Pigpen Cipher
In pigpen, every letter becomes a little shape taken from a grid. This tool draws your message for you and helps you read pigpen back.
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What it does
The key is built from four diagrams: two hash grids like a noughts-and-crosses board and two diagonal crosses shaped like an X. A–I occupy the first grid and J–R occupy the second, each with a dot; S–V go in the first X, and W–Z go in the second X, again with dots. You write a letter by drawing the lines that surround its space, adding a dot when it has one. A full key is shown below the tool for reference.
Type a message and the pigpen symbols appear as you go. The Save as picture button downloads the drawing as an image, ideal for printing on a clue card, a birthday card or a worksheet. To read a pigpen message, use the on-screen keypad: tap the symbol that matches each shape in order, adding Space between words, and the letters build up. Pigpen is often linked with Freemasons, who used it in the 1700s, which explains its other name, the Freemasons' cipher.
How to use it
- Type your message into the box to see it drawn in pigpen straight away.
- Use "Save as picture" to keep the drawing as an image file, or Clear to start again.
- To decode, look at the first shape in the coded message and tap the matching symbol on the keypad.
- Carry on symbol by symbol, using Space to separate words and Delete for any slip.
- Read the decoded letters as they appear beneath the keypad.
More tips
- Squared paper makes hand-drawn pigpen much neater and easier to read.
Ideas for the classroom and home learning
- KS1 (5–7)Print a pigpen version of each child's first name and let them find their own peg or tray label using the key.
- KS2 (7–11)Design a treasure trail around school with saved pigpen pictures as clues; pupils use the keypad to check answers.
- KS2 (7–11)Maths and shape: describe each symbol using right angles, open and closed shapes, and lines of symmetry.
- KS3 (11–14)Explain why pigpen is still a simple substitution, then crack a longer pigpen message using letter frequency.
Questions
Why the name pigpen?
Each letter sits in a small enclosure, and the grids are said to look like animal pens.
Can I print a message?
Yes. Save it as a picture and print that image like any other.
Is there one official key?
No. The layout used here, which begins A, B, C across the top row of the first grid, is the one you will meet most often, but other arrangements exist.
Does pigpen keep messages secret?
No. A letter's symbol never changes, which lets anyone crack it with the same pattern-spotting used on cryptograms.
Opens Unscramble Words 4U, our free word-puzzle site, in a new tab. Free, with no sign-up.
Pigpen is a puzzle cipher, not real security. Keep coded messages to games and learning, never personal details.