handshake: dark skin tone, medium skin tone
Unicode: 1FAF1 1F3FF 200D 1FAF2 1F3FD
Description
A person with one hand raised and the other at their side, typically used to represent a gesture of greeting or farewell.
Group:
People & Body > hands
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Can convey hello, goodbye, acknowledgement, or simply a friendly wave. The specific emotion often depends on context.
Backstory
This is a ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner) sequence combining 'Person Waving' (1FAF1) with various skin tone modifiers and a 'Zero Width Joiner' (200D) to create a specific appearance. The base 'Person Waving' emoji was introduced in Unicode 14.0 (2021). The specific combination 1FAF1 1F3FF 200D 1FAF2 1F3FD represents 'Person Waving, type 6, type 4', indicating specific skin tone modifications for each hand in the waved gesture.
Usage Examples
- Greeting someone: 'Hey there! 👋'
- Saying goodbye: 'See you later! 👋'
- Acknowledging someone from a distance: 'Got your message! 👋'
- Getting attention playfully: 'Over here! 👋'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Commonly used as a general wave of greeting or farewell.
East Asian culture:
Context matters more; can be a simple wave, acknowledgement, or sometimes seen as an informal gesture.