Quote symbols show up everywhere in books, tweets, code, Instagram bios, and even stock market tickers. Yet most people only know one or two of them, usually the straight " on a keyboard.
In reality, there are dozens of quote symbols, each with its own name, meaning, and use case. Some are typographic (curly quotes, guillemets), some are technical (backticks in code), and some are financial (stock quote symbols like TLT or TSLA).
This guide breaks down every major quote symbol type, explains what each one means, and gives you a ready-to-use copy and paste list including aesthetic versions for bios and captions.
What Is a Quote Symbol?
A quote symbol is a punctuation mark used to enclose speech, a title, a citation, or a piece of text borrowed from another source. In writing, quote symbols tell the reader: “this exact wording belongs to someone else.”
Beyond grammar, the term “quote symbol” also covers:
- Typographic marks: Curly or straight quotation marks used in books and web content.
- Coding symbols: Backticks and quotes used in programming languages.
- Financial symbols: The ticker used to “quote” a stock’s price (like TSLA for Tesla).
- Decorative symbols: Stylized quote marks used in aesthetic bios and graphic design.
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Types of Quote Symbols (Quick Overview)
Before diving into the full list, here’s a snapshot of the main categories.
| Quote Symbols Type | Example | Common Use |
|---|---|---|
| Straight double quote | " | Basic typing, code, plain text |
| Curly (smart) double quote | ” “ | Books, blogs, formal writing |
| Single quote | ‘ ‘ | Nested quotes, contractions |
| Guillemets (French quotes) | « » | French, Russian, Spanish typography |
| Corner brackets (Japanese) | 「 」 | Japanese and Chinese writing |
| Backtick | ` | Coding, Markdown, terminal commands |
| Ornamental quotes | ❝ ❞ | Aesthetic bios, design graphics |
| Prime marks | ′ ″ | Feet/inches, minutes/seconds (often confused with quotes) |
Single Quote Symbol
The single quote symbol (') is used for direct quotes inside another quote, for contractions like “it’s,” and for possessives. Typographically, it splits into a left mark (‘) and a right mark (‘), known as the left single quotation mark and right single quotation mark.
Double Quote Symbol
The double quote symbol (") is the standard mark for enclosing direct speech or a quoted phrase. Its “smart” or curly version uses two separate characters ” to open and ” to close which most word processors insert automatically.
Back Quote Symbol
The back quote, or backtick (`), sits on the same key as the tilde on most keyboards. It isn’t a true quotation mark grammatically, but it’s essential in programming used for template literals in JavaScript, inline code in Markdown, and command substitution in shell scripting.
Open Quote Symbol vs End Quote Symbol
- Open quote symbol: marks the beginning of quoted text (” or ‘)
- End quote symbol: marks where the quoted text finishes (” or ‘)
In curly typography, these are two different Unicode characters, not the same symbol flipped which is why copying a straight " into a formatted document can look inconsistent.
French Quote Symbol
The French quote symbol, called a guillemet, uses angled brackets: « and ». French, Spanish, Russian, and several other European languages use guillemets instead of curly quotes, often with a small space before and after the enclosed text.
Japanese Quote Symbol
Japanese uses corner brackets instead of curved quotation marks:
- 「 」 — standard quotation marks (kagikakko).
- 『 』 — used for quotes within quotes, or for titles of books and works.
These brackets are common across Japanese, and versions of them also appear in Chinese typography.
Full List of Quote Symbols Names, Text, and Codes
Here is a detailed table of quote symbols with their names, Unicode values, and HTML entity codes useful for developers, designers, and writers who need the exact quote symbol c(ode) for their project.
| Quote Symbols | Name | Unicode | HTML Entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| “ | Quotation Mark (straight) | U+0022 | " |
| ‘ | Apostrophe (straight) | U+0027 | ' |
| ‘ | Left Single Quotation Mark | U+2018 | ‘ |
| ‘ | Right Single Quotation Mark | U+2019 | ’ |
| “ | Left Double Quotation Mark | U+201C | “ |
| “ | Right Double Quotation Mark | U+201D | ” |
| ‚ | Single Low-9 Quotation Mark | U+201A | ‚ |
| „ | Double Low-9 Quotation Mark | U+201E | „ |
| ‛ | Single High-Reversed-9 Quotation Mark | U+201B | — |
| ‟ | Double High-Reversed-9 Quotation Mark | U+201F | — |
| ‹ | Single Left-Pointing Angle Quote | U+2039 | ‹ |
| › | Single Right-Pointing Angle Quote | U+203A | › |
| « | Left-Pointing Double Angle Quote | U+00AB | « |
| » | Right-Pointing Double Angle Quote | U+00BB | » |
| ` | Grave Accent (Backtick) | U+0060 | ` |
| ´ | Acute Accent | U+00B4 | ´ |
| ′ | Prime | U+2032 | ′ |
| ″ | Double Prime | U+2033 | ″ |
| ‴ | Triple Prime | U+2034 | — |
| 「 | Left Corner Bracket | U+300C | — |
| 」 | Right Corner Bracket | U+300D | — |
| 『 | Left White Corner Bracket | U+300E | — |
| 』 | Right White Corner Bracket | U+300F | — |
| 《 | Left Double Angle Bracket | U+300A | — |
| 》 | Right Double Angle Bracket | U+300B | — |
| ❝ | Heavy Double Turned Comma Quotation Mark | U+275D | — |
| ❞ | Heavy Double Comma Quotation Mark | U+275E | — |
| ❛ | Heavy Single Turned Comma Quotation Mark | U+275B | — |
| ❜ | Heavy Single Comma Quotation Mark | U+275C | — |
| ＂ | Fullwidth Quotation Mark | U+FF02 | — |
That’s 29 individually named marks combine them with the aesthetic pairs, emoji, and stock ticker symbols below and the full collection covers well over 70 distinct “quote symbols” in use across writing, design, and finance.
How to Type Quote Symbols (Alt Codes and Keyboard Shortcuts)
| Symbol | Windows Alt Code | Mac Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| ” (open) | Alt + 0147 | Option + [ |
| ” (close) | Alt + 0148 | Option + Shift + [ |
| ‘ (open) | Alt + 0145 | Option + ] |
| ‘ (close) | Alt + 0146 | Option + Shift + ] |
| « | Alt + 0171 | Option + \ |
| » | Alt + 0187 | Option + Shift + \ |
Quote Symbol Copy and Paste List
Skip the codes altogether just copy the symbol you need directly from here:
Standard marks: ” ” ‘ ‘ ” ‘ „ ” ‚ ‘ ‹ › « »
Ornamental / aesthetic quotes: ❝ ❞ ❛ ❜ 〝 〞 〟
Japanese and Chinese brackets: 「 」 『 』 《 》
Prime marks: ′ ″ ‴
Aesthetic Quote Symbols for Bios and Captions
For Instagram bios, Pinterest boards, or design projects, plain quote marks often look too basic. Try pairing ornamental quotes with extra symbols for a more polished, “aesthetic” look:
- ✧ ❝ your quote here ❞ ✧
- 『 your quote here 』
- ˗ˏˋ ” your quote here ” ˎˊ˗
- ☆ « your quote here » ☆
These decorative combinations are popular precisely because ornamental quote marks (❝ ❞) read as more stylized than a plain straight quote.
Quote Symbol Emoji
If you’re looking for an actual emoji rather than a Unicode punctuation mark, the closest options are:
- 💬 Speech Balloon
- 🗨️ Left Speech Bubble
- 🗯️ Right Anger Bubble
- 📝 Memo (often used to represent quoting or noting something down)
There isn’t an official “quotation mark emoji” in the Unicode emoji set. The ornamental quote characters (❝ ❞) are the closest visual substitute and are commonly mistaken for emoji.
Quote Unquote Symbol — What Does It Mean?
“Quote unquote” isn’t a symbol at all. It’s a spoken phrase people use to signal sarcasm or skepticism about a word or phrase, as if placing invisible air quotes around it. Example: “He was, quote unquote, ‘too busy’ to help.” When written, it’s usually represented with regular double quotes around the word in question.
Stock Quote Symbol Meaning
In finance, a “quote symbol” refers to the ticker used to look up a security’s live price — commonly called a stock symbol or ticker symbol.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stock quote symbol | The ticker code used to pull up a stock’s price and trading data |
| TLT | Ticker for the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF |
| TSLA | Ticker for Tesla, Inc. |
Stock Quote Symbol TLT
TLT is the ticker symbol for the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, which tracks long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and is widely watched as an indicator of interest rate movements.
TSLA Stock Quote Symbols
TSLA is the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol for Tesla, Inc., Elon Musk’s electric vehicle and clean energy company.
Quote Symbols PNG
Need a quote symbol as an image rather than text? PNG versions of quote marks (transparent background) are widely used in design tools like Canva, PowerPoint, and Photoshop. You can either:
- Screenshot a large quote character and crop it with a transparent background
- Search a free icon library (like Flaticon or Icons8) for “quotation mark PNG”
- Export a quote symbol from a vector design tool as a transparent PNG
This is the preferred route for logo design, testimonial graphics, and presentation slides, since scalable icon PNGs stay crisp at any size.
HTML Quote Symbols Reference
For developers, the two most commonly used HTML quote entities are:
"→ straight double quote (“)“/”→ curly opening and closing double quotes (” “)‘/’→ curly opening and closing single quotes (‘ ‘)
Using named entities instead of raw characters avoids encoding issues across browsers and content management systems.
Conclusion
Quote symbols are far more varied than the single key on your keyboard suggests. From curly quotes and French guillemets to Japanese corner brackets, ornamental aesthetic marks, and even stock market ticker symbols, each type serves a distinct purpose. Whether you’re formatting a blog post, coding a website, designing an Instagram bio, or checking Tesla’s share price, there’s a specific quote symbol built for the job and now you have the full list, meanings, and copy paste ready codes to use them correctly.
FAQs
What is the correct name for the ” symbol?
It’s called the Quotation Mark, or more specifically the “straight double quote” when referring to the non-curly keyboard version.
What’s the difference between a quote symbol and an apostrophe?
An apostrophe (‘) marks possession or contractions, while a single quote mark serves the same character but is used to enclose quoted text.
How do I type curly quotes on a Mac?
Curly quotes are typically automatic in Mac apps, but you can manually type them using Option + [ for an opening quote and Option + Shift + [ for a closing quote.
What is a French quote symbol called?
It’s called a guillemet, shown as « and », and is used in French, Spanish, and Russian typography instead of curly quotes.
Is TSLA a quote symbol?
Yes, TSLA is the stock quote symbol (ticker) used to look up Tesla, Inc.’s live share price on the stock market.
What does “quote unquote” mean?
It’s a spoken phrase used to add sarcasm or doubt around a word, functioning like verbal air quotes rather than an actual symbol.
Can I copy and paste quote symbols directly?
Yes, all the quote symbols listed in this article can be copied directly and pasted into documents, social media, or code without needing special fonts.
