Dagger Symbol Copy Paste — † ‡ Complete Guide

Dagger Symbols You Can Copy Right Now

The dagger symbol (†) is one of those typographic marks most people never think about until they need it. Whether you are adding footnotes to an academic paper, marking annotations in a document, or just want a distinctive bullet point, the dagger has been doing this job for centuries. Here is every dagger symbol you can copy, along with how to type them and where to actually use them.

All Dagger Symbols

How to Type the Dagger Symbol

Here are the keyboard shortcuts for typing the dagger on different operating systems:

Windows

• Dagger †: Hold Alt and type 0134 on the numeric keypad
• Double Dagger ‡: Hold Alt and type 0135 on the numeric keypad

Mac

• Dagger †: Option + T
• Double Dagger ‡: Shift + Option + T

Linux

• Ctrl + Shift + U, then type 2020 and press Enter

HTML

• † = † or †
• ‡ = ‡ or ‡

What Does the Dagger Symbol Mean?

The dagger has been used as a reference mark since ancient times. In classical texts, it was literally drawn as a small dagger shape to point the reader to a marginal note. Today, it serves several distinct purposes:

• Footnotes: The dagger † is the second footnote marker after the asterisk *. The double dagger ‡ is the third. So your footnotes go: * † ‡ § and so on.
• Death notation: In biographical entries, a dagger before a name indicates the person is deceased. You will see this in encyclopedias, academic lists, and genealogy.
• Editorial marks: In proofreading and editing, the dagger can indicate that something needs to be checked or verified.
• Mathematical notation: In some mathematical contexts, the dagger is used as a Hermitian adjoint operator or as a creation operator in quantum mechanics.

Dagger vs. Asterisk — When to Use Which

The standard convention for footnotes and reference marks follows this order: asterisk (*) first, dagger (†) second, double dagger (‡) third. If you need a fourth reference mark, you move to the section sign (§), then parallels (‖), and then you start doubling up with ** and ††.

In practice, most documents only need one or two footnotes per page, so the asterisk-dagger pair covers the vast majority of cases. Reserve the double dagger for when you have three or more footnotes on a single page.

Using the Dagger in Different Contexts

Academic Writing

In academic papers, the dagger is standard for secondary footnotes. Most style guides (Chicago, APA, MLA) recognize the sequence * † ‡ for multiple footnotes on a single page. Some journals use superscript numbers instead, but the dagger remains common in humanities publishing.

Social Media and Design

The dagger symbol has found a second life as a decorative element in social media bios, aesthetic text posts, and design layouts. Its cross-like shape makes it popular in gothic, editorial, and minimalist aesthetics. People use it as a stylized bullet point or separator: † † †

Related Symbols

These symbols are commonly used alongside the dagger in similar contexts:

Quick Copy — Dagger Symbols

Both dagger symbols ready to copy:

† ‡

The dagger might not be the most glamorous symbol in Unicode, but it has been doing honest work for hundreds of years. From medieval manuscripts to modern academic papers, this cross-shaped mark has been pointing readers to important information. Now you can copy it with a click.