Variation Selectors Supplement is a Unicode block containing additional variation selectors beyond those found in the Variation Selectors block.

These combining characters are named variation selector-17 (for U+E0100) through to variation selector-256 (U+E01EF), abbreviated VS17 – VS256.

Ideographic Variation Sequences

As of 23 October 2025[update], VS17 (U+E0100) to VS48 (U+E011F) are used in ideographic variation sequences in the Unicode Ideographic Variation Database (IVD). These selectors are known as Ideographic Variation Selectors (IVS). They are not listed in the list of standardized variation sequence, instead they are listed in another Ideographic Variation Database.

IVD collections

The following IVS collections are currently registered in the IVD:

RegionNamePurposeFirst registeredLast updatedNumber of sequencesChart
JapanAdobe-Japan1CID-keyed Japanese OpenType fonts. Defines at least one sequence for every Japanese kanji from the Adobe-Japan1 collection present in Unicode, even for those with only one glyph, both as future-proofing and to allow that (Japan-region) glyph to be uniquely referenced.2007-12-142022-09-1314684
JapanHanyo-DenshiUnicode characters corresponding to more than one glyph collected by the Han'yō Denshi program, a union of the character repertoires of the legacy kanji character sets used by multiple administrative systems in Japan (precursor to Moji Jōhō Kiban). Approximately 60% of the initial registration matches Adobe-Japan1 glyphs, but the existing Adobe-Japan1 variation sequences are not used for them.2010-11-142012-03-0213045
JapanMoji_JohoUnicode characters corresponding to more than one entry in the Moji Jōhō Kiban, a database of kanji used for administrative purposes in Japan. Supersedes and deprecates the Hanyo-Denshi collection, from which it retains 9866 of the existing IVSes.2014-05-162017-12-1211384
MacauMSARGMacao Supplementary Character Set (MSCS)2016-08-152020-11-06154
South KoreaKRNameStandard character variants permitted in personal names in South Korea2017-12-1236
ChinaCAAPHVariant forms required for digitization of intangible cultural heritage in databases and e-books by the Culture and Art Publishing House.2025-07-14198

Proposed IVD collections

As of 23 October 2025[update], there are no IVD collection submissions under review.

Similarly to the Moji Jōhō Kiban's role in Japan, the character repertoire of CNS 11643 (including draft revisions) is used for administrative purposes in Taiwan. In some cases, multiple of these correspond to a single Unicode character. Many of these cases are currently handled with mappings to the Supplementary Private Use Area. However, the Taipei Computer Association, which represents the interests of Taiwan in the Ideographic Research Group, has been evaluating the feasibility of registering an additional IVD collection in the future.

Code chart

Variation Selectors Supplement[1] (PDF)
0123456789ABCDEF
U+E010xVS 17VS 18VS 19VS 20VS 21VS 22VS 23VS 24VS 25VS 26VS 27VS 28VS 29VS 30VS 31VS 32
U+E011xVS 33VS 34VS 35VS 36VS 37VS 38VS 39VS 40VS 41VS 42VS 43VS 44VS 45VS 46VS 47VS 48
U+E012xVS 49VS 50VS 51VS 52VS 53VS 54VS 55VS 56VS 57VS 58VS 59VS 60VS 61VS 62VS 63VS 64
U+E013xVS 65VS 66VS 67VS 68VS 69VS 70VS 71VS 72VS 73VS 74VS 75VS 76VS 77VS 78VS 79VS 80
U+E014xVS 81VS 82VS 83VS 84VS 85VS 86VS 87VS 88VS 89VS 90VS 91VS 92VS 93VS 94VS 95VS 96
U+E015xVS 97VS 98VS 99VS 100VS 101VS 102VS 103VS 104VS 105VS 106VS 107VS 108VS 109VS 110VS 111VS 112
U+E016xVS 113VS 114VS 115VS 116VS 117VS 118VS 119VS 120VS 121VS 122VS 123VS 124VS 125VS 126VS 127VS 128
U+E017xVS 129VS 130VS 131VS 132VS 133VS 134VS 135VS 136VS 137VS 138VS 139VS 140VS 141VS 142VS 143VS 144
U+E018xVS 145VS 146VS 147VS 148VS 149VS 150VS 151VS 152VS 153VS 154VS 155VS 156VS 157VS 158VS 159VS 160
U+E019xVS 161VS 162VS 163VS 164VS 165VS 166VS 167VS 168VS 169VS 170VS 171VS 172VS 173VS 174VS 175VS 176
U+E01AxVS 177VS 178VS 179VS 180VS 181VS 182VS 183VS 184VS 185VS 186VS 187VS 188VS 189VS 190VS 191VS 192
U+E01BxVS 193VS 194VS 195VS 196VS 197VS 198VS 199VS 200VS 201VS 202VS 203VS 204VS 205VS 206VS 207VS 208
U+E01CxVS 209VS 210VS 211VS 212VS 213VS 214VS 215VS 216VS 217VS 218VS 219VS 220VS 221VS 222VS 223VS 224
U+E01DxVS 225VS 226VS 227VS 228VS 229VS 230VS 231VS 232VS 233VS 234VS 235VS 236VS 237VS 238VS 239VS 240
U+E01ExVS 241VS 242VS 243VS 244VS 245VS 246VS 247VS 248VS 249VS 250VS 251VS 252VS 253VS 254VS 255VS 256
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Variation Selectors Supplement block:

VersionFinal code pointsCountL2 IDWG2 IDDocument
4.0U+E0100..E01EF240L2/97-260Hiura, Hideki; Kobayashi, Tatsuo (1997-12-01), Plane 14 Variant Tag
Aliprand, Joan; Winkler, Arnold (1998-02-24), "2.D.4 Variant Tag Mechanism", Preliminary Minutes - UTC #74 & L2 #171, Mountain View, CA - December 5, 1997
L2/98-277Hiura, Hideki; Kobayashi, Tatsuo (1998-07-29), Plane 14 Variant tag
, )Aliprand, Joan (1998-07-31), "III.E.3 Variant Tagging (III.E.3)", Unconfirmed Minutes – UTC #77 & NCITS Subgroup L2 # 174 JOINT MEETING, Redmond, WA -- July 29-31, 1998
Freytag, Asmus (2001-06-27), Variant selector
Jenkins, John (2001-08-08), Variation selectors and Han
Davis, Mark (2001-08-17), Variation Selectors [document has incorrect L2 ID number]
Moore, Lisa (2001-11-06), "88-M5", Minutes from the UTC/L2 meeting #88
Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2002-04-22), "7.12", Draft minutes of WG 2 meeting 41, Hotel Phoenix, Singapore, 2001-10-15/19
, )Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2002-10-30), "M42.21 (Amendment 1 to 10646-2)", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 42