How do you echo a 4-digit Unicode character in Bash?

Question

I\'d like to add the Unicode skull and crossbones to my shell prompt (specifically the \'SKULL AND CROSSBONES\' (U+2620)), but I can\'t figure out the magic incantation to m

Answer 1

You may need to encode the code point as octal in order for prompt expansion to correctly decode it.

U+2620 encoded as UTF-8 is E2 98 A0.

So in Bash,

export PS1="\342\230\240"

will make your shell prompt into skull and bones.