\documentclass{article} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{xypic} % thats a demo for putting a symbol in the center of a square diagram! \newcommand{\refsymbol}{{?}} \begin{document} Here we have a diagram. \begin{equation} \xymatrix{ A \ar[r] \ar[d] \ar@{}[dr] | {\refsymbol} & B \ar[d] \\ C \ar[r] & D } \label{eq:diag} \end{equation} We want to refer to {\refsymbol} in the square shown in \eqref{eq:diag}. \end{document}