♢ White Diamond Suit Symbol: History, Meaning & How to Type
The ♢ (White Diamond Suit) symbol represents one of the four traditional suits in a standard deck of playing cards. Unlike the solid black diamond suit (♦), the white diamond suit is an outlined, hollow diamond shape. In typography and digital text, it is frequently used to denote card games, add decorative flair, or serve as a mathematical symbol representing modal logic operators or specific geometric functions.
The diamond suit originated from the French card-making tradition in the 15th century, where it was known as "carreaux" (tiles or paving stones). The outlined "white" version was created primarily for typographic flexibility. Before color printing was widespread, using a hollow outline allowed printers to easily differentiate the traditionally red suits (diamonds and hearts) from the black suits (spades and clubs) using only black ink.
The White Diamond Suit was added to the Unicode Standard in 1993 as part of Unicode 1.1. Its official code point is U+2662, and it resides in the Miscellaneous Symbols block alongside other chess, weather, and card game characters.
Beyond the card table, the ♢ symbol appears in various technical and social contexts. In mathematics and modal logic, a hollow diamond represents the "possibility" operator (reading as "it is possible that"). Programmers and systems architects occasionally use it in flowcharts to represent decision points. Meanwhile, graphic designers and social media users sprinkle it into usernames, bios, and posts for a minimalist, aesthetic touch that stands out more cleanly than standard emojis.
Typing the ♢ symbol depends on your device and operating system. On Windows, you can use the Alt code by holding the Alt key and typing 9826 on the numeric keypad. On macOS, accessing the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) and searching for "white diamond" is the easiest method. Linux users can use a Compose key sequence or type Ctrl+Shift+U followed by 2662. On mobile devices, the simplest approach is to copy and paste the symbol from the web or set up a custom text replacement shortcut.
The most closely related symbol is the solid Black Diamond Suit (♦) at U+2666, which is identical in shape but filled in. You might also encounter the White Heart Suit (♡), White Spade Suit (♤), and White Club Suit (♧), which complete the outlined deck. It is important not to confuse the ♢ symbol with the Gem Stone emoji (💎), which depicts a shiny, three-dimensional jewel rather than a flat, typographic card suit.