What characters can be used for up/down triangle (arrow without stem) for display in HTML?

html

responsive-design

css

web-development

byNikita Barsukov·Aug 31, 2024

Display up/down triangles in HTML with Unicode entities:

Up Triangle: ▲ (▲)
Down Triangle: ▼ (▼)

Use these directly in your HTML - it's as simple as copy-pasting!

For custom sizes and colors, here is how we can craft triangles with CSS borders:

/* Is it just me or it's getting hot in here? Oh, it's just the up triangle */
.tri-up { border-left: 5px solid transparent; border-right: 5px solid transparent; border-bottom: 10px solid black; }
/* Chill out with the cool down triangle */
.tri-down { border-left: 5px solid transparent; border-right: 5px solid transparent; border-top: 10px solid black; }

<div class="tri-up"></div> <!-- Let's go 'UP, UP', and away! -->
<div class="tri-down"></div> <!-- Cozy up with the 'DOWN' to earth triangle -->

Just tweak the pixel values for size and swap solid black for your preferred color.

Compatibility matters

When integrating these symbols in web design, ensuring universal compatibility is crucial. Lucky for us, Unicode is all about global support. Here's a brief checklist:

Double-check your UTF-8 encoding in HTML <head> tag: <meta charset="utf-8"> – making sure we speak the same language!
Make triangles editable without messing up with the HTML structure using CSS pseudo-elements ::before and ::after.
Use these triangles as navigation markers or accordion indicators, adding interactivity to your UI/UX design.

Styling arrows: beyond the ordinary

Kick it up a notch with these advanced styling techniques:

Spin your arrows with the CSS rotate property: .arrow { transform: rotate(90deg); }
Stand out with thicker borders: border-width: 15px;
Keep it colorful with custom colors: border-color: #FF5733;
Need quick styling for one-off arrows? opt for inline CSS styling: <div style="border-bottom: 10px solid; border-left: 10px solid transparent;"></div>
Make it smooth and catchy with animated transitions: .arrow { transition: transform 0.3s ease; }

Mastering arrow aesthetics and functionality

Shape variations in CSS

You're not limited to standard triangles. Get creative and design unique shapes using CSS:

Isosceles Triangle: Keep left and right borders equal.
Asymmetric Triangle: Mix it up with different border widths.
Chevron design: Merge two triangles to form breadcrumbs or navigation arrows.

SVG for precise triangles

SVG's <polygon> element gives you pixel perfect triangles - excellent for detailed designs in high-resolution displays:

<svg height="100" width="100">
  <polygon points="50,15 100,100 0,100" style="fill:black;"/>
</svg>

With this, you've got sharp and resizable triangles that can be styled with CSS.

Alternative ASCII Arrows

In case Unicode is not an option, ASCII has got your back:

Up Arrow: ^
Down Arrow: v

These may not be fancy, but they sure are widely supported!

Base64 for icon use

When dealing with minor icons, encode them in Base64 within your CSS:

.icon-up {
    /* Typical Monday morning - seems complicated, but it's a breeze after a coffee */
    background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0...);
}