Early computer keyboards often included distinctive symbols, some representing company logos or specialized functions. Brands like Commodore, Atari, Amiga, and Apple incorporated unique keys that reflected their identity or specific commands. Recently, Apple has moved towards more icon-based keys on American keyboards, inspired by European designs, prompting a reflection on older key symbols that have largely vanished.
In the 20th century, a cultural divide emerged between text and iconography, influenced by practical needs such as language diversity in Europe. This preference for icons extended to electronics and computing, facilitating product standardization across regions.
For example, IBM’s Selectric typewriters in the 1970s had different key symbols in their American and European versions. Early IBM computers, like the 1130 model from 1965, used unusual symbols for common keys such as Space. Some IBM scientific machines experimented with iconography, but office users often found these symbols confusing, leading to a return to text labels.
Today’s PC keyboards retain only a few symbolic keys widely recognized: Shift (⇧), Enter (↵), Tab (⇥), and Backspace (arrow). However, older symbols for functions like Print Screen, key beep, Reverse Tab, Insert, and Delete once had distinct and meaningful icons. Many of these drew inspiration from traditional proofreading marks, reflecting a visual language that connected computing to earlier forms of editing.
Some of these historic symbols are preserved in the Unicode standard, including characters for underline styles and other formatting marks. Their survival hints at a rich typographic heritage embedded in the evolution of keyboard design. Understanding these symbols offers insight into how user interfaces have balanced clarity, functionality, and cultural influences over time.