A power symbol is a

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

indicating that a control activates or deactivates a particular device. Such a control may be a rocker switch, a

toggle switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

, a

push-button A push-button (also spelled pushbutton) or simply button is a simple switch mechanism to control some aspect of a machine or a process. Buttons are typically made out of hard material, usually plastic or metal. The surface is usually flat or sh ...

, a virtual switch on a display screen, or some other user interface. The internationally standardized symbols are intended to communicate their function in a language-independent manner.

Description

The well-known on/off power symbol was the result of evolution in user interface design. Originally, most early power controls consisted of switches that were toggled between two states demarcated by the words ''On'' and ''Off''. As technology became more ubiquitous, these English words were replaced with the symbols line ", " for "on" and circle "◯" for "off" (typically without serifs) to bypass language barriers. This standard is still used on toggle power switches, sometimes in the format "I/O". The symbol for the standby button was created by superimposing the symbols ", " and "◯"; however, it is commonly interpreted as the numerals "0" and "1" (binary code); yet, the

International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronics, electronic and related technologies. IEC standards cover a va ...

(IEC) holds these symbols as a graphical representation of a line and a circle.

Standby symbol ambiguity

Because the exact meaning of the standby symbol on a given device may be unclear until the control is tried, it has been proposed that a separate sleep symbol, a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

moon, instead be used to indicate a low power state. Proponents include the California Energy Commission and the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

. Under this proposal, the older standby symbol would be redefined as a generic "power" indication, in cases where the difference between it and the other power symbols would not present a safety concern. This alternative symbolism was published as IEEE standard 1621 on December 8, 2004.

Standards

Universal power symbols are described in the

(IEC) 60417 standard, ''Graphical symbols for use on equipment'', appearing in the 1973 edition of the document (as IEC 417) and informally used earlier.

Unicode

Because of widespread use of the power symbol, a campaign was launched by Terence Eden to add the set of characters to

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

. In February 2015, the proposal was accepted by Unicode and the characters were included in Unicode 9.0. The characters are in the "

Miscellaneous Technical Miscellaneous Technical is a Unicode block ranging from U+2300 to U+23FF. It contains various common symbols which are related to and used in the various technical, programming language, and academic professions. For example: * Symbol ⌂ (HTML ...

" block, with code points 23FB-FE, with the exception of , which belongs to the "

Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows is a Unicode block containing arrows and geometric shapes with various fills, astrological symbols, technical symbols, intonation marks, and others. Block Emoji The Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows block co ...

" block. * * * * *

In popular culture

The standby symbol, frequently seen on

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s, is a popular icon among technology enthusiasts. It is often found emblazoned on fashion items including t-shirts and cuff-links. It has also been used in corporate

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

s, such as for Gateway, Inc. (circa 2002), Staples, Inc. easytech,

Exelon Exelon Corporation is an American public utility headquartered in Chicago, and incorporated in Pennsylvania. Exelon is the largest electric parent company in the United States by revenue and is the largest regulated electric utility in the Uni ...

, Toggl and others, as record sleeve art (

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

's " Push It") and even as personal tattoos. In March 2010, the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

health department announced they would be using it on condom wrappers. The 2012 television series ''Revolution'', set in a dystopian future in which "the power went out", as the opening narration puts it, stylized the second letter 'o' of its title as the standby symbol. The power symbol was a part of exhibition at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. In the anime '' Dimension W'', Kyouma Mabuchi wears a Happi with the power symbol on his back. In the television series '' Sense8'', the

hacktivist Hacktivism (or hactivism; a portmanteau of '' hack'' and ''activism''), is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. A form of Internet activism with roo ...

character Nomi has a tattoo of the power symbol behind her ear. The symbol, rotated clockwise by 90 degrees so it looks like a capital G, becomes part of the logo for Channel 5's programme

The Gadget Show ''The Gadget Show'' is a British television series which focuses on consumer technology. The show, which was broadcast on Channel 5, is presented by Ortis Deley, with reports from Georgie Barrat and Jon Bentley. Originally a thirty-minute ...

. On 15 October 2019, 786 employees of Volkswagen Group United Kingdom Limited formed the world's largest human power symbol at Millbrook Proving Ground.

References

External links

IEC/ISO Database on Graphical Symbols for Use on Equipment
* IE
Graphical Symbols for Use on Equipment

ISO/IEC/JTC1 Graphical Symbols for Office Equipment
Environmental Energy Technologies Division,

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in the Berkeley Hills, hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Power Symbol IEC standards IEEE standards Pictograms