diff --git a/autoload/airline/init.vim b/autoload/airline/init.vim
index 88603364..118f69aa 100644
--- a/autoload/airline/init.vim
+++ b/autoload/airline/init.vim
@@ -87,12 +87,15 @@ function! airline#init#bootstrap()
     call s:check_defined('g:airline_right_sep', "\ue0b2")     " 
     call s:check_defined('g:airline_right_alt_sep', "\ue0b3") " 
     " ro=, ws=☲, lnr=, mlnr=☰, colnr=, br=, nx=Ɇ, crypt=🔒, dirty=⚡
+    "  Note: For powerline, we add an extra space after maxlinenr symbol,
+    "  because it is usually setup as a ligature in most powerline patched
+    "  fonts. It can be over-ridden by configuring a custom maxlinenr
     call extend(g:airline_symbols, {
           \ 'readonly': "\ue0a2",
           \ 'whitespace': "\u2632",
-          \ 'maxlinenr': "\u2630",
-          \ 'linenr': "\ue0a1",
-          \ 'colnr': "\ue0a3",
+          \ 'maxlinenr': "\u2630 ",
+          \ 'linenr': " \ue0a1:",
+          \ 'colnr': " \ue0a3:",
           \ 'branch': "\ue0a0",
           \ 'notexists': "\u0246",
           \ 'dirty': "\u26a1",
@@ -109,8 +112,8 @@ function! airline#init#bootstrap()
           \ 'readonly': "\u229D",
           \ 'whitespace': "\u2632",
           \ 'maxlinenr': "\u2630",
-          \ 'linenr': "\u33d1",
-          \ 'colnr': "\u2105",
+          \ 'linenr': " \u33d1:",
+          \ 'colnr': " \u2105:",
           \ 'branch': "\u16A0",
           \ 'notexists': "\u0246",
           \ 'crypt': nr2char(0x1F512),
@@ -125,9 +128,9 @@ function! airline#init#bootstrap()
     call extend(g:airline_symbols, {
           \ 'readonly': 'RO',
           \ 'whitespace': '!',
-          \ 'linenr': 'ln',
+          \ 'linenr': ' ln:',
           \ 'maxlinenr': '',
-          \ 'colnr': 'co',
+          \ 'colnr': ' cn:',
           \ 'branch': '',
           \ 'notexists': '?',
           \ 'crypt': 'cr',
@@ -155,13 +158,13 @@ function! airline#init#bootstrap()
   endif
   call airline#parts#define_raw('path', '%F%m')
   call airline#parts#define('linenr', {
-        \ 'raw': '%{g:airline_symbols.linenr}:%l',
+        \ 'raw': '%{g:airline_symbols.linenr}%l',
         \ 'accent': 'bold'})
   call airline#parts#define('maxlinenr', {
-        \ 'raw': '/%L%{g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr} ',
+        \ 'raw': '/%L%{g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr}',
         \ 'accent': 'bold'})
   call airline#parts#define('colnr', {
-        \ 'raw': ' %{g:airline_symbols.colnr}:%v',
+        \ 'raw': '%{g:airline_symbols.colnr}%v',
         \ 'accent': 'bold'})
   call airline#parts#define_function('ffenc', 'airline#parts#ffenc')
   call airline#parts#define('hunks', {
@@ -233,9 +236,9 @@ function! airline#init#sections()
   endif
   if !exists('g:airline_section_z')
     if airline#util#winwidth() > 79
-      let g:airline_section_z = airline#section#create(['windowswap', 'obsession', '%p%%'.spc, 'linenr', 'maxlinenr', 'colnr'])
+      let g:airline_section_z = airline#section#create(['windowswap', 'obsession', '%p%%', 'linenr', 'maxlinenr', 'colnr'])
     else
-      let g:airline_section_z = airline#section#create(['%p%%'.spc, 'linenr', 'colnr'])
+      let g:airline_section_z = airline#section#create(['%p%%', 'linenr', 'colnr'])
     endif
   endif
   if !exists('g:airline_section_error')
diff --git a/doc/airline.txt b/doc/airline.txt
index e340efed..368060e1 100644
--- a/doc/airline.txt
+++ b/doc/airline.txt
@@ -71,12 +71,14 @@ section  meaning (example)~
          optionally may contain Byte Order Mark `[BOM]` and missing end of last
          line `[!EOL]`
   Z      current position in the file
-           percentage % ☰ current line/number of lines ln : column
-           So this: 10% ☰ 10/100 ln : 20   means: >
+           percentage % ln: current line/number of lines ☰ cn: column
+           So this: 10% ln:10/100☰ cn:20
+	   means: >
               10%     - 10 percent
-              ☰ 10    - current line 10
-              /100 ln - of 100 lines
-              : 20    - current column 20
+	      ln:     - line number is
+              10/100☰ - 10 of 100 total lines
+	      cn:     - column number is
+              20      - 20
 <
   [...]  additional sections (warning/errors/statistics)
          from external plugins (e.g. YCM/syntastic/...)
@@ -343,6 +345,16 @@ CUSTOMIZATION                                        *airline-customization*
 The following are some unicode symbols for customizing the left/right
 separators, as well as the powerline font glyphs.
 
+Note: Some additional characters like spaces and colons may be included in the
+default. Including them within the symbol definitions rather than outside of
+them allows you to eliminate or otherwise alter them.
+
+Note: Be aware that some of these glyphs are defined as ligatures, so they may
+show up different (usually bigger) if followed by a space. This only happens
+if both the font and terminal implementation used support ligatures. If you
+want to follow a glyph with a space _without_ the alternate ligature being
+rendered, follow it with a non-breaking-space character. 
+
 Note: You must define the dictionary first before setting values. Also, it's
 a good idea to check whether it exists as to avoid accidentally overwriting
 its contents. >
@@ -355,12 +367,12 @@ its contents. >
   let g:airline_left_sep = '▶'
   let g:airline_right_sep = '«'
   let g:airline_right_sep = '◀'
-  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = '㏇'
-  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = '℅'
+  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = ' ㏇:'
+  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = ' ℅:'
   let g:airline_symbols.crypt = '🔒'
   let g:airline_symbols.linenr = '☰'
-  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = '␊'
-  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = '␤'
+  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = ' ␊:'
+  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = ' ␤:'
   let g:airline_symbols.linenr = '¶'
   let g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr = ''
   let g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr = '㏑'
@@ -378,10 +390,10 @@ its contents. >
   let g:airline_right_sep = ''
   let g:airline_right_alt_sep = ''
   let g:airline_symbols.branch = ''
-  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = ''
+  let g:airline_symbols.colnr = ' :'
   let g:airline_symbols.readonly = ''
-  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = '☰'
-  let g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr = ''
+  let g:airline_symbols.linenr = ' :'
+  let g:airline_symbols.maxlinenr = '☰ '
   let g:airline_symbols.dirty='⚡'
 
   " old vim-powerline symbols