Alchemical Symbols
Unicode alchemical symbols including classical elements, metals, planet symbols, and zodiac signs used in alchemy. Click any symbol to copy it to your clipboard.
Classical Four Elements
The foundational elements of alchemy: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water.
Air
U+1F701
Fire
U+1F702
Earth
U+1F703
Water
U+1F704
Alchemical Substances
Key substances and materials from the alchemical tradition.
Planet Symbols Used in Alchemy
In alchemy, each classical planet was associated with a metal. These planet symbols have broad Unicode support.
Zodiac Signs in Alchemy
Alchemists used zodiac signs to represent timing, processes, and correspondences. These symbols have excellent cross-platform support.
More Alchemical Symbols
Additional symbols from the Unicode Alchemical Symbols block (U+1F700-1F77F).
The History of Alchemical Symbols
Alchemy, the precursor to modern chemistry, developed its own symbolic language over millennia. From ancient Egyptian and Greek traditions through Arabic scholarship and European medieval practice, alchemists created an extensive system of symbols to record their experiments, theories, and discoveries.
Classical Elements
The four classical elements — Air, Fire, Earth, and Water — formed the foundation of alchemical theory. Alchemists believed all matter was composed of these elements in different proportions, and that by changing the proportions, one substance could be transmuted into another. The element symbols use triangles: Fire points up, Water points down, Air is an upward triangle with a line, and Earth is a downward triangle with a line.
The Seven Metals
Ancient alchemists recognised seven metals, each associated with a celestial body:
- Gold (☉ Sun) — The perfect metal, the goal of transmutation
- Silver (☽ Moon) — Second only to gold in purity
- Mercury (☿) — The transformative liquid metal
- Copper (♀ Venus) — Associated with beauty and love
- Iron (♂ Mars) — The metal of war and strength
- Tin (♃ Jupiter) — Associated with expansion and growth
- Lead (♄ Saturn) — The base metal alchemists sought to turn into gold
The Tria Prima
Paracelsus (1493-1541) introduced the three primes (Tria Prima) that expanded alchemical theory: Sulfur (the soul, combustibility), Mercury (the spirit, volatility), and Salt (the body, solidity). These three principles were believed to compose all materials and became central to later alchemical practice.
Unicode Encoding
The Unicode Consortium added the Alchemical Symbols block in Unicode 6.0 (2010), encoding 116 characters at U+1F700 through U+1F77F. This preserved these historical symbols in digital form, allowing scholars, designers, and enthusiasts to use them in modern digital communication.