Pound sign

A crossed, looping L, marking pound sterling and other pound currencies.

Also known as: Sterling sign, Pound sterling symbol, Quid symbol

Everyday & digitalKeyboard & punctuationStandard profile

Meanings

The pound sign marks pound currencies, principally sterling. It derives from a handwritten capital L for the Latin 'libra', a unit of weight that became a unit of money.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks an amount in pounds sterling, and in other pound currencies such as the Egyptian and Lebanese pound.
Contexts: Software
Historically documentedDocumented interpretation
Derives from a handwritten capital L for the Latin 'libra pondo', a pound weight — the same root that gives the abbreviation lb.
Contexts: Software
Common modern usageCommon usage
Shares the spoken name 'pound' with the number sign on North American telephone keypads, though the two are unrelated characters.
Contexts: Software

Visual description

A looping capital L crossed by one horizontal stroke.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Commonly confused with: Number sign
Both are called 'pound'; they are unrelated characters.

Compare: Hash (#) vs pound sign (£) →

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Sources

Pound sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Unicode Code Chart: Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

Part of

Currency signs

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Meanings

The pound sign marks pound currencies, principally sterling. It derives from a handwritten capital L for the Latin 'libra', a unit of weight that became a unit of money.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks an amount in pounds sterling, and in other pound currencies such as the Egyptian and Lebanese pound.

Contexts: Software

Historically documentedDocumented interpretation

Derives from a handwritten capital L for the Latin 'libra pondo', a pound weight — the same root that gives the abbreviation lb.

Contexts: Software

Common modern usageCommon usage

Shares the spoken name 'pound' with the number sign on North American telephone keypads, though the two are unrelated characters.

Contexts: Software

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is defined by a current official standard.

Sources

Pound sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
Unicode Code Chart: Latin-1 Supplement (U+0080–U+00FF)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols