Editing Command key (section)

== Origin of the symbol ==
{{see also|Looped square|Bowen knot}}

[[File:Sweden road sign H22.svg|thumb|Swedish road sign no. H22]]
[[File:Bowen-knot-in-rope.jpg|thumb|A [[Bowen knot]]]]

The ⌘ symbol came into the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] project at a late stage. The development team originally went for their old Apple key, but [[Steve Jobs]] found it frustrating when "apples" filled up the Mac's menus next to the key commands, because he felt that this was an over-use of the company [[logo]].<ref name="logo_in_vain" /> He then opted for a different key symbol. With only a few days left before deadline, the team's bitmap artist [[Susan Kare]] started researching for the Apple logo's successor. She was browsing through a symbol dictionary when she came across the cloverleaf-like symbol, commonly used in [[Nordic countries]] as an indicator of cultural locations and places of interest<ref name="susan_kare_on_macintosh" /><ref name="grafik">{{cite web|url=https://www.grafik.net/category/pictoform/high-command|title=High Command|last=Grafik|website=Grafik}}</ref> (it is the official road sign for [[tourist attraction]] in [[Denmark]], [[Finland]],<ref name="Informative signs">{{cite web|url=http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162623/http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-date = 2015-04-02 | title=Informative signs|publisher=Finnish Transport Agency|date=August 10, 2011|access-date=April 5, 2014}}</ref> [[Iceland]],<ref name="Road Markings, www.arctic.is">{{cite web | url = http://www.arctic.is/traffic-signs/ | title=Road Markings, www.arctic.is | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162623/http://portal.liikennevirasto.fi/sivu/www/e/transport_network/road_signs_and_devices/informative_signs | archive-date = 2015-04-02}}</ref> [[Norway]],<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.vegvesen.no/Trafikkinformasjon/Lover+og+regler/Trafikkskilt/Serviceskilt |title=Serviceskilt |publisher=Vegvesen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006024837/http://www.vegvesen.no/Trafikkinformasjon/Lover%2Bog%2Bregler/Trafikkskilt/Serviceskilt |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and [[Sweden]],<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Vag/Vagmarken/Lokaliseringsmarken-for-upplysning-om-serviceanlaggningar-med-mera/Sevardhet/ |title=Sevärdhet |publisher=Transportstyrelsen | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100823204216/http://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Vag/Vagmarken/Lokaliseringsmarken-for-upplysning-om-serviceanlaggningar-med-mera/Sevardhet/ | archive-date = 2010-08-23}} {{in lang|sv}}</ref> and the computer key has often been called ''{{lang|sv|Fornminne}}''—[[ancient monument]]—by Swedish Mac users<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://www.faktoider.nu/fornminne.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402163817/http://www.faktoider.nu/fornminne.html | archive-date = 2015-04-02 |title=Fornminne på Mac |publisher=Hexmasters Faktoider}} {{in lang|sv}}</ref> and ''{{lang|da|Seværdighedstegn}}''—landmark signs—by [[Danish language|Danish]] users). When she showed it to the rest of the team, everyone liked it, and so it became the symbol of the 1984 Macintosh command key.<ref>{{ cite web | url = http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt | title = Swedish Campground | access-date = February 21, 2007 | last = Hertzfeld | first = Andy | work = Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories | quote = 'Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.' | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512133957/http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Swedish_Campground.txt | archive-date = 2015-05-12 }}</ref><ref name="grafik"/> Susan Kare states that she has since been told that the symbol was picked for its Scandinavian usage due to its resembling the shape of a square castle with round corner towers as seen from above looking down, notably [[Borgholm Castle]].<ref name="grafik"/> However, the symbol is used in many places in Scandinavian history, for example on a 5th-century picture stone from Gotland,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.guteinfo.com/?id=3665 |title=Bilder av Gotland - Kulturkringlan}}</ref> and first usage of the shape as a sign for a place of interest was suggested by the Finnish Local Heritage Federation in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.raa.se/om-riksantikvarieambetet/riksantikvarieambetets-historia/ |title=Riksantikvarieämbetets historia|date=August 17, 2017 }}</ref>

The symbol was included in the original Macintosh font [[Chicago (typeface)|Chicago]], and could be inserted by typing a {{Keypress|Ctrl|Q}} key combination.<ref>{{ cite web | last = Apple Computer | title = Technical Note TE505 – Font Manager Q&As – Macintosh Reference Library | url = https://developer.apple.com/technotes/te/te_505.html | publisher = Apple | date = October 1, 1993 | access-date = September 2, 2008 | quote = Chicago Control-Q prints propeller or clover symbol }}</ref>

In [[Unicode]] and [[HTML]] it is encoded as {{unichar|2318|Place of interest sign|html=}}.<ref>{{ cite web | first = Julie D. | last = Allen | title = Unicode Names Index | url = https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.0.0/Indices.pdf | work = The Unicode Standard, Version 5.0.0 | publisher = Unicode Consortium | page = 1214 | date = October 2006 | access-date = August 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = Unicode Character Name Index | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/charindex.html#P | access-date = May 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = ''The Unicode Standard, Version 6.0'': Miscellaneous Technical | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2300.pdf | access-date = May 26, 2011}}</ref>