The two legal code symbols you’ll run into most often are the section sign (§) and the pilcrow (¶). The section sign points to a specific numbered section of a statute or regulation, as in 26 U.S.C. § 501. The pilcrow points to a numbered paragraph inside a court filing, as in “Defendant denies ¶ 14.” Both work as shorthand so lawyers and judges can pinpoint language inside documents that may run hundreds of pages.
What the Section Sign Means
The § symbol, sometimes called the silcrow, marks a single section of a legal code. Its shape likely traces to a ligature of two overlapping S’s from the Latin signum sectiōnis. You’ll see it in citations to the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, and state statute compilations. For example, 17 U.S.C. § 101 points to the definitions section of federal copyright law, which tells you exactly where to look without reading the entire Copyright Act.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 101 – Definitions
Think of it as a street address. The title number tells you the broad area of law, and the section number after § tells you the specific provision inside it.
What the Pilcrow Means
The ¶ symbol identifies individual numbered paragraphs inside court filings like complaints, answers, and affidavits. Attorneys use it when they need to refer to a specific allegation or statement of fact. A response to a complaint might read “Defendant denies the allegations in ¶ 14,” pointing the court to one numbered paragraph.
Federal rules require that claims and defenses in civil pleadings be stated in numbered paragraphs, each limited as far as practicable to a single set of circumstances.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 10 – Form of Pleadings The pilcrow gives those numbered paragraphs a clean citation shorthand.
The Structure Below a Section
A pinpoint citation often reaches past § into finer levels. The United States Code splits from largest to smallest into titles, subtitles, chapters, subchapters, parts, subparts, and sections. Below the section level, it keeps dividing into subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, clauses, subclauses, and items.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Detailed Guide to the United States Code Content and Features
Each level uses a distinct label style:
- Subsections: lowercase letters in parentheses — (a), (b), (c)
- Paragraphs: numbers in parentheses — (1), (2), (3)
- Subparagraphs: uppercase letters in parentheses — (A), (B), (C)
- Clauses: lowercase Roman numerals — (i), (ii), (iii)
- Subclauses: uppercase Roman numerals — (I), (II), (III)
So 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) takes you to Title 26, Section 501, subsection (c), paragraph (3), the familiar provision for tax-exempt charitable organizations. The § symbol is always the anchor at the section level.
Formatting Rules for § and ¶
Legal citation follows a few conventions around these symbols, and the Bluebook is the standard most law schools, courts, and law reviews follow.
- Put one space between the symbol and the number. Write § 101, not §101. The same rule applies to ¶ 14.
- Double the symbol when citing more than one section or paragraph. Use §§ 1101–1105 for consecutive sections and §§ 1101, 1523 for non-consecutive ones. Use ¶¶ for multiple paragraphs.
- Don’t start a sentence with §. Write “Section 501 governs…” rather than opening with the symbol.
- In footnotes, § is standard. In the body of a brief, writers generally spell out “section,” with an exception for references to the United States Code, where the symbol is acceptable in running text.
How to Type § and ¶
Neither symbol sits on a standard keyboard, so each platform has its own shortcut.
Windows
Hold Alt and type 0167 on the numeric keypad for §. Use Alt + 0182 for ¶.
Mac
Press Option + 6 for §. Press Option + 7 for ¶.
Microsoft Word and Other Word Processors
Go to Insert → Symbol (or Special Character) and search by name. You can also create an AutoCorrect entry so a shorthand like “ssym” expands to §.
LaTeX
Use \S for § and \P for ¶.
iPhone and iPad
Tap 123 to switch to the number and symbol keyboard, then press and hold the ampersand (&) key. A pop-up shows § as an option.
Android
Tap ?123, then tap =\< to reach the second symbol page. Press and hold the ¶ key, and § appears as an alternate character. On Microsoft SwiftKey, the path is 123 → {&= → §.
HTML
Use § (or §) for §, and ¶ (or ¶) for ¶. Both render in all modern browsers regardless of page encoding.
Why the Formatting Matters
Sloppy citation formatting in a court filing is more than cosmetic. Federal courts can reject briefs that don’t comply with formatting requirements, and each federal circuit layers its own local rules on top of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Clerks’ offices routinely bounce filings that miss the mark, though courts that reject a filing for technical defects typically give the filer a short window to correct and refile.
Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows courts to sanction attorneys or parties who present papers that violate the rule, including nonmonetary directives and orders to pay penalties or the other side’s attorney fees.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 11 – Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions Rule 11 targets substantive problems like frivolous arguments rather than a misplaced symbol, but a pattern of careless filings signals to a judge that the work may be unreliable elsewhere too.