📖 Emojipedix

White Small Square ▫️

Added in Emoji 0.6 · Symbols Shapes & Colors

Codepoint U+25AB
Shortcode :white_small_square:
Version Emoji 0.6

Meaning

A petite white or light gray square rendered with a thin dark border to define its edges against most backgrounds. It's the inverse counterpart to the black small square, offering the same compact, geometric aesthetic but with opposite color logic.

This square functions as a blank or empty marker, ideal for unchecked boxes, open spaces, or neutral points in a list. People frequently use it in tandem with its black cousin to create alternating patterns, checkerboard designs, or visual rhythm in text-heavy posts. It's particularly popular for creating simple progress indicators or toggle switches in creative text formatting.

On messaging platforms and social media, the white square serves as a lighter visual anchor point—less visually demanding than the black square but still structured and intentional. Users leverage it to separate content, build decorative borders, or establish spacing in carefully curated captions. It's also used in voting or polling contexts, representing an "unchecked" or "empty" state.

Across different platforms, the white square remains consistent in design philosophy, though rendering slightly varies by device. Designers and aesthetic-minded users favor it for its versatility and minimal visual footprint. Like the black square, this symbol was approved as part of Unicode Emoji 0.6 in 2010, establishing itself as a foundational tool for geometric text composition across digital platforms.

Common Uses

  • Marking empty or unchecked items
  • Creating alternating patterns with black squares
  • Building decorative borders and spacing
  • Representing blank or neutral states

Popular Combos

▫️▪️ ▫️▫️▫️ ▪️▫️▪️▫️

Did You Know?

The white small square and its black counterpart are among the oldest emoji symbols, originating from early Unicode standardization and remaining virtually unchanged for over a decade.

Keywords

geometric small square white

Related Emoji

Technical Reference

Platform Shortcodes

GitHub :white_small_square:
Slack :white_small_square:
Discord :white_small_square:

Developer Codes

HTML (decimal)
▫
HTML (hex)
▫
CSS
\25AB
JavaScript
\u25AB
Python
\U000025AB
Java
\u25AB
Perl
\x{25AB}
PHP / Ruby
\x{25AB}
Punycode
xn--7fv
URL Encoded
%E2%96%AB
UTF-8 Bytes
0xE2 0x96 0xAB

▫️ in 28 languages

Names sourced from Unicode CLDR and emojibase.

Language Name
Bengali সাদা ছোট বর্গক্ষেত্র
Chinese (Simplified) 白色小方块
Chinese (Traditional) 白色小方塊
Danish lille hvidt kvadrat
Dutch klein wit vierkant
English white small square
English (UK) white small square
Estonian väike valge ruut
Finnish pieni valkoinen neliö
French petit carré blanc
German kleines weißes Quadrat
Hindi सफ़ेद छोटा वर्ग
Hungarian kis fehér négyzet
Italian quadrato bianco piccolo
Japanese 白四角小
Korean 작은 흰색 사각형
Lithuanian baltas mažas kvadratas
Malay persegi kecil putih
Norwegian lite, hvitt kvadrat
Polish mały biały kwadrat
Portuguese quadrado branco pequeno
Russian белый квадратик
Spanish cuadrado blanco pequeño
Spanish (Mexico) cuadrado blanco pequeño
Swedish liten vit ruta
Thai สี่เหลี่ยมเล็กสีขาว
Ukrainian малий білий квадрат
Vietnamese hình vuông nhỏ màu trắng