Yin yang symbol ☯

In classical Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are complementary forces that depend on each other rather than fight:

• Yin, the dark half, is associated with the passive, cool and receptive, with night and the moon.
• Yang, the light half, is associated with the active, warm and bright, with day and the sun.

The dot of each color inside the other expresses the idea that each contains the seed of its opposite, and the curved dividing line suggests constant change rather than a fixed border. The diagram is known in Chinese as the taijitu, “diagram of the supreme ultimate.” It is closely tied to Taoism (Daoism), though the yin-yang idea runs through Chinese thought more broadly, including traditional medicine and martial arts.

In everyday English, “yin and yang” describes any two things that balance each other: “They’re the yin and yang of the team.”

• ☯ text style vs. ☯️ emoji style: the same character. The emoji version adds the invisible variation selector U+FE0F and is drawn in color on phones; the text version takes your font color.
• ◐ (circle with left half black) is a geometric shape with a straight dividing line, not a yin yang.
• Trigrams ☰ to ☷: Unicode also includes the eight trigrams of the I Ching, often arranged around the taijitu.

Four of those trigrams appear on the flag of South Korea, around a red and blue taegeuk, the Korean form of the circle. Unlike the classic black-and-white symbol, the flag’s version is red on top and blue below.

• iPhone and Android: search “yin yang” in the emoji keyboard.
• Mac: open the emoji and symbol picker with Control+Command+Space and search “yin yang.”
• Windows: press Windows key + period and search “yin yang.”
• Word: use the Alt+X code from the table above.
• Print and tattoos: the character’s look depends on the font. For anything printed large, use a vector drawing so the curves and dots stay crisp.