old man: medium-light skin tone
Unicode: 1F474 1F3FC
Description
An old man emoji, depicted with a bald head, glasses, and sometimes a mustache or beard, with a light skin tone modifier.
Group:
People & Body > person
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Represents older age, wisdom, grandfatherly figure, sometimes used to express a sense of being old or traditional. The light skin tone modifier specifies the skin color.
Backstory
The 'Old Man' emoji (👴) was introduced in Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The skin tone modifiers for various emojis, including the old man, were added in Unicode 8.0 in 2015, allowing for more diverse representation of skin tones, addressing user requests for inclusivity.
Usage Examples
- Referring to a grandfather: 'Visited my grandpa today 👴🏻'
- Indicating wisdom: 'He gave me some wise advice 👴🏻'
- Humorous self-deprecation about age: 'Feeling a bit old-school today 👴🏻'
- Referring to an older male character or person: 'The character's design reminds me of an old wizard 👴🏻'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often used to represent patriarchs, grandfathers, or a general 'old man' figure. Can be used humorously to suggest someone is out of touch or old-fashioned.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage, often representing respecting elders, or a wise elder. Can also be used playfully for older male figures. The skin tone modifier is understood as a demographic attribute.