The arrow is an icon rather than a literal “←” so it inherits the text colour, sits on the baseline, and is hidden from screen readers — which would otherwise read “leftwards arrow” before the label.
Guidance
Use it when
The top of a detail page, pointing at the list it came from.
as={Link} to keep client-side navigation.
Reach for something else when
Instead of a breadcrumb three levels deep. This says “back to the list”, not “here is where you are”.
As a browser-back substitute. It should name a destination, not a direction.
