The heart symbol or "heart shape" is an ideograph used to express the idea of the "heart" in its metaphorical or symbolic sense as the center of emotion, including love, especially romantic love.
The "wounded heart" indicating love sickness came to be depicted as a heart symbol pierced with an arrow , or heart symbol "broken" in two or more pieces. The use of the heart symbol as a logograph for the English verb "to love" derives from the use in "I ♥ NY", introduced in 1977.