We'd like to use analytics cookies to understand which symbols people look up, so we know what to research next. They are not used for advertising and we set none of them unless you say yes. What we store.
§ for a section, ¶ for a paragraph, doubled for a range.
Also known as: Backwards P in a legal document, Double section symbol, Two S signs together in a citation
Two marks with a fixed legal job. A single sign means one unit and a doubled sign means several — §§ 3–5 is three sections — and the doubling convention is the part most often got wrong.
The section sign refers to a numbered section of a statute or code, and the pilcrow to a numbered paragraph. Doubling either — §§ or ¶¶ — refers to more than one.
A record about how a reference is written, not about what the law says. Nothing here is legal advice.
The doubling is a plural, not an emphasis, and a range written with a single sign is simply wrong: §§ 3–5 names three sections where § 3–5 names none clearly.
American legal writing uses the section sign heavily; British practice generally writes 's' and 'para' out instead, so the density of these marks is itself a clue to which jurisdiction a document comes from.
United States and United Kingdom
Two S shapes overlapping vertically to form a single tall glyph, or a reversed capital P with a filled bowl and a doubled stem.
This record covers the sign's legal-citation use, including the doubling convention the general record does not.
The sign abbreviates the word the notation spells out.