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{{Short description|Typographical character (§)}}
{{For|the Wikipedia template that inserts section links with the § character|Template:Section link|selfref=yes}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Infobox symbol
| mark     = §
| unicode  = {{unichar|00A7|Section sign|html=}}
| see also = {{unichar|00B6|PILCROW SIGN|nlink=Pilcrow}}
}}

The '''section sign''' ('''§''') is a [[typographical]] [[character (symbol)|character]] for referencing individually numbered [[Section (documents)|sections]] of a document; it is frequently used when citing sections of a [[legal code]].<ref name="Standler">{{cite web | title = Legal Research and Citation Style in USA |first=Ronald M. |last=Standler | url = http://www.rbs0.com/lawcite.htm#anchor333333 | year = 2004 | access-date = 2009-12-15}}</ref> It is also known as the '''section symbol''', '''section mark''', '''double-s''', or '''silcrow'''.<ref name="Radoeva2017"/><ref name="Butterick">{{ cite web | first = Matthew | last = Butterick | title = Butterick's Practical Typography: Paragraphs and Section Marks| url = https://practicaltypography.com/paragraph-and-section-marks.html | access-date = 2017-10-07}}</ref> In other languages it may be called the "paragraph symbol" (for example, {{langx|de|Paragrafzeichen}}).

== Use ==
[[Image:Bundesministerium für Justiz logo.svg|thumb|right|Former logo of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice]]

The section sign is often used when referring to a specific section of a [[legal code]]. For example, in [[Bluebook]] style, "[[Title 16 of the United States Code]] Section 580p" becomes "16 U.S.C. §{{nbsp}}580p".<ref name="GL-BB">{{cite web |title=Guides: Bluebook Guide: Federal Statutes |url=http://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=261289&p=2383798 |publisher=[[Georgetown Law|Georgetown University Law Library]] |access-date=December 6, 2018 |language=en |date=August 9, 2018}}</ref> The section sign is frequently used along with the ''[[pilcrow]]'' (or ''paragraph sign''), {{char|¶}}, to reference a specific [[paragraph]] within a section of a document. 

While {{char|§}} is usually read in spoken English as the word "section", many other languages use the word "paragraph" exclusively to refer to a section of a document (especially of legal text), and use other words to describe a paragraph in the English sense. Consequently, in those cases "§" may be read as "''paragraph"'', and may occasionally also be described as a "paragraph sign", but this is a description of its usage, not a formal name.<ref name="unicode-latin1">{{cite web | title = The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 – C1 Controls and Latin-1 Supplement | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0080.pdf | access-date = 2017-10-07}}</ref><ref name="radar">{{cite web |title=Some text-to-speech voices read the section symbol as paragraph instead of section |url=http://www.openradar.me/32449535 |access-date=2017-10-07 }}</ref> 

When duplicated, as {{char|§§}}, it is read as the plural "sections". For example, "§§{{nbsp}}13–21" would be read as "sections 13 through 21", much as {{char|pp.}} (pages) is the plural of {{char|p.}}, meaning [[page (paper)|page]].
It may also be used with footnotes when [[asterisk]] {{char|*}}, [[Dagger (mark)|dagger]] {{char|†}}, and [[Dagger (mark)|double dagger]] {{char|‡}} have already been used on a given page.

It is common practice to follow the section sign with a [[non-breaking space]] so that the symbol is kept with the section number being cited.<ref name="Standler" /><ref name="Felici">{{cite book |last=Felici |first=James |year=2012 |title=The Complete Manual of Typography |edition=Second |isbn=978-0-321-77326-5 }}</ref>{{rp|212, 233}}

The section sign is itself sometimes a symbol of the justice system,{{efn|The symbol {{unichar|2696|Scales|nlink=Scales of justice (symbol)}} is more typical.}}{{cn|date=November 2023}} in much the same way as the [[Rod of Asclepius]] is used to represent medicine. For example, [[Austria]]n courts use the symbol in their logo.

== Unicode ==
The section sign appeared in several early computer text encodings. It was placed at {{tt|0xA7}} (167) in [[ISO-8859-1]], a position that was inherited by United as [[code point]] {{unichar|00A7|Section Sign}}.

== See also ==
* ''[[Scilicet]]'' ("it may be known") is sometimes rendered using a § mark instead of "viz."

== Explanatory footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Section signs}}

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