What the Venus symbol means
♀︎ is the traditional symbol of the planet Venus, the second planet from the Sun and the brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon. Because it shines just before sunrise or just after sunset, it has long been called the morning star and the evening star.
The sign is traditionally explained as the hand mirror of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It sits in a family of planet symbols that astronomers and almanacs used for centuries: ☿ for Mercury, ♂︎ for Mars, ♃ for Jupiter, ♄ for Saturn and so on.
Venus in astrology and alchemy
In Western astrology, Venus rules Taurus ♉︎ and Libra ♎︎ and is linked to love, beauty, pleasure, relationships and money. Astrologers draw ♀︎ in a birth chart to show where Venus was at the moment you were born.
Alchemists paired each of the seven classical planets with a metal, and Venus got copper, so ♀︎ also means copper in old chemistry texts. Mars ♂︎ meant iron, Mercury ☿ meant quicksilver, and the Sun ☉ and Moon ☽ meant gold and silver. The pairing is often linked to Cyprus, an ancient source of copper and an island sacred to Aphrodite, the Greek counterpart of Venus.
Venus symbol vs female symbol
♀︎ is one Unicode character (U+2640) with two jobs. Biology, gender and restroom signs use it to mean female; astronomy, astrology and alchemy use it to mean Venus. If you are writing about women or gender, the female symbol page has emoji like 🚺 that fit better.
Professional astronomers rarely use planet symbols today, but you will still find them in astrology apps, almanacs and fantasy art. To type ♀︎ in Word, enter 2640 and press Alt + X; on Windows, Alt + 12 also works. For the signs Venus rules, see the zodiac sign symbols.