raising hands: medium skin tone
Unicode: 1F64C 1F3FD
Description
An emoji showing two hands raised, palms open, with a medium skin tone. It typically depicts a person raising their hands in celebration, praise, or gratitude.
Group:
People & Body > hands
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Commonly expresses joy, celebration, success, praise, thanks, or an appeal. It can convey excitement, victory, or a sense of accomplishment.
Backstory
This emoji (🙌) was introduced in Unicode 6.0 (2010), representing the broad concept of 'Hands Up' or 'Raising Hands'. The skin tone modifier (🏽) followed with Unicode 8.0 (2015), allowing for more inclusive representation of diverse skin tones. It draws from various real-world gestures across cultures, including applause, prayer, celebration, and surrendering.
Usage Examples
- Celebrating a win: 'We did it! 🙌🏽'
- Expressing gratitude: 'Thank you for everything! 🙌🏽'
- Showing agreement or praise: 'That's an amazing idea! 🙌🏽'
- As a general sign of happiness or excitement: 'Weekend vibes! 🙌🏽'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Frequently used as a 'Praise the Lord' gesture in religious contexts, or more broadly for celebration, success, or high-fives.
East Asian culture:
Can be used as a gesture of relief, 'thank you for your hard work' (e.g., in Japan, it's a common gesture of appreciation after a performance), or indicating 'applause'.
General:
Universally recognized as a gesture of celebration or enthusiastic affirmation.