Currently, the postgres database by has SQL_ASCII encoding. psql -p 5771 postgres -l List of databases Name | Owner | Encoding | Collate | Ctype | Access privileges -----------+---------+-----------+---------+-------+--------------------- postgres | sandeep | SQL_ASCII | C | C | template0 | sandeep | SQL_ASCII | C | C | =c/sandeep + | | | | | sandeep=CTc/sandeep template1 | sandeep | SQL_ASCII | C | C | =c/sandeep + | | | | | sandeep=CTc/sandeep (3 rows) Is it possible to start the postgres database with UTF-8 encoding, instead of modifying it later. Thanks sandeep -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general