---
id: qtawesome
version: "1.4.2"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# QtAwesome — FontAwesome icons in PyQt and PySide applications

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 258.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

QtAwesome is a Python library that brings iconic fonts into applications built with qtpy. It bundles multiple icon sets—Font Awesome (versions 5 and 6 in regular, solid, and brand styles), Material Design Icons, Phosphor, Remix Icon, Elusive Icons, and Microsoft Codicons—and exposes them through a simple API. You reference icons by a prefix and name (e.g., 'fa6s.flag'), and the library renders them as icon objects ready for widgets.

The library handles font loading and rendering internally, so you don't manage font files directly. It supports styling (colors, active states), alpha blending, icon stacking, and animations. It also includes a browser tool (qta-browser) to preview and search available icons. QtAwesome relies on qtpy as an abstraction layer, enabling use across multiple Qt bindings without code changes.

Use it for:

- Add professional icon sets to desktop applications without managing font files or licensing separately.
- Build icon-rich toolbars and menus with consistent, scalable vector icons.
- Create animated loading spinners or status indicators using built-in animation support.
- Quickly prototype UI mockups by browsing and copying icon names from the included icon browser.
- Style icons dynamically (color, size, active state) in response to user interaction or application state.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

QtAwesome provides iconic fonts—Font Awesome, Material Design Icons, Phosphor, Remix Icon, Elusive Icons, and Codicons—for use in PyQt and PySide applications, with support for styling, stacking, and animation.

Yes. QtAwesome is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with minimal friction, and solves a real problem: it eliminates the need to source, license, and manage icon fonts separately. The permissive MIT license and bundled icon sets make it a straightforward choice for applications using qtpy.

## Install

pip install qtawesome
uv add qtawesome
poetry add qtawesome

## Installing QtAwesome

Before you install: Low install friction: pure Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (qtpy). Active maintenance with a recent release and steady repository activity.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. Bundled icon fonts carry their own licenses (SIL OFL, Apache 2.0, MIT) but are permissively licensed.

Quickstart:

pip install qtawesome

import qtawesome as qta

icon = qta.icon('fa6s.flag')

Requires a Qt implementation (PyQt5, PyQt6, PySide2, or PySide6) to be installed separately; qtpy is a compatibility layer, not a Qt implementation itself.

Verify before relying:

- Whether all icon font versions listed (FA 6.7.2, FA 5.15.4, MDI 6.9.96, Phosphor 1.3.0, Remix Icon 2.5.0, Codicons 0.0.36) are bundled or require separate installation.
- Performance characteristics when rendering large numbers of icons or animating many icons simultaneously.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 258.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

pyqt icons font awesome, pyside iconic fonts, material design icons qt, font awesome qt widgets, qt icon library, pyqt font awesome integration, pyside icon fonts, icon-fonts, ui-widgets, qt-abstraction

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