old man: dark skin tone
Unicode: 1F474 1F3FF
Description
An old man emoji combined with a dark skin tone modifier. The base emoji depicts a male elder with a distinct facial expression, typically showing wisdom or friendliness.
Group:
People & Body > person
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Represents an elderly man, often conveying wisdom, experience, authority, or a kindly grandfather figure. The dark skin tone adds specific demographic representation.
Backstory
The 'Old Man' emoji (👴) was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The skin tone modifiers, including 'Emoji Modifier Fitzpatrick Type-6' ( darkest skin tone) (🏽, 🏾, 🏿), were added in Unicode 8.0 in 2015 to allow users to customize human-representing emojis to better reflect diverse skin tones.
Usage Examples
- Referring to a grandfather: 'I'm visiting my grandpa this weekend! 👴🏿'
- Indicating wisdom or experience: 'He's got years of experience, a true 👴🏿 in the field.'
- Showing respect for an elder: 'Always listen to your elders. 👴🏿'
- In a playful context: 'Feeling like an old soul today 👴🏿'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often used to refer to or respect elderly men, grandfathers, or figures of authority and experience. Can also be used humorously for 'old' or 'wise' comments.
East Asian culture:
Similar respect for elders is common; may be used to honor grandfathers or senior family members, or to playfully denote someone with extensive experience in a field.