Symbols for Legacy Computing

Symbols for Legacy Computing is a Unicode block containing graphic characters that were used for various home computers from the 1970s and 1980s and in Teletext broadcasting standards. It includes characters from the Amstrad CPC, MSX, Mattel Aquarius, RISC OS, MouseText, Atari ST, TRS-80 Color Computer, Oric, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, TRS-80, Minitel, Teletext, ATASCII, PETSCII, ZX80, and ZX81 character sets. Semigraphics characters are also included in the form of new block-shaped characters, line-drawing characters, and 60 "sextant" characters (semigraphic character made up of six smaller blocks).

A supplement block was approved in 2022 for inclusion in Unicode 16.0, following proposal L2/21-235. The Supplement block includes characters from Amstrad, Apple 8-bit, Kaypro CP/M, Ohio Scientific, Robotron KC, Sharp MZ computers, HP terminals, and TRS-80. It includes a larger set of semigraphics in the form of 230 "octant" characters, large images split into four "characters", and the "large type" characters used for building large text characters.

Block
The image below is provided as quick reference for these symbols on systems that are unable to display them directly:

History
The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Symbols for Legacy Computing block: