SymbolHub

Warning Symbols

Copy warning symbols in one click: the warning triangle ⚠, radioactive ☢, biohazard ☣, high voltage ⚡, poison ☠, no entry ⛔ and prohibited 🚫. Most also exist as coloured emoji.

Updated

Click any symbol to copy it. 32 symbols

Hazard signs

8

Exclamation and alert marks

7

Warning and prohibition emoji

17

What the hazard symbols mean

  • ⚠ Warning sign (U+26A0): a general caution, a triangle with an exclamation mark, used in software for alerts and on labels for “take care”. See the warning sign page.
  • ☢ Radioactive: the trefoil designed at the University of California in 1946 for ionising radiation. See the radioactive symbol.
  • ☣ Biohazard: created in 1966 by engineers at Dow Chemical for dangerous biological material. It was designed to be memorable but meaningless, so it would not be confused with anything else. See the biohazard symbol.
  • ⚡ High voltage: electrical danger. The character was originally for electricity in general; on phones it is also an emoji for speed and energy.
  • ☠ Skull and crossbones: poison or deadly danger, and the pirate flag. See skull and crossbones.
  • ☡ Caution sign: an older sign for a winding road, rarely used today.

Text or emoji?

⚠ and ☢ are text symbols that take your text colour, which suits documents and monochrome labels. Followed by the emoji selector (⚠️ ☢️) they become yellow and orange icons on phones. In chat, the emoji forms stand out more; in a manual or a code comment, the text forms are cleaner. The emoji vs text symbols guide explains the difference.

How to type ⚠

On Windows, press Win + . and search the emoji panel for “warning”. In Word, type 26A0 and press Alt + X. On a Mac, press Control + Command + Space and search “warning”. In HTML, write ⚠; there is no named entity. A symbol is never enough on its own in an alert: pair it with words such as “Warning:” so screen readers and people unfamiliar with the icon understand it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I type the warning symbol ⚠?

Copy it from this page, press Win + . on Windows and search “warning”, or type 26A0 then Alt + X in Word. On a Mac, use the Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space).

What is the triangle warning symbol called?

In Unicode it is WARNING SIGN (U+26A0): a triangle containing an exclamation mark. On safety signs it means general danger.

What does ☣ mean?

☣ is the biohazard symbol. It marks biological substances that threaten human health, such as medical waste and dangerous pathogens.

Is ⚡ a warning symbol?

On safety signs a lightning bolt means high voltage or electrical hazard. As an emoji it is also used for energy, speed and excitement.