The Shekel Sign (₪): History, Meaning, and How to Type It
The Shekel sign (₪) is the official currency symbol for the Israeli New Shekel (ILS). Visually, it is a clever typographic monogram combining the first Hebrew letters of the words "shekel" (ש) and "hadash" (ח), meaning "new." Introduced in 1985 alongside the new currency, this distinct symbol is widely used in finance, retail, and digital platforms to represent prices and economic data related to Israel.
Before the 1980s, Israel used the Israeli pound (lira) and later the old shekel, both of which struggled with hyperinflation. To stabilize the economy, the Israeli government introduced the New Israeli Shekel in September 1985. The new currency needed a fresh visual identity. Designers took the first letters of "shekel hadash" (שקל חדש)—Shin (ש) and Het (ח)—and seamlessly fused them together. The result is the modern, interlocking ₪ symbol we see today.
In the Unicode Standard, the Shekel sign sits firmly within the Currency Symbols block. Its official code point is U+20AA. Software developers and web designers frequently encounter this character when localizing websites for Middle Eastern markets or building international ecommerce checkouts. Proper Unicode encoding ensures that prices display correctly across different devices and operating systems without turning into a broken text box.
Beyond everyday price tags and banking apps, the ₪ symbol frequently appears in spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets when formatting financial data. Programmers handling software internationalization rely on specific locale data to automatically append the ₪ symbol to numeric values. On social media, travelers and locals use it when discussing costs, shopping, or economic news. While the dollar sign is almost universally placed before a number ($50), the shekel sign is typically placed after the number (50 ₪) in Hebrew typography, though you might spot it before the number in English-language contexts.
Typing the ₪ symbol is straightforward. On a standard Hebrew keyboard layout, you can quickly insert it by pressing Shift + 4. On Windows, if you have a numeric keypad, hold down the Alt key and type 8362. Mac users can easily find it in the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) by searching for "shekel". For web development, using the HTML entity ₪ or the hex code ₪ will render the symbol perfectly on any modern browser.