✠

✠ U+2720, ✠ MALTESE CROSS ← ✟ [U+271F] Dingbats ✡ → [U+2721]

A cross pattée or cross patty, the conventional form of this character.

A true Maltese cross.

Translingual

Symbol

✠

1. (original Unicode glyph) A cross pattée.
2. (reference of Unicode name) A Maltese cross.
3. Marks the end of a chapter title.
   • 1534 November, Willyam Tindale [i.e., William Tyndale], transl., The Newe Testament […] (Tyndale Bible) (in English), Antwerp: […] Marten Emperowr, Matthew ii, folio iii, recto:

     ⸿. The .ii. Chapter. ✠

Usage notes

The Unicode name is a misnomer. The original design is not a Maltese cross, but rather a cross pattée. Unicode decided not to formally correct the glyph, as it had become established by the time the error was brought to their attention, per the Unicode Stability Policy.

[3] Compare the half cross (⹐), which marks the end of a liturgical section in the Gospels.