# Euro sign
The euro sign (€) is the official currency sign of the euro, the common currency of 21 European Union member states, encoded in Unicode at codepoint U+20AC under the normative name EURO SIGN.[1](https://unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_20A0.html) • [2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) It is a currency symbol in the same class as $, £, and ¥, distinct from the three-letter [ISO 4217](https://www.edgepedia.org/iso-4217) code EUR, which is used when amounts are written without the symbol.[3](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/design_en) • [4](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency-symbol.asp)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Unicode encoding | U+20AC, normative name EURO SIGN, approved as an International Standard in April 1999; registered as ISO Glyph ID 8059 under ISO/IEC 10036[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) |
| Design basis | Based on the Greek letter epsilon (ε), with E as the first letter of "Europe", and with two parallel lines signifying stability[5](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf) |
| Selection process | About thirty internal drafts reduced to ten for a public survey; two designs led, and the final choice was made by Commission President Jacques Santer and Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy[5](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf) • [6](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf) |
| Official logotype | A rounded E with a double line for the central horizontal bar, blue on yellow (COM(97) 418fin)[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) |
| Keyboard entry | AltGr+e recommended for most European keyboards at the February 1998 Brussels Open Workshop on the Euro in IT Standardization[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) |
| ISO 4217 placement | Code and symbol placed in front of the amount; a NO-BREAK SPACE separates code and amount, no space separates symbol and amount[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) |
| Euro area size | 21 member states since Bulgaria's adoption on 1 January 2026, at 1.95583 lev per €1[7](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260101~c830245e42.en.html) |
## Origin and adoption
The name "euro" was chosen in 1995 at the [European Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-council) meeting in Madrid; the symbol followed as part of the currency's visual identity.[3](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/design_en) The Commission set three design criteria: the symbol had to be a highly recognizable symbol of Europe, have a visual link with existing well-known currency symbols, and be aesthetically pleasing and easy to write by hand.[6](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf)
**The selection funnel.** Commission staff drew up some thirty drafts internally. Ten were put to a public approval test, and two designs emerged well ahead of the rest; from those two, Commission President Jacques Santer and Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy made the final choice.[5](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf) • [6](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf) The winning design draws on the Greek letter epsilon, described by the [European Central Bank](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-central-bank) as reflecting the cradle of European civilization, with E also the first letter of the word Europe.[5](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf) The two strong parallel horizontal lines are intended to symbolize the stability of the currency, as they do in the symbols of the dollar and the yen.[5](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf) • [6](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf)
## Design and specification
The official logotype is defined as a rounded E with a double line for the central horizontal bar, blue with a yellow background, per the Commission document COM(97) 418fin.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) According to a BBC Worklife account, the sign's geometric construction and proportions are exactly specified, with foreground and background color tones stipulated; the BBC account also reports that officials decided to patent it.[8](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190605-the-currency-designed-with-such-lofty-ambition)
**Glyph versus logotype.** The logotype is a fixed graphic; the character in text is not. As a text character the euro glyph adapts to each font's typographic properties and is generally narrower than the logotype shape.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) [Standardization](https://www.edgepedia.org/standardization) solved the early absence of an official glyph: the normative name EURO SIGN with the 16-bit code '20AC' was approved as an International Standard in April 1999, and the glyph was registered as ISO Glyph ID 8059 in the International Glyph Register under ISO/IEC 10036.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) Before fonts caught up, computer applications produced conversion errors that frequently displayed a question mark in place of the symbol.[8](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190605-the-currency-designed-with-such-lofty-ambition)
## Comparison with other currency signs
The euro shares its stability-line motif with the dollar and the yen; the Commission's account states that the two parallel lines indicate stability in all three symbols.[6](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf) Keyboard presence is a different matter. A CEN TC304 survey of 50 keyboards found that the dollar sign sits on Level 1 on only 6% of them (the French, Swiss, and Belgian keyboards), on the Shift level on more than 50% (29 of 50), and on Level 3 on more than 25%.[9](http://isocpp.open-std.org/CEN/TC304/Euro/151.pdf) More than 50% of the surveyed keyboards do not contain the pound sign at all, and no keyboard places it on Level 1, though all British keyboards place it on Shift+3.[9](http://isocpp.open-std.org/CEN/TC304/Euro/151.pdf) Most non-Japanese keyboards do not support the yen, while every Japanese keyboard places it on Level 1 of its Latin level.[9](http://isocpp.open-std.org/CEN/TC304/Euro/151.pdf)
**A typographic controversy.** The typography scholar Bruno Bernard argues that the Commission tried to impose the euro symbol as a fixed-form pictogram without variations in style or weight, which he calls a violation of typographic conventions under which the dollar, pound, and yen have adaptable forms that follow each typeface's style.[10](https://brunobernard.com/en/history-of-currency-symbols-the-euro-2/) The CEN report's observation that text glyphs adapt to font properties describes the practice that eventually prevailed.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html)
## Using and typing the sign
At the February 1998 Brussels Open Workshop on the Euro in IT Standardization, participants supported the Commission's recommendation to use AltGr+e for entering the euro sign on most European keyboards.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) In encoding terms the sign lives at U+20AC; Unicode also carries the older U+20A0 EURO-CURRENCY SIGN, which was intended for the ECU but is not widely used.[1](https://unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_20A0.html)
**Placement and fallback.** Under ISO 4217 usage, both the three-letter code and the currency symbol are placed in front of the monetary amount; one NO-BREAK SPACE separates the code and the amount, while no space comes between the symbol and the amount.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) National conventions differ, however: depending on the country, the symbol can either precede or follow the value, as in €10 or 10 €, often with an intervening space.[11](https://codepoints.net/U+20AC?lang=en) Where the EURO SIGN cannot be used, the CEN report recommends the ISO 4217 code "EUR" instead, or the capital letter "E" where only one character is permitted.[2](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html) In currency quotes generally, ISO codes such as EUR are typically used instead of symbols, because each currency has a code but not every currency has its own symbol.[4](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency-symbol.asp)
## The 2002 cash changeover
The euro was introduced as a noncash unit in 1999, and notes and coins appeared on 1 January 2002; after 28 February 2002 it became the sole currency of 12 EU member states, with nine more states adopting subsequently.[12](https://www.britannica.com/money/euro) For the launch, 7 banknotes and 8 coins were designed; the notes share a common design, while coins have a common European side and a country-specific side.[3](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/design_en) [Euro banknotes](https://www.edgepedia.org/euro-banknotes) carry stylized architectural imagery, a map of Europe, and the euro symbol itself.[12](https://www.britannica.com/money/euro)
## Recent developments
The euro area has grown. On 8 July 2025 the Council took the final steps for Bulgaria to become the 21st member of the euro area as of 1 January 2026, at a fixed conversion rate of 1.95583 lev per €1, under Council Decision (EU) 2025/1407, which abrogated Bulgaria's derogation with effect from that date.[13](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/07/08/bulgaria-ready-to-use-the-euro-from-1-january-2026-council-takes-final-steps/) • [14](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1407/oj/eng) The European Central Bank confirmed that Bulgaria introduced the euro on 1 January 2026, bringing the number of EU member states using the single currency to 21.[7](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260101~c830245e42.en.html)
## References
1. [Unicode NamesList, U+20A0 currency block](https://unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_20A0.html)
2. [Euro-sign and Keyboards, CEN TC304 report](https://www.open-std.org/cen/tc304/Euro/Euroreport.html)
3. [Euro – design, European Union official website](https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/euro/design_en)
4. [Currency Symbol: Definition, History, and Examples, Investopedia](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency-symbol.asp)
5. [How the euro became our money, European Central Bank](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/euro_became_our_moneyen.pdf)
6. [The euro symbol, European Commission](https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/events/2009/theeuro/isola3_en2008-2009.pdf)
7. [Bulgaria introduces the euro, ECB press release, 1 January 2026](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260101~c830245e42.en.html)
8. [The painstaking story behind the euro symbol, BBC Worklife](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190605-the-currency-designed-with-such-lofty-ambition)
9. [Recommendation for the Placement of the Euro Sign on Computer Keyboards, CEN TC304](http://isocpp.open-std.org/CEN/TC304/Euro/151.pdf)
10. [History of currency symbols: the Euro (2), Café Typô, Bruno Bernard](https://brunobernard.com/en/history-of-currency-symbols-the-euro-2/)
11. [U+20AC EURO SIGN, Codepoints](https://codepoints.net/U+20AC?lang=en)
12. [Euro, Britannica Money](https://www.britannica.com/money/euro)
13. [Bulgaria ready to use the euro from 1 January 2026, Council of the EU](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/07/08/bulgaria-ready-to-use-the-euro-from-1-january-2026-council-takes-final-steps/)
14. [Council Decision (EU) 2025/1407, EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1407/oj/eng)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Banknotes, currency issuance, and monetary artifacts*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license