handshake: dark skin tone, light skin tone
Unicode: 1FAF1 1F3FF 200D 1FAF2 1F3FB
Description
A person with a 'hand heart' gesture (index finger and thumb forming a heart shape) with skin tone variations. This specific emoji shows a light skin tone for the first hand and a dark skin tone for the second hand, representing two people forming a heart together.
Group:
People & Body > hands
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents love, affection, friendship, gratitude, or support. It symbolizes connection and shared emotion.
Backstory
The 'hand heart' gesture gained significant popularity in South Korea, particularly among K-pop idols and fans, as a quick and easy way to express love and appreciation. The original 'finger heart' gesture was just with two fingers, but broader hand heart gestures became popular too. The digital version, depicting two hands forming a heart, was introduced in Unicode 15.0 in 2022, reflecting its widespread cultural adoption.
Usage Examples
- Expressing love or affection: 'Sending you so much love! 🫶🏼'
- Showing appreciation: 'Thank you for everything! 🫶🏼'
- Indicating friendship or solidarity: 'We're in this together! 🫶🏼'
- Responding to good news: 'So happy for you! 🫶🏼'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Widely recognized as a universal symbol of love and affection, often used to express warmth and appreciation.
East Asian culture:
Particularly popular in South Korea (known as 'finger heart' or 'finger love') where it originated as a gesture of appreciation or fan love, then spread globally.