Section sign facts for kids

The section sign (§) is a typographical glyph for referencing individual numbered sections of a document, frequently used when referring to legal code. In HTML § it is also commonly called section symbol, section mark, double-s, silcrow, or alternatively paragraph mark in parts of Europe.

Use

§ is often used when referring to a specific section of legal code. For example, in Bluebook style, "Title 16 of the United States Code Section 580p" becomes "16 U.S.C. § 580p". The section sign (§) is frequently used along with the pilcrow (¶) or paragraph sign to reference a specific paragraph within a section of a document. While § is usually spoken as section, European countries may read it as paragraph. When duplicated, as §§, it is read as the plural "sections" (e.g. "§§ 13–21"), much as "pp." (pages) is the plural of "p."

It may also be used with footnotes when asterisk (*), dagger (†) and double dagger (‡) have already been used on a given page. It is common practice to follow the section sign with a non-breaking space so the symbol is kept with the section number being cited.

The section sign is itself sometimes a symbol of the justice system, in much the same way as the Rod of Asclepius is used to represent medicine. The Austrian Ministry of Justice used the symbol in its logo for a time.

In Brazil, the sign may be used to represent numbered article paragraphs following the initial paragraph (Latin: caput).

See also

In Spanish: Párrafo (signo ortográfico) para niños