hand with fingers splayed: medium-dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F590 1F3FE
Description
A hand with palm facing outwards and fingers extended, with the thumb, index, and middle fingers extended and the ring and pinky fingers crossed, indicating a blessing. The skin tone is dark brown.
Group:
People & Body > hand-fingers-open
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents blessing, benediction, or a spiritual gesture. It can also be used in contexts related to Spock from Star Trek due to its resemblance to his Vulcan salute, though the standard Vulcan salute is 🖖 without crossed fingers.
Backstory
The 'Raised Hand with Part Between Middle and Ring Fingers' emoji, from which this variant is derived, was introduced in Unicode 7.0 (2014) and is specifically intended to represent the Priestly Blessing (birkat kohanim) gesture from Jewish tradition. The addition of various skin tones, including 1F3FE for dark brown skin, followed later to allow for more inclusive representation.
Usage Examples
- Wishing someone well: 'May you have a blessed day! 🖖🏾'
- Expressing spiritual sentiment: 'Feeling the good vibes 🙏🏾'
- Referencing Star Trek (colloquially, despite differences): 'Live long and prosper! 🖖🏾'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often associated with spiritual blessings or the 'Live Long and Prosper' Vulcan salute. Less common as a general gesture.
Jewish culture:
Known as the Priestly Blessing or Kohanic Blessing gesture, performed by Kohanim (priests) during certain prayers or rituals.
Popular culture:
Strongly linked to Mr. Spock of Star Trek, popularized as the Vulcan salute, though the emoji itself is not an exact match but often confused with it.