Use as a symbol[edit]
Snowflake symbol
The snowflake is often a traditional seasonal image or motif used around the Christmas period, especially in Europe, the United States and Canada. It represents the traditional White Christmas. During this period, it is quite popular to make paper snowflakes by folding a piece of paper several times, cutting out a pattern with scissors and then unfolding it.[15][16]
Snowflakes are also often used as symbols representing winter or cold conditions. For example, snow tires which enhance traction during harsh winter driving conditions are labelled with a snowflake on the mountain symbol.[17] A stylized snowflake has been part of the emblem of the 1968 Winter Olympics, 1972 Winter Olympics, 1988 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics.[18][19]
In heraldry, the snowflake is a stylized charge, often used to represent winter or winter sports.
Three different snowflake symbols are encoded in Unicode: "snowflake" at U+2744 (❄); "tight trifoliate snowflake" at U+2745 (❅); and "heavy chevron snowflake" at U+2746 (❆).