King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “directive”

令牌
lìng pái
(archaic) wooden or metal token of authority; (fig.) decree; directive; (computing) token

The closest CC-CEDICT match for directive is 令牌 (lìng pái), defined as: (archaic) wooden or metal token of authority; (fig.) decree; directive; (computing) token.

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

令 lìng
command, decree, order; magistrate; to allow, to cause
radical 9 ⼈ · 5 strokes
牌 pái
card, game piece; placard, signboard, tablet
radical 91 ⽚ · 12 strokes

Related words

Other words that share a character with 令牌.

WordPinyinMeaning
命令mìng lìngorder; command
令人lìng rénto cause one (to do sth); to make one (angry, delighted etc)
下令xià lìngto give an order; to issue an order
法令fǎ lìngdecree; ordinance
司令sī lìngcommanding officer
指令zhǐ lìngto order; to command; an order; a command; an instruction
品牌pǐn páibrand; brand name
金牌jīn páigold medal; measure word: 枚 (méi)

See also: Japanese symbol for “directive”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.