<

Less Than Sign

U+003C
&#60;

The < less than sign appears in everyday text whenever someone wants a direct character for comparisons, markup-like text, technical examples instead of a more decorative symbol.

Code, file paths, and technical text.

ASCII symbolsless thancomparecodemathangle

Where people actually use this symbol

Code and technical strings

< has a real technical role in syntax, paths, formatting, or equations, so people often copy it because the exact character matters.

Where it works better than emoji

< beats emoji when the line needs precision. A plain symbol stays cleaner in product copy, tables, legal notes, and technical text where colorful emoji would feel noisy or less exact.

Alternative symbols to compare

@
ASCII symbols
At Sign
U+0040

Email addresses, @mentions, and social handles.

#
ASCII symbols
Hash Sign
U+0023

Hashtags, topic labels, and compact numbering.

$
ASCII symbols
Dollar Sign
U+0024

Prices, budgets, and finance copy.

%
ASCII symbols
Percent Sign
U+0025

Percentages, discounts, ratios, and sale copy.

&
ASCII symbols
Ampersand
U+0026

Brand names, pairings, and title styling.

*
ASCII symbols
Asterisk
U+002A

Footnotes, emphasis, wildcards, and note markers.

Related emoji

🧮
objects
abacus
computer

An abacus, useful for arithmetic, calculation, counting, and sometimes the idea of careful or traditional math.

calculationcalculator
📊
objects
bar chart
office supplies

A bar chart, useful for statistics, reports, analytics, and comparing values in a simple visual way.

barchartdata
📏
objects
straight ruler
office supplies

A straight ruler, useful for measuring, layout, drafting, precision, and drawing lines to exact length.

angleedgemath

Symbol details

Unicode
U+003C
HTML
&#60;
ASCII
Yes