Enclosed C or circled Latin C (Ⓒ or ⓒ) is a typographical symbol. As one of many enclosed alphanumerics, the symbol is a "C" within a circle.
Contents
Encodings
The capitalized symbol (Ⓒ) can be generated with the unicode encoding "U+24B8" and the UTF-8 (hex.) encoding "e2 92 b8".
The lower case symbol (ⓒ) can be generated with the unicode encoding "U+24D2" and the UTF-8 (hex.) encoding "e2 93 92". By contrast, the copyright symbol (©) uses unicode encoding "U+00A9".
Uses
Some Chiyoda Kogaku (aka Chiyoko) cameras of the 1947 to 1949 era featured a blue ⓒ symbol as part of the lens designation like in "ⓒ Super Rokkor", e.g. on the Minolta 35 or the Minolta Memo. It was used to indicate a (single) coated optics rather than any copyright. Similar engravings can be found also on lenses of other manufacturers, e.g. some Olympus Zuiko lenses carry a red-colored "Zuiko C." designation indicating coated optics.