Wingdings is a TrueType dingbat font included in all versions of Microsoft Windows starting with version 3.1.

This font was originally developed in 1990 by Type Solutions , Inc., but now the copyright holder is Microsoft Corp. Further Wingdings fonts have been developed, named Wingdings 2 and Wingdings 3.

Controversy

Wingdings has a history of controversy. In 1992, only days after the release of Windows 3.1, it was discovered that character sequence "NYC" in Wingdings was rendered as Skull and crossbones symbol, Star of David, and thumbs up gesture. This could be interpreted as a message of approval of killing Jews, especially those from New York City. Microsoft strongly denied this was intentional, and that the final arrangement of the glyphs in the font was largely random. (Character sequence "NYC" on later-released Webdings font, in turn, is rendered as eye, heart, and city skyline, which could be interpreted as "I Love New York City". This could be an easter egg.)

Likewise, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, it was noted that "Q33 NY" and converts to Wingdings, the Q becomes an airplane, the threes become lined documents (which somewhat resemble skyscrapers), the N becomes a skull and crossbones, and the Y becomes the Star of David. Altogether the image looks like an airplane preparing to impact the World Trade Center, with a message of death for those of Jewish faith. The "NY" obviously stands for New York, and "Q33" allegedly was the designation of one of the airplanes. However, this theory falls apart under scrutiny; the terrorist attacks were not especially directed at the Jewish, and none of the airplanes used on that day bore the designation of Q33.

Despite these problems, the font has remained in Windows; it is to be removed in Windows Longhorn, however.

External links

• Snopes.com article on hidden messages in Wingdings