A cross-platform inconsistency: the same crescent means silence on one system and a colour scheme on another.
There is no single answer, and that is the finding. Some platforms draw do-not-disturb as a crescent moon and dark mode as something else; others do the reverse. A circle crossed by a horizontal bar is more reliably do-not-disturb. A crescent in a status bar genuinely cannot be read without knowing the platform.
Several platforms draw do-not-disturb as a crescent moon, which other platforms use for dark mode — so the same glyph means silence on one system and a colour scheme on another.
Drawn from the visual attributes recorded for each symbol. Only traits the two records disagree about are listed.
| Trait | Do not disturb symbol | Dark mode moon symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Enclosing border | Sits inside a border | No enclosing border |
| Struck through | Crossed by a bar or line | Not struck through |
| Symmetry | horizontal | none |
| Do not disturb symbol | Dark mode moon symbol | |
|---|---|---|
| Most reliable drawing | A circle with a horizontal bar | A crescent moon |
| What it changes | Whether notifications reach you | The colour scheme |
| Crescent used for it | On some platforms, yes | On some platforms, yes |
| Readable without knowing the platform | Usually | No |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Dark mode moon symbol — Several platforms draw do-not-disturb as a crescent moon, which other platforms use for dark mode — so the same glyph means silence on one system and a colour scheme on another. | Commonly confused with Do not disturb symbol — Several platforms use a crescent moon for do-not-disturb rather than for dark mode, so the same glyph does two jobs across systems. |
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.
In astronomy the crescent stands for the Moon. In an interface it usually switches to a light-on-dark colour scheme. But not always: several platforms use the same crescent for do-not-disturb, so a crescent in a status bar cannot be read at all without knowing which system you are looking at.
Both are drawn as one continuous decorative stroke with a closed loop and a tail that crosses back over itself, which is why a description of the shape alone reaches both. The clef is far taller, spans a stave, and its spiral encircles one specific line — that encircled line is the note G, and it is the only reason the shape is drawn where it is.
As punctuation the asterisk points at a footnote or marks a required field. In a filename pattern typed at a shell it matches any run of characters, including none — and the shell expands it against real filenames before the command runs, so the command never sees the pattern at all. That expansion is the part people are surprised by.
Check where the dot sits. A dot immediately to the right of the notehead adds half the note's value again — a dotted half note lasts three beats. A dot directly above or below the head means staccato: play it short and detached. One dot, two opposite instructions, and only position distinguishes them.