index pointing at the viewer: light skin tone
Unicode: 1FAF5 1F3FB
Description
A person with palms pressed together, typically used to represent a respectful greeting, prayer, or thank you. The 1F3FB modifier indicates light skin tone.
Group:
People & Body > hand-single-finger
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents gratitude, respect, apology, prayer, or a polite greeting.
Backstory
The folded hands emoji (🙏) was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. The addition of skin tone modifiers (like 1F3FB for light skin) in Unicode 8.0 (2015) allowed for more personalized and realistic representation of human diversity.
Usage Examples
- Expressing gratitude: 'Thank you for your help 🙏🏻'
- Offering a prayer or wish: 'Praying for you 🙏🏻'
- Making a polite request: 'Please consider my application 🙏🏻'
- As a respectful greeting (especially in contexts influenced by Asian cultures): 'Namaste 🙏🏻'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Commonly understood as a prayer, a strong thank you, or an apology. Less frequently used as a formal greeting.
East Asian culture:
Widely recognized as the 'Namaste' gesture or 'Anjali Mudra' in Indian culture, signifying respect, greeting, and peace. In Japan, it can signify 'onegai shimasu' (please/I beg you) or 'arigato' (thank you). In other Asian cultures, it also conveys respect or thanks.
Global usage:
Increasingly used globally as a simplified thank you or gesture of respect, especially within digital communication.