Font with special character sought

[Neomys Sapiens]

Does anyone know a font containing the 'tripod' sign, as used in the UK to denote army property?

[Dubbie]

Can you give me an example of the symbol you are talking about?
I may be able to make you a custom font.

[jpanhalt]

1) It is not a "font."
2) Show us what you and we may help you find that special character.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I suspect this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

[Dubbie]

from that page:

"It is currently a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to reproduce the broad arrow without authority (in the same way as it is an offence to reproduce hallmarks). Section 4 of the Public Stores Act 1875 makes it illegal to use the "broad arrow" on any goods without permission.[9][10]"

Going to need to hear more about what OP is up to.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Strangely apt:

[jpanhalt]

You have not defined the character zone of your "font."  If it is 5x8, then something like this might do:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/font-with-special-character-sought/?action=dlattach;attach=448168;image

[Neomys Sapiens]

Here it is: (attached)

The prohibition applies to marking things, not to explanatory use in a document.

@jpanhalt: What do you mean by 'it is not a font'? What I need is a trpresentation as a special character in a ttf font, NOT A GRAPHIC. Scaling with the text, insertion by 'Symbol' in Word.

[TerraHertz]

Just make it yourself.   
https://fontforge.github.io/en-US/

'Slight learning curve' required, ha ha.  (The sensation is much like running full tilt into a cliff face. True story.)

https://apps.timwhitlock.info/unicode/inspect
Search finds nothing for broadarrow or broad arrow.

https://unicode.org/
I'm amazed there doesn't seem to be a Unicode assignment for this. Hundreds of stupid emojis ( https://unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html ) and all Chinese characters, but nothing for a famous British symbol that's existed for centuries?

[Brumby]

I've had a quick look and the closest I can find are some arrows in Wingdings and Wingdings3

[JohnnyMalaria]

Does it have to be vertical? (Here)

[Cyberdragon]

You could just...you know...

/|\ \|/

[Nominal Animal]

Unicode "Supplementary Mathematical Operators" block has code U+2A5A "logical and with middle stem", which looks exactly like that: ⩚. Perhaps you could use that?

[Richard Crowley]

Unicode Character 'CANADIAN SYLLABICS CARRIER WO' (U+15D1)



https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/15d1/index.htm

Also learned that this mark (made with a hatchet on 24-inch mast-grade trees) was one of the origins of the American Revolution.  The British came to rely on eastern white pine when they could no longer get Baltic timber for masts on their sailing ships. But they exploited their monopoly and paid a fraction of the open-market price which was just another of the growing list of abuses that led to the rebellion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow#In_the_American_colonies

[GlennSprigg]

Here it is: (attached)

The prohibition applies to marking things, not to explanatory use in a document.

@jpanhalt: What do you mean by 'it is not a font'? What I need is a trpresentation as a special character in a ttf font, NOT A GRAPHIC. Scaling with the text, insertion by 'Symbol' in Word.

Hi there 'Neomys Sapiens'.  Have not seen a further response from you.....
Regarding one of the Images you supplied, being....

(baspecformwr-003.jpg)

I can create this, as an inclusion within a standard Windows font if you like ??

[Neomys Sapiens]

@GlennSprigg
Well, that would be great. I suggest using 'Martin Vogel's Symbols' (Marvosym.ttf), as I know that this guy has no objections to that and small scale (semi)professional usage.

I need it for the recording of markings and maybe for a publication and do not intend to commit a fraud against any organ of the UK.

The question remains how I could thank you adequately for undertaking this task.

[TerraHertz]

@GlennSprigg, I'd be very interested to hear a step by step description of how you go about that. Which font editor do you use?

I mentioned fontforge and cliffs. But this task seems like a nice simple test case. So I fetched Marvosym.ttf and the current portable app version of fontforge, set that up. Can open Marvosym in fontforge. Now here's running into that cliff face again. My god that's a complicated app. No need for anyone to explain to me that it's complicated because font file tech naturally is complicated, I know.

But I do need to learn how to do this. And it's a useful way to procrastinate to avoid doing something else I'm supposed to be doing. So, manuals reading time. Don't hold your breath.


20180610 Update. Ow, that cliff hurts!  For anyone else interested in playing with fontforge, here's some links:

https://github.com/fontforge/                       Entry point to Fontforge on Git
https://github.com/fontforge/fontforge.github.io    Fontforge website repository

https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/fontforge-portable  Current: Ver 2017-07-31 for Win
Installed in ... \Editors\Fontforge_2017

http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/                   Getting started
http://designwithfontforge.com/en-US/               Book on using fontforge. PDF
http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/documentation/
http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/documentation/interface/   User interface
http://fontforge.github.io/en-US/tutorials/overview/        Overview

In the downloaded fontforge source code package:
fontforge-master/doc/html/index.html                Old doc by 'AP', maintained 2000-2009.
                                                      --> User & Reference manual
https://fontforge.github.io/overview.html           Same as above. "part of old website"
fontforge-master\doc\html/fontforge-tutorial.pdf    Dated 2007, but a very useful tutorial.

https://fontforge.github.io/autotrace.html          Autotracing bitmaps in FontForge.
  Extract: FontForge does not have a native autotrace, but it will happily use the
  output of two freely available programs which do autotracing. These are:
  - Peter Selinger's potrace    http://potrace.sf.net/
  - Martin Weber's autotrace    http://sourceforge.net/projects/autotrace/

[GlennSprigg]

@GlennSprigg
Well, that would be great. I suggest using 'Martin Vogel's Symbols' (Marvosym.ttf), as I know that this guy has no objections to that and small scale (semi)professional usage.
I need it for the recording of markings and maybe for a publication and do not intend to commit a fraud against any organ of the UK.
The question remains how I could thank you adequately for undertaking this task.

No problems mate!...  I've got your supplied Font now, (and your symbol specs page), and will sort it out
over the next couple of days!   I'm only 'online' here every 2 days or so, and I'm busy designing artwork for
my 'missus' for her embroidery machine.  I'm retired, and it's all just 'fun' now ! 
If I can help someone else, then I've added some worth/value to my existence !!!   (It's not a 'chore').

TerraHertz :-  You also mentioned that..........
"I'd be very interested to hear a step by step description of how you go about that. Which font editor do you use?".
.......... and ..........
"But I do need to learn how to do this. And it's a useful way to procrastinate to avoid doing something else......"

Thank you for your interest too !   Excellent idea mate.  I will mention various 'products' while I "do this deed", as
well as include a description of what I do/am doing, with screen-shots too.  Maybe I'll put all this in another Topic??
Yes, 'Font' work can be like sitting in the cockpit of a Jumbo-Jet, but it can be 'simplified' 
(P.S.   I was going to 'procrastinate', but I decided to put it off !    )

Here's a 'quick' interim prelude....   Start with an existing (& royalty-free font of course! haha) Font, where 99% of
the 'Formatting' work is done for you. Then find some 'obscure' symbols/characters that no one cares about, or
even know that are there!...  Re-design them, using certain protocols/restraints, and then re-save them !!!
Note down simplified access to such 'characters', like  "Alt+176" for example.  Bye for now... Glenn

[TerraHertz]

@Neomys Sapiens

It's interesting that the symbol in that milspec document is drawn so inaccurately, by the dimensions stated.
Below is a (photoshop) construction of the symbol, to the numerical specs. Overlaid on the one in the document.
Made so I can do the font symbol accurately. Now I have a correct bitmap image, to import into the can of worms aka fontforge.

[Neomys Sapiens]

I suspect that they scanned the older documents without too much care.

Now for the history of the symbol: I've come across a different version, but I'm striving right now to relocate the source. According to it, this symbol, denoting army property, was derived from the rifles stacked to pyramides of three when resting.

[Andy Watson]

According to it, this symbol, denoting army property, was derived from the rifles stacked to pyramides of three when resting.

That symbol was used by the Birmingham Small Arms company. Although it might have been found on army property, I think it is just a coincidence that it resembles the broadarrow symbol.

[Nominal Animal]

Note that Noto Sans Symbol font contains the U+2A5A glyph, and Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal font contains the U+15D1 glyph. The usage guidelines are here, and the license is SIL Open Font License version 1.1, which is a free, permissive license. (No cost, and you can use it anywhere you like, including commercial publications and such.) I do believe the Noto Serif fonts also have the glyphs, but I don't have them installed, so I cannot verify.

[TerraHertz]

Note that Noto Sans Symbol font contains the U+2A5A glyph, and Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal font contains the U+15D1 glyph.

Noto Sans Symbols does not go up to 2A5A.  Did you mean some other font?
NotoSansSymbols2-Regular also doesn't have anything similar.
Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal 15D1 is not the correct glyph.

What I'm up to: can easily create the correct glyph in fontforge, in the suggested font. But to get it to map to a specific code... arrgh. The character table is NOT a simple sequential indexed array. I get WHY it isn't, but there's something I very deeply don't understand yet. Probably multiple somethings.
Also fontforge is a fine example of flakey patched-together idiosyncratic buggy badly documented open-source coding. You don't want to see my 'issues' list.

[Nominal Animal]

Noto Sans Symbols does not go up to 2A5A.

The older version from Ubuntu repositories does include it (in NotoSansSymbols-Regular.ttf). You can download that version (perfectly legally, it's the official upstream git repository) here.

Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal 15D1 is not the correct glyph.

The U+2A5A is only slightly different to U+15D1, so you might not find a perfect match. There are also stylistic differences; the sans-serif fonts (like Noto Sans) do not have those small serifs at the lower inner ends of the "legs".

Also fontforge is a fine example of flakey patched-together idiosyncratic buggy badly documented open-source coding.

It is just crap code. It isn't stable even on Linux.

I wonder if Birdfont is any better? I haven't tried it myself.

[dexters_lab]

maybe this is of help... i created a quick and dirty ttf font with just that glyph roughly following the image from wikipedia on the 'B' character. It' sometimes easier to do this rather than editing existing fonts

looking around there seems to be many variations on the style