The ☾ (Last Quarter Moon) Symbol: Meaning, History, and Usage
The ☾ (Last Quarter Moon) symbol is a classic typographic character representing the waning phase of the lunar cycle, where the illuminated portion appears on the left side. Rooted in ancient astronomy and alchemy to denote the Moon, the metal silver, and the day Monday, it serves today as a popular text-based icon for nighttime, astrology, and ethereal digital aesthetics.
Under the hood, the ☾ symbol belongs to the Miscellaneous Symbols Unicode block. Its official designation is LAST QUARTER MOON, and it occupies the U+263E code point. Unlike the colorful, standardized emojis we use in daily text messages, this character is a standard text glyph. This means it adapts beautifully to whatever font, color, and weight you are currently using, making it a highly versatile design element.
In science and historical texts, ☾ acts as a shorthand for our lunar neighbor. Alchemists relied on it to represent silver in their formulas. In modern digital spaces—especially across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X—users flock to the ☾ symbol to curate a gothic, mystical, or "witchcore" vibe. You will often spot it flanking display names or bio descriptions alongside stars and crystals to signal an interest in astrology, tarot, or Wiccan practices, where it forms part of the Triple Goddess symbol. In user interface design and programming, the text-based moon provides a clean, minimalist icon for dark mode toggles or sleep-tracking applications without the visual bulk of a standard emoji.
Typing the ☾ symbol is straightforward across different devices. On a Windows PC, hold down the Alt key and type 9790 on your numeric keypad. Mac users can easily access it by pressing Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer and searching for "moon". If you are a web developer or programmer, using the HTML entity ☾ or the hex code ☾ will render the crescent perfectly on any webpage.
Visually and conceptually, the ☾ symbol has a few close Unicode relatives. Its direct mirror is the ☽ (First Quarter Moon, U+263D), which opens to the left. If you prefer a more vibrant look, the Crescent Moon emoji (🌙, U+1F319) offers a colorful yellow alternative, while the Last Quarter Moon Face (🌜, U+1F31C) adds a touch of retro, anthropomorphic whimsy to your late-night group chats.