Why Does Wingdings Exist? The Strange History of the Internet’s Weirdest Font
If you’ve ever scrolled through a font list on your computer, you’ve probably come across Wingdings—a bizarre collection of symbols, arrows, and strange pictographs instead of letters.
But why does Wingdings even exist? Who created it, and why would anyone need a font that replaces text with tiny pictures?
Let’s dive into the surprisingly fascinating history of Wingdings and its strange influence on the internet.
The Birth of Wingdings: A 90s Design Hack
Wingdings was created in 1990 by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes, the same designers behind the Lucida font family.
At the time, computers didn’t have emoji, Unicode, or easy access to special symbols. So, Microsoft needed a way to include commonly used symbols—like arrows, checkmarks, and hands—without making users insert images manually.
Solution? A font where letters were replaced with symbols!
In 1992, Microsoft included Wingdings as a default font in Windows 3.1, giving users a quick and easy way to insert icons into their documents.
Why Was Wingdings Useful?
Before modern UI design tools, Wingdings had several practical uses:
Graphic Design Shortcuts – Designers could type symbols directly instead of drawing them.
Bullet Points & Checklists – Before proper bullet point features, Wingdings was a hacky way to add them.
Early Pseudo-Emoji – Before Unicode emoji, Wingdings symbols were used in messaging and emails.
Printing & Signage – Businesses used Wingdings to create simple, printable icons for signs.
Even though it seems random today, Wingdings was a useful tool in the early days of computing.
The Wingdings Conspiracy Theories
For such an innocent-looking font, Wingdings has a weird history of conspiracy theories—especially in the early 2000s internet era.
The 9/11 Conspiracy
One of the biggest internet urban legends was that if you typed “Q33 NY” (supposedly a flight number of one of the planes that hit the Twin Towers) in Wingdings, it displayed:
☠️ ✈️ 🏙️ ✡️
A skull, an airplane, two towers, and a Star of David—leading conspiracy theorists to claim it was a hidden message about the attacks.
Reality? “Q33 NY” was not a real flight number, and the symbol arrangement was just a creepy coincidence.
🔺 The Anti-Semitic Accusation
Another controversy arose when people typed “NYC” in Wingdings, and it showed:
☠️ ✡️ 👍
A skull, a Star of David, and a thumbs-up—leading to accusations that Microsoft had hidden anti-Semitic messages in the font.
Reality? Microsoft later stated that Wingdings was randomly assigned, with no intentional messages.
Why Wingdings Is Still Around
Even though modern technology no longer relies on Wingdings, it still exists on most computers today.
Legacy Support – Some old documents still use Wingdings, so Microsoft keeps it available.
Internet Meme Culture – People love using Wingdings as a joke font for weird messages.
Aesthetic & Nostalgia – Some designers and artists use Wingdings for its retro tech vibe.
Final Thoughts: A Font That Became an Icon
Wingdings started as a simple design tool but has since become a strange relic of internet history. It’s been useful, controversial, and even conspiratorial, making it one of the most accidentally famous fonts ever created.
So next time you see Wingdings, remember—it’s not just a weird font, it’s a piece of digital history.