Background: I have some unicode characters in my prompt (git status markers essentially) I'm running urxvt under xfce on arch linux. I'm using DejaVu Sans Mono for Powerline font, specified via .Xresources line: URxvt*font: xft:DejaVu Sans Mono for Powerline:pixelsize=14 When I start urxvt the unicode characters do not render correctly. For example ? renders as â However, if I then start a new urxvt from inside the first terminal everything renders correctly. There doesn't appear to be any difference in the environment between the two terminals. What could be the difference between the first invocation and the nested invocation? I suspect the font is not correct in the 'outer' instance, but I'm unsure how to check the font of a running X window screenshot demonstrates the problem: Note: I moved this question from serverfault.com - i hope this site is more appropriate