If you want a single cross character, I’ve got several that you can copy and paste directly into your bios, messages, captions, etc. These are individual cross characters — not text combos — and I have them grouped by visual feel to help you find the one you like best.
There are also combinations of crosses (text combos) that you might find interesting, which are listed below each main set.
A practical starter set: classic/dagger † ✝ ✞ ✟, ornate/spiritual ☦ ♰ ♱, heritage ☥ ✠, and bold/medical ✙ ✚ ✛ ✜. On a Mac, Option+T types †.
Unicode cross symbols
Let’s take a look at the distinct Unicode identities that make up this set of symbols. They represent a wide variety of crosses, including daggers, Latin crosses, Orthodox crosses, Syriac crosses, Greek crosses, open-center crosses, and the Maltese cross. These symbols are spread across several Unicode blocks, including Dingbats, General Punctuation, Miscellaneous Symbols, and Enclosed Alphanumerics. Here’s a breakdown of each symbol:
Dagger: U+2020 DAGGER
Latin cross: U+271D LATIN CROSS
Shadowed white Latin cross: U+271E SHADOWED WHITE LATIN CROSS
Outlined Latin cross: U+271F OUTLINED LATIN CROSS
Orthodox cross: U+2626 ORTHODOX CROSS
West Syriac cross: U+2670 WEST SYRIAC CROSS
East Syriac cross: U+2671 EAST SYRIAC CROSS
Outlined Greek cross: U+2719 OUTLINED GREEK CROSS
Heavy Greek cross: U+271A HEAVY GREEK CROSS
Open-center cross: U+271B OPEN-CENTER CROSS
Heavy open-center cross: U+271C HEAVY OPEN-CENTER CROSS
Maltese cross: ✠ U+2720 MALTESE CROSS
Plain text and emoji styles
There’s a distinction between how these appear as plain text versus emoji-style. You’ll see it with two base cross shapes; they’re shown with and without variation selectors. It’s worth noting that while these symbols will show up in plain text, they’re often displayed differently based on the app and platform you’re using, as discussed later. But here they are, for reference.
Latin cross, plain text: ✝︎ (U+271D U+FE0E)
Latin cross, emoji style: ✝️ (U+271D U+FE0F)
Orthodox cross, plain text: ☦︎ (U+2626 U+FE0E)
Orthodox cross, emoji style: ☦️ (U+2626 U+FE0F)
Platform rendering differences
I think we all know that the same cross can look different across devices, apps, browsers, and even social platforms. While there is one Unicode identity behind any given symbol, what appears on screen will vary depending on the local font glyphs available and what application rendering engine displays the character. In many cases, an unsupported fallback will render something close enough to match the intended symbol. If not, the result can be a square or substitute glyph, if you catch my drift. Support for either variation selector varies from device to device.
Below are short framed combinations you can use as accent marks around names, profile bios, or lines of text in a bio or caption. Then there are longer mixed-symbol lines, useful for captions and profile flourishes. Just select the combination you’d like, copy it, and paste it right where you need — think Instagram bios, TikTok captions, or Discord servers.
Short framed combinations:
† ⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆ †
꒰ ✞ ꒱ 🎀 ✨
♱ ── ✧ ── ♱
𓆩♱𓆪 🖤 𓆩♱𓆪
† 𓈒⟡₊ 🕊️
✞ ᰔ ✞
「 ✞ 」 🌸 ✨
【 † 】 🕯️ 📖
『 ♱ 』 🌑 🪐
【 † 】
『 ♱ 』
Longer mixed-symbol lines:
☦️ 🕯️ 📜 ✨
✞ ✨ 🏛️ ♱ 🗝️ 🖤
† ☁︎ 🕊️ 📖 ✨
☥ 🏺 ☀️ 🌴
✟ 🥀 🍷 🕸️
✚ ✛ ✜ ✠ ☪️ ☩
Crosses by Mood / Style
While these cross-shaped symbols don’t have any religious connotations (unless otherwise specified), I do distinguish among their aesthetic moods. For example, I differentiate among soft, spiritual layouts, gothic or dark looks, coquette or preppy looks, ancient heritage, and minimalist bold accents.
Spiritual/peaceful: ☁︎ 🕊️ 📖 ✨
Gothic/dark: 🖤 🌑 🪐
Coquette/preppy: 🎀 🌸 ✨
Ancient/heritage: ☥ ✠
Minimalist/bold: † ♱ ✚
Now, let me be clear about Christian cross characters vs adjacent crosses and death-related marks that sometimes get mixed together in search listings. This list includes both common Christian cross symbols (like the dagger, orthodox cross, syriac crosses, greek crosses, etc.) but also those that resemble crosses, but are used in entirely different ways. There’s no suggestion that the following should be used in a context where they aren’t appropriate, nor that any of these are “Christian” symbols, per se. Rather, it’s simply to preserve a list that covers most of the cross-shaped characters you might find elsewhere. Some of these are daggers, others ankh-like symbols, X marks, skulls, coffins, and inverted or occult-adjacent signs, among others. The † shown above is a dagger, and marks like ☥, ✚, ✘, ☒, ☠, ⚰️, ⛧, and ⸸ belong in that adjacent category rather than under Christian Cross Characters.
Christian Cross Characters
† Dagger
☥ Ankh-like symbol
✚ Aid or medical-style cross
✘ ✘ ☒ X/cancel marks
✠ Maltese cross
✡ Star of David
☠ Skull
⚰️ Coffin
⛧ Pentagram-adjacent sign
⸸ Inverted cross-adjacent mark
How To Use A Cross In Your Username And Display Name
You can absolutely use a cross in your username or display name, although I recommend doing so only as an accent, and not stacking too many uncommon characters onto a name. When possible, pick out one cross shape that you like, place it somewhere near the beginning or end of your name, and then preview it in whatever setting you intend to use it. If you choose to add multiple crosses, try to stick to just one shape, unless you really want to play with a few.
It goes without saying that there is no universal rule about whether a given service will accept your username, especially when it involves some sort of special symbol. That’s always going to be a gamble, however slight.
A Quick Pick-by-Look Guide
If you’re looking for quick options, this guide maps the most useful crosses and compact combos to their respective uses.
Clean text: † ✝ ✚
Ornate silhouette: ☦ ♱ ✠
Tiny frame: ꒰ ✞ ꒱
Name brackets: 𓆩♱𓆪
Soft bio accent: ✨ 【 † 】 ✨
Remember that your username and display name will likely include a variety of other characters and punctuation, and you’ll want to ensure that whatever you choose will look great in whatever setting it’s placed. As such, check the glyph (i.e., what it actually renders as on screen) and emoji style (whether it shows up as plain text or with some sort of variation marker). Otherwise, you’ll risk selecting a symbol that doesn’t actually look how you expect it to!