Venus symbol

A planet symbol (or planetary symbol) is a graphical symbol either in astrology or astronomy representing either a classical planet (including the Sun and the Moon) or one of the eight modern planets. In alchemy, the symbols are also used to represent the metals which are associated with the respective planets.

The use of these symbols is based in ancient Greco-Roman tradition, although their current shapes are a development of the 16th century. The classical planets with their symbols and associated metals are:

For the purposes of modern astronomy, the International Astronomical Union discourages the use of these symbols in journal articles. In certain cases where planetary symbols might be used, such as in the headings of tables, the IAU Style Manual propose one- and (to disambiguate Mercury and Mars) two-letter abbreviations for the names of the planets. The modern planets with their symbols and abbreviations recommended by the IAU are:

The symbols of Venus and Mars are also used to represent female and male in biology and botany, following a convention introduced by Linnaeus in the 1750s, and by extension they have also come into use as "gender symbols" in the second half of the 20th century.

The planet symbols are encoded by Unicode in the Miscellaneous Symbols block.

The written symbols for Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have been traced to forms found in late Greek papyri. Early forms are also found in medieval Byzantine codices in which many ancient horoscopes were preserved. Antecedents of the planetary symbols are attested in the form of attributes given to the respective classical deities, represented in simplified pictographic form already in the Roman era, as attested in the Bianchini's planisphere (2nd century, Louvre inv. Ma 540) where the seven planets are represented by portraits of the seven corresponding gods, each with a simple representation of an attribute, as follows: Mercury has a caduceus; Venus has, attached to her necklace, a cord connected to another necklace; Mars, a spear; Jupiter, a staff; Saturn, a scythe; the Sun, a circlet with rays emanating from it; and the Moon, a headdress with a crescent attached.

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