Symbols for Legacy Computing is a Unicode block containing graphic characters that were used for various home computers from the 1970s and 1980s and in Teletext broadcasting standards. It includes characters from the Amstrad CPC, MSX, Mattel Aquarius, RISC OS, MouseText, Atari ST, TRS-80 Color Computer, Oric, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, TRS-80, Minitel, Teletext, ATASCII, PETSCII, ZX80, and ZX81 character sets. Semigraphics characters are also included in the form of new block-shaped characters, line-drawing characters, and 60 "sextant" characters (semigraphic character made up of six smaller blocks). Additional characters were added to this block in Unicode 16.0 as well.
A supplemental block (Symbols for Legacy Computing Supplement) was added with Unicode 16.0.
Block
| Symbols for Legacy Computing[1][2]Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1FB0x | 🬀 | 🬁 | 🬂 | 🬃 | 🬄 | 🬅 | 🬆 | 🬇 | 🬈 | 🬉 | 🬊 | 🬋 | 🬌 | 🬍 | 🬎 | 🬏 |
| U+1FB1x | 🬐 | 🬑 | 🬒 | 🬓 | 🬔 | 🬕 | 🬖 | 🬗 | 🬘 | 🬙 | 🬚 | 🬛 | 🬜 | 🬝 | 🬞 | 🬟 |
| U+1FB2x | 🬠 | 🬡 | 🬢 | 🬣 | 🬤 | 🬥 | 🬦 | 🬧 | 🬨 | 🬩 | 🬪 | 🬫 | 🬬 | 🬭 | 🬮 | 🬯 |
| U+1FB3x | 🬰 | 🬱 | 🬲 | 🬳 | 🬴 | 🬵 | 🬶 | 🬷 | 🬸 | 🬹 | 🬺 | 🬻 | 🬼 | 🬽 | 🬾 | 🬿 |
| U+1FB4x | 🭀 | 🭁 | 🭂 | 🭃 | 🭄 | 🭅 | 🭆 | 🭇 | 🭈 | 🭉 | 🭊 | 🭋 | 🭌 | 🭍 | 🭎 | 🭏 |
| U+1FB5x | 🭐 | 🭑 | 🭒 | 🭓 | 🭔 | 🭕 | 🭖 | 🭗 | 🭘 | 🭙 | 🭚 | 🭛 | 🭜 | 🭝 | 🭞 | 🭟 |
| U+1FB6x | 🭠 | 🭡 | 🭢 | 🭣 | 🭤 | 🭥 | 🭦 | 🭧 | 🭨 | 🭩 | 🭪 | 🭫 | 🭬 | 🭭 | 🭮 | 🭯 |
| U+1FB7x | 🭰 | 🭱 | 🭲 | 🭳 | 🭴 | 🭵 | 🭶 | 🭷 | 🭸 | 🭹 | 🭺 | 🭻 | 🭼 | 🭽 | 🭾 | 🭿 |
| U+1FB8x | 🮀 | 🮁 | 🮂 | 🮃 | 🮄 | 🮅 | 🮆 | 🮇 | 🮈 | 🮉 | 🮊 | 🮋 | 🮌 | 🮍 | 🮎 | 🮏 |
| U+1FB9x | 🮐 | 🮑 | 🮒 | 🮔 | 🮕 | 🮖 | 🮗 | 🮘 | 🮙 | 🮚 | 🮛 | 🮜 | 🮝 | 🮞 | 🮟 | |
| U+1FBAx | 🮠 | 🮡 | 🮢 | 🮣 | 🮤 | 🮥 | 🮦 | 🮧 | 🮨 | 🮩 | 🮪 | 🮫 | 🮬 | 🮭 | 🮮 | 🮯 |
| U+1FBBx | 🮰 | 🮱 | 🮲 | 🮳 | 🮴 | 🮵 | 🮶 | 🮷 | 🮸 | 🮹 | 🮺 | 🮻 | 🮼 | 🮽 | 🮾 | 🮿 |
| U+1FBCx | 🯀 | 🯁 | 🯂 | 🯃 | 🯄 | 🯅 | 🯆 | 🯇 | 🯈 | 🯉 | 🯊 | | | | | |
| U+1FBDx | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| U+1FBEx | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| U+1FBFx | 🯰 | 🯱 | 🯲 | 🯳 | 🯴 | 🯵 | 🯶 | 🯷 | 🯸 | 🯹 | ||||||
| Notes1.^ As of Unicode version 16.02.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points | ||||||||||||||||
The image below is provided as quick reference for these symbols on systems that are unable to display them directly (although it lacks code points newly assigned in Unicode 16.0):
History
The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Symbols for Legacy Computing block:
| Version | Final code points3 | Count | L2 ID | WG2 ID | Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.0 | U+1FB00..1FB92, 1FB94..1FBCA, 1FBF0..1FBF9 | 212 | L2/17-435R | Ewell, Doug; Bettencourt, Rebecca; Everson, Michael; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2018-04-23), Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | |
| L2/18-039 | Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Moore, Lisa; Liang, Hai; Cook, Richard (2018-01-19), "26", Recommendations to UTC #154 January 2018 on Script Proposals | ||||
| L2/18-235 (full, no_attach, sources, mappings_zip) | Ewell, Doug; Bettencourt, Rebecca; Bánffy, Ricardo; Everson, Michael; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2018-07-20), Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | ||||
| L2/18-241 | Anderson, Deborah; et al. (2018-07-20), "19", Recommendations to UTC # 156 July 2018 on Script Proposals | ||||
| L2/18-275R (full, no_attach, sources, mappings_zip) | Ewell, Doug; Bettencourt, Rebecca; Bánffy, Ricardo; Everson, Michael; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2018-09-06), Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | ||||
| L2/18-300 | Anderson, Deborah; et al. (2018-09-14), "11", Recommendations to UTC #157 on Script Proposals | ||||
| L2/19-025 (full, no_attach, sources, mappings_zip) | N5028 | Ewell, Doug; Bettencourt, Rebecca; Bánffy, Ricardo; Everson, Michael; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2019-01-04), Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | |||
| L2/19-047 | Anderson, Deborah; et al. (2019-01-13), "24", Recommendations to UTC #158 January 2019 on Script Proposals | ||||
| L2/19-008 | Moore, Lisa (2019-02-08), "E.2", UTC #158 Minutes | ||||
| L2/20-015R | Moore, Lisa (2020-05-14), "B.10.17.2", Draft Minutes of UTC Meeting 162 | ||||
| 16.0 | U+1FBCB..1FBEF | 37 | L2/21-235 (full, no_attach, sources, mappings_zip) | Bettencourt, Rebecca; Ewell, Doug; Bánffy, Ricardo; Everson, Michael; Hietaniemi, Jarkko; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2021-12-20), Proposal to add further characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | |
| L2/22-023 | Anderson, Deborah; Whistler, Ken; Pournader, Roozbeh; Constable, Peter (2022-01-22), "17 Legacy Computing Symbols", Recommendations to UTC #170 January 2022 on Script Proposals | ||||
| L2/21-235R (full, no_attach) | Bettencourt, Rebecca; Ewell, Doug; Bánffy, Ricardo; Everson, Michael; Hietaniemi, Jarkko; Silva, Eduardo Marín; Mårtenson, Elias; Shoulson, Mark; Steele, Shawn; Turner, Rebecca (2022-01-26), Proposal to add further characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS | ||||
| L2/22-016 | Constable, Peter (2022-04-21), "D.1 17 Legacy Computing Symbols", UTC #170 Minutes | ||||
See also
- Box-drawing characters
- Dingbat
- other Unicode blocks
External links
- Cascadia Code 2404.23 – release notes for Cascadia Code, which shows the rendering of Symbols for Legacy Computing Supplement characters
References
"Proposal to add characters from legacy computers and teletext to the UCS" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-03-11. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18235-terminals-prop.pdf ↩
"Legacy Computing Sources" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-03-11. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18235-aux-LegacyComputingSources.pdf ↩
Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names ↩