To display an HTML page correctly, a web browser must know the character set (character encoding) to use.
What is Character Encoding?
ASCII was the first character encoding standard (also called character set). It defines 127 different alphanumeric characters that could be used on the internet.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) has been in use since 1991, but HTML 4.0 (December 1997) was the first standardized version where international characters were given reasonably complete treatment. When an HTML document includes special characters outside the range of seven-bit ASCII two goals are worth considering: the information's integrity, and universal browser display.
ASCII supported numbers (0-9), English letters (A-Z), and some special characters like ! $ + - ( ) @ < > .
ANSI (Windows-1252) was the original Windows character set. It supported 256 different character codes.
ISO-8859-1 was the default character set for HTML 4. It also supported 256 different character codes.
Because ANSI and ISO were limited, the default character encoding was changed to UTF-8 in HTML5.
UTF-8 (Unicode) covers almost all of the characters and symbols in the world.
All HTML 4 processors also support UTF-8.
The HTML charset Attribute
To display an HTML page correctly, a web browser must know the character set used in the page.
This is specified in the <meta> tag:
For HTML4:
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1">
For HTML5:
<meta charset="UTF-8">
If a browser detects ISO-8859-1 in a web page, it defaults to ANSI, because ANSI is identical to ISO-8859-1 except that ANSI has 32 extra characters.
Differences Between Character Sets
The following table displays the differences between the character sets described above:
| Numb | ASCII | ANSI | 8859 | UTF-8 | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | space | ||||
| 33 | ! | ! | ! | ! | exclamation mark |
| 34 | " | " | " | " | quotation mark |
| 35 | # | # | # | # | number sign |
| 36 | $ | $ | $ | $ | dollar sign |
| 37 | % | % | % | % | percent sign |
| 38 | & | & | & | & | ampersand |
| 39 | ' | ' | ' | ' | apostrophe |
| 40 | ( | ( | ( | ( | left parenthesis |
| 41 | ) | ) | ) | ) | right parenthesis |
| 42 | * | * | * | * | asterisk |
| 43 | + | + | + | + | plus sign |
| 44 | , | , | , | , | comma |
| 45 | - | - | - | - | hyphen-minus |
| 46 | . | . | . | . | full stop |
| 47 | / | / | / | / | solidus |
| 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | digit zero |
| 49 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | digit one |
| 50 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | digit two |
| 51 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | digit three |
| 52 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | digit four |
| 53 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | digit five |
| 54 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | digit six |
| 55 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | digit seven |
| 56 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | digit eight |
| 57 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | digit nine |
| 58 | : | : | : | : | colon |
| 59 | ; | ; | ; | ; | semicolon |
| 60 | < | < | < | < | less-than sign |
| 61 | = | = | = | = | equals sign |
| 62 | > | > | > | > | greater-than sign |
| 63 | ? | ? | ? | ? | question mark |
| 64 | @ | @ | @ | @ | commercial at |
| 65 | A | A | A | A | Latin capital letter A |
| 66 | B | B | B | B | Latin capital letter B |
| 67 | C | C | C | C | Latin capital letter C |
| 68 | D | D | D | D | Latin capital letter D |
| 69 | E | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E |
| 70 | F | F | F | F | Latin capital letter F |
| 71 | G | G | G | G | Latin capital letter G |
| 72 | H | H | H | H | Latin capital letter H |
| 73 | I | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I |
| 74 | J | J | J | J | Latin capital letter J |
| 75 | K | K | K | K | Latin capital letter K |
| 76 | L | L | L | L | Latin capital letter L |
| 77 | M | M | M | M | Latin capital letter M |
| 78 | N | N | N | N | Latin capital letter N |
| 79 | O | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O |
| 80 | P | P | P | P | Latin capital letter P |
| 81 | Q | Q | Q | Q | Latin capital letter Q |
| 82 | R | R | R | R | Latin capital letter R |
| 83 | S | S | S | S | Latin capital letter S |
| 84 | T | T | T | T | Latin capital letter T |
| 85 | U | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U |
| 86 | V | V | V | V | Latin capital letter V |
| 87 | W | W | W | W | Latin capital letter W |
| 88 | X | X | X | X | Latin capital letter X |
| 89 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Latin capital letter Y |
| 90 | Z | Z | Z | Z | Latin capital letter Z |
| 91 | [ | [ | [ | [ | left square bracket |
| 92 | \ | \ | \ | \ | reverse solidus |
| 93 | ] | ] | ] | ] | right square bracket |
| 94 | ^ | ^ | ^ | ^ | circumflex accent |
| 95 | _ | _ | _ | _ | low line |
| 96 | ` | ` | ` | ` | grave accent |
| 97 | a | a | a | a | Latin small letter a |
| 98 | b | b | b | b | Latin small letter b |
| 99 | c | c | c | c | Latin small letter c |
| 100 | d | d | d | d | Latin small letter d |
| 101 | e | e | e | e | Latin small letter e |
| 102 | f | f | f | f | Latin small letter f |
| 103 | g | g | g | g | Latin small letter g |
| 104 | h | h | h | h | Latin small letter h |
| 105 | i | i | i | i | Latin small letter i |
| 106 | j | j | j | j | Latin small letter j |
| 107 | k | k | k | k | Latin small letter k |
| 108 | l | l | l | l | Latin small letter l |
| 109 | m | m | m | m | Latin small letter m |
| 110 | n | n | n | n | Latin small letter n |
| 111 | o | o | o | o | Latin small letter o |
| 112 | p | p | p | p | Latin small letter p |
| 113 | q | q | q | q | Latin small letter q |
| 114 | r | r | r | r | Latin small letter r |
| 115 | s | s | s | s | Latin small letter s |
| 116 | t | t | t | t | Latin small letter t |
| 117 | u | u | u | u | Latin small letter u |
| 118 | v | v | v | v | Latin small letter v |
| 119 | w | w | w | w | Latin small letter w |
| 120 | x | x | x | x | Latin small letter x |
| 121 | y | y | y | y | Latin small letter y |
| 122 | z | z | z | z | Latin small letter z |
| 123 | { | { | { | { | left curly bracket |
| 124 | | | | | | | | | vertical line |
| 125 | } | } | } | } | right curly bracket |
| 126 | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | tilde |
| 127 | DEL | ||||
| 128 | € | euro sign | |||
| 129 | NOT USED | ||||
| 130 | ‚ | single low-9 quotation mark | |||
| 131 | ƒ | Latin small letter f with hook | |||
| 132 | „ | double low-9 quotation mark | |||
| 133 | … | horizontal ellipsis | |||
| 134 | † | dagger | |||
| 135 | ‡ | double dagger | |||
| 136 | ˆ | modifier letter circumflex accent | |||
| 137 | ‰ | per mille sign | |||
| 138 | Š | Latin capital letter S with caron | |||
| 139 | ‹ | single left-pointing angle quotation mark | |||
| 140 | Π| Latin capital ligature OE | |||
| 141 | NOT USED | ||||
| 142 | Z | Latin capital letter Z with caron | |||
| 143 | NOT USED | ||||
| 144 | NOT USED | ||||
| 145 | ‘ | left single quotation mark | |||
| 146 | ’ | right single quotation mark | |||
| 147 | “ | left double quotation mark | |||
| 148 | ” | right double quotation mark | |||
| 149 | • | bullet | |||
| 150 | – | en dash | |||
| 151 | — | em dash | |||
| 152 | ˜ | small tilde | |||
| 153 | ™ | trade mark sign | |||
| 154 | š | Latin small letter s with caron | |||
| 155 | › | single right-pointing angle quotation mark | |||
| 156 | œ | Latin small ligature oe | |||
| 157 | NOT USED | ||||
| 158 | z | Latin small letter z with caron | |||
| 159 | Ÿ | Latin capital letter Y with diaeresis | |||
| 160 | no-break space | ||||
| 161 | inverted exclamation mark | ||||
| 162 | ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | cent sign | |
| 163 | £ | £ | £ | pound sign | |
| 164 | currency sign | ||||
| 165 | ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | yen sign | |
| 166 | ¦ | ¦ | ¦ | broken bar | |
| 167 | § | § | § | section sign | |
| 168 | ¨ | ¨ | ¨ | diaeresis | |
| 169 | © | © | © | copyright sign | |
| 170 | ª | ª | ª | feminine ordinal indicator | |
| 171 | « | « | « | left-pointing double angle quotation mark | |
| 172 | not sign | ||||
| 173 | | | | soft hyphen | |
| 174 | ® | ® | ® | registered sign | |
| 175 | ¯ | ¯ | ¯ | macron | |
| 176 | ° | ° | ° | degree sign | |
| 177 | ± | ± | ± | plus-minus sign | |
| 178 | ² | ² | ² | superscript two | |
| 179 | ³ | ³ | ³ | superscript three | |
| 180 | acute accent | ||||
| 181 | µ | µ | µ | micro sign | |
| 182 | pilcrow sign | ||||
| 183 | · | · | · | middle dot | |
| 184 | . | . | . | cedilla | |
| 185 | ª | ª | ª | superscript one | |
| 186 | masculine ordinal indicator | ||||
| 187 | » | » | » | right-pointing double angle quotation mark | |
| 188 | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/4 | vulgar fraction one quarter | |
| 189 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/2 | vulgar fraction one half | |
| 190 | 3/4 | 3/4 | 3/4 | vulgar fraction three quarters | |
| 191 | inverted question mark | ||||
| 192 | À | À | À | Latin capital letter A with grave | |
| 193 | Á | Á | Á | Latin capital letter A with acute | |
| 194 | Â | Â | Â | Latin capital letter A with circumflex | |
| 195 | Ã | Ã | Ã | Latin capital letter A with tilde | |
| 196 | Ä | Ä | Ä | Latin capital letter A with diaeresis | |
| 197 | Å | Å | Å | Latin capital letter A with ring above | |
| 198 | Æ | Æ | Æ | Latin capital letter AE | |
| 199 | C | C | C | Latin capital letter C with cedilla | |
| 200 | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E with grave | |
| 201 | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E with acute | |
| 202 | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E with circumflex | |
| 203 | E | E | E | Latin capital letter E with diaeresis | |
| 204 | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I with grave | |
| 205 | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I with acute | |
| 206 | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I with circumflex | |
| 207 | I | I | I | Latin capital letter I with diaeresis | |
| 208 | Ð | Ð | Ð | Latin capital letter Eth | |
| 209 | Ñ | Ñ | Ñ | Latin capital letter N with tilde | |
| 210 | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O with grave | |
| 211 | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O with acute | |
| 212 | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O with circumflex | |
| 213 | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O with tilde | |
| 214 | O | O | O | Latin capital letter O with diaeresis | |
| 215 | × | × | × | multiplication sign | |
| 216 | Ø | Ø | Ø | Latin capital letter O with stroke | |
| 217 | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U with grave | |
| 218 | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U with acute | |
| 219 | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U with circumflex | |
| 220 | U | U | U | Latin capital letter U with diaeresis | |
| 221 | Y | Y | Y | Latin capital letter Y with acute | |
| 222 | Þ | Þ | Þ | Latin capital letter Thorn | |
| 223 | ß | ß | ß | Latin small letter sharp s | |
| 224 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with grave | |
| 225 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with acute | |
| 226 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with circumflex | |
| 227 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with tilde | |
| 228 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with diaeresis | |
| 229 | a | a | a | Latin small letter a with ring above | |
| 230 | a | a | a | Latin small letter ae | |
| 231 | c | c | c | Latin small letter c with cedilla | |
| 232 | e | e | e | Latin small letter e with grave | |
| 233 | e | e | e | Latin small letter e with acute | |
| 234 | e | e | e | Latin small letter e with circumflex | |
| 235 | e | e | e | Latin small letter e with diaeresis | |
| 236 | i | i | i | Latin small letter i with grave | |
| 237 | i | i | i | Latin small letter i with acute | |
| 238 | i | i | i | Latin small letter i with circumflex | |
| 239 | i | i | i | Latin small letter i with diaeresis | |
| 240 | Latin small letter eth | ||||
| 241 | n | n | n | Latin small letter n with tilde | |
| 242 | o | o | o | Latin small letter o with grave | |
| 243 | o | o | o | Latin small letter o with acute | |
| 244 | o | o | o | Latin small letter o with circumflex | |
| 245 | o | o | o | Latin small letter o with tilde | |
| 246 | o | o | o | Latin small letter o with diaeresis | |
| 247 | ÷ | ÷ | ÷ | division sign | |
| 248 | Latin small letter o with stroke | ||||
| 249 | u | u | u | Latin small letter u with grave | |
| 250 | u | u | u | Latin small letter u with acute | |
| 251 | u | u | u | Latin small letter with circumflex | |
| 252 | u | u | u | Latin small letter u with diaeresis | |
| 253 | y | y | y | Latin small letter y with acute | |
| 254 | þ | þ | þ | Latin small letter thorn | |
| 255 | y | y | y | Latin small letter y with diaeresis |
The ASCII Character Set
ASCII uses the values from 0 to 31 (and 127) for control characters.
ASCII uses the values from 32 to 126 for letters, digits, and symbols.
ASCII does not use the values from 128 to 255.
The ANSI Character Set (Windows-1252)
ANSI is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
ANSI has a proprietary set of characters for the values from 128 to 159.
ANSI is identical to UTF-8 for the values from 160 to 255.
The ISO-8859-1 Character Set
8859-1 is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
8859-1 does not use the values from 128 to 159.
8859-1 is identical to UTF-8 for the values from 160 to 255.
The UTF-8 Character Set
UTF-8 is identical to ASCII for the values from 0 to 127.
UTF-8 does not use the values from 128 to 159.
UTF-8 is identical to both ANSI and 8859-1 for the values from 160 to 255.
UTF-8 continues from the value 256 with more than 10 000 different characters.
For a closer look, study our Complete HTML Character Set Reference.