U+266D · Miscellaneous Symbols

Flat Sign ♭

The flat sign lowers a note by a half step (semitone) in music notation. It is used in key signatures, chord charts and written note names such as B♭ or E♭ major. Musicians often type a lowercase b as a shortcut, but ♭ is the correct symbol.

UnicodeU+266D

HTML&flat;

♭U+266D

Character codes

Unicode code point	`U+266D`
Decimal	`9837`
HTML named entity	`&flat;`
HTML (hex)	`♭`
HTML (decimal)	`♭`
CSS	`\266D`
JavaScript	`\u266D`
Python	`\u266D`
UTF-8 bytes	`E2 99 AD`
UTF-16	`266D`
URL-encoded	`%E2%99%AD`

Character details

Official name	MUSIC FLAT SIGN
Unicode block	Miscellaneous Symbols
General category	Other Symbol (So)
SymbolHero category	Music Symbols
Emoji	No

How to type ♭

Windows

In Microsoft Word or Outlook: type 266D then press Alt + X.
Open Character Map (search “Character Map” in Start), tick “Advanced view”, search for “music flat sign”, then Select and Copy.

Mac

Press Control + Command + Space to open the Character Viewer, search “music flat sign”, and double-click the result.
With the Unicode Hex Input keyboard enabled (System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources), hold Option and type 266D.

iPhone & Android

Tap Copy at the top of this page, then long-press where you want it and choose Paste.

Docs & web

Google Docs: Insert → Special characters, then search “music flat sign” or enter U+266D.
HTML: &flat; or ♭
Excel / Google Sheets: =UNICHAR(9837)

Examples

B♭ major
Chords: E♭ – A♭ – B♭7
Tune to D♭

Good to know

Don’t mix it up: It is often replaced by the lowercase letter b (U+0062), which is fine for quick notes but not for printed music material.

Tip: In HTML, the named entity &flat; outputs ♭.

Display: the character itself is always the same code point, but its shape comes from the font on the device showing it. If you see an empty box, the font lacks this glyph—the text is still correct.