ☘ | Shamrock |
| 5 | ☙ | Reversed rotated floral heart bullet |
| 6 | ☚ | Black left pointing index |
| 7 | ☛ | Black right pointing index |
| 8 | ☜ | White left pointing index |
| 9 | ☝ | White up pointing index |
| ! | ☞ | White right pointing index |
| ? | ☟ | White down pointing index |
| . | ☠ | Skull and crossbones |
| , | ☡ | Caution sign |
| ; | ☢ | Radioactive sign |
| : | ☣ | Biohazard sign |
| " | ☤ | Caduceus |
| ' | ☥ | Ankh |
| ( | ☦ | Orthodox cross |
| ) | ☧ | Chi rho |
| - | ☨ | Cross of Lorraine |
| _ | ☩ | Cross of Jerusalem |
| + | ☪ | Star and crescent |
| = | ☫ | Farsi symbol |
| × | ☬ | Adi shakti |
| ÷ | ☭ | Hammer and sickle |
| % | ☮ | Peace symbol |
| @ | ☯ | Yin yang |
| # | ☰ | Trigram for heaven |
| $ | ☱ | Trigram for lake |
| £ | ☲ | Trigram for fire |
| ¥ | ☳ | Trigram for thunder |
| € | ☴ | Trigram for wind |
| ¨ | ☵ | Trigram for water |
| © | ☶ | Trigram for mountain |
| ® | ☷ | Trigram for earth |
| ™ | ☸ | Wheel of dharma |
| § | ☹ | Frowning face |
| ° | ☺ | Smiling face |
Types of Wingdings Fonts
Wingdings fonts evolved into different versions created by Microsoft.
Wingdings 1
Wingdings 1 is the original set of symbols created in 1990. It was designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. The font included arrows, shapes, and hand gestures. The purpose of creating Wingdings 1 was to allow users to add non-alphabetic symbols into text documents at a time when symbol libraries were limited.
The first use was in Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Microsoft Word, where it became a popular way to insert visual markers. Over time, it was widely used for decorative purposes in documents and early digital communication. Today, Wingdings 1 is still present in word processors and remains a cultural reference point in online communication.
Wingdings 2
Wingdings 2 was introduced in 1992. It expanded the character set by adding astrology signs, religious symbols, and more decorative dingbats. The purpose of this version was to give users more symbolic depth for newsletters, posters, and creative publishing projects.
It first appeared bundled with Microsoft Word. Wingdings 2 became popular among designers for its unique symbols and continues to be used when astrological or religious symbols are required.
Wingdings 3
Wingdings 3 was released in 1996. This font focused on arrows and directional symbols. The purpose was to improve navigation elements in charts, technical diagrams, and instructional documents.
It gained popularity among professionals working with presentations and maps because it offered a wide variety of arrows. Today, it is still used in diagramming and specialized design fields where directional clarity is required.
Webdings
Webdings was created in 1997 by Vincent Connare at Microsoft. It differed from the original Wingdings fonts by targeting the growing internet era. It introduced icons like computers, envelopes, globes, and communication-related graphics.
The purpose of Webdings was to provide web-friendly icons at a time when Unicode symbols were not yet universal. Its first major use was in web development and digital design. Webdings became popular because it included modern icons suited for websites and online documents.
How to Translate Wingdings
Translating Wingdings means converting its symbols into letters or words. This process works in both directions, decoding Wingdings to English or encoding English into Wingdings.
Methods to Translate Wingdings:
- Use an online translator tool – Automatically decodes or encodes text.
- Match manually – Compare Wingdings characters with an alphabet chart.
- Copy and paste – Insert Wingdings text into a translator for quick decoding.
How to Translate English to Wingdings
Here is the English to Wingdings translation of all the characters. Our online tool lets users type English text and instantly see it in Wingdings.
| English Letter | Wingdings Symbol |
|---|---|
| A | ✌ |
| B | ✍ |
| C | ✈ |
How to Translate Wingdings to English
Translating Wingdings symbols back to English requires identifying each Wingdings character and mapping it to its corresponding English alphabet equivalent using reverse character lookup methods. For example, the Wingdings symbol ☺ translates to the English letter "J", while ♥ corresponds to "O", and ★ represents "D". This reverse translation process involves recognizing visual symbols and converting them back to standard text using character reference tables or automated decoder tools that maintain the systematic relationship between Wingdings symbols and English alphabet positions. Our comprehensive translation tool efficiently converts Wingdings symbols to English text through automated character recognition and instant decoding functionality, providing users with accurate translations and eliminating manual symbol identification requirements.l for instant results.Why the Wingdings Font Was Created?
Wingdings was created to provide symbols before Unicode became standard. Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes developed it for Microsoft in 1990 to give users a wide range of symbols for documents. Their goal was to make typographic ornamentation more accessible and to fill the gap for symbols in personal computing.
What are the Usages of Wingdings Font?
Wingdings fonts are used in digital communication, decoration, and encoding text. They appear in word processors, graphic design projects, and creative text encoding. In modern contexts, Wingdings has become a nostalgic font often used in memes, secret text writing, and symbolic communication. In gastronomy, Wingdings has appeared in creative restaurant branding and menu decoration.
Wingdings vs Webdings Font
Wingdings and Webdings are related but not identical. Wingdings was developed first, while Webdings was created later for web communication. They share the same principle of replacing letters with symbols but serve different eras of computing.
Differences:
- Wingdings: Focused on arrows, hands, and ornamental shapes.
- Webdings: Focused on internet and communication symbols.
Both fonts continue to act as encoders and decoders for symbolic communication.