Meaning, copy and paste, related salute emojis and combos.
🫡 Saluting Face means "understood, yes sir, on it". People send it to accept an order without arguing, to show respect or a goodbye (the emoji form of o7), or sarcastically, to obey a request they think is ridiculous.
✍️ Written & reviewed against real usage · verified Unicode 16.0Tap to copy · pastes in WhatsApp, Instagram, anywhere
These are the real emoji characters — tap one to copy it, then paste anywhere. Because they’re text, they show up as emoji wherever you send them.
🫡 is a yellow face with one hand raised flat to the brow in a military salute, and online it works as a one-character reply. The three live meanings are compliance ("yes sir, on it"), respect or farewell (the emoji heir to the old text salute o7, used for RIP posts, retirements and stream sign-offs), and sarcasm - saluting an unreasonable request so hard that the obedience becomes the joke. On TikTok and X it is the standard caption reaction to someone taking an L with dignity, accepting a chaotic plan, or doing something so bold it deserves a salute. Because it arrived in the same 2021 batch as 🫠 and 🫣, it carries that generation's deadpan, mildly defeated tone rather than earnest patriotism.
The default use: acknowledging an order, a plan or a request without arguing. Reads as compliant and slightly deadpan, like a soldier taking instructions. Often sent alone with no words.
A salute to someone who did something impressive, or a sign-off for someone leaving, retiring or being remembered. It is the emoji version of the old text salute o7, common in gaming and streaming chats.
Sent when you think a request is unreasonable but you are doing it anyway. The joke is the exaggerated military formality: "understood, boss" with an eye-roll hiding behind it.
Used to exit a conversation, concede an argument, or accept a loss with dignity. Pairs with "fair enough", "my bad" or "I'll see myself out" more often than with anything actually military.
When a girl sends 🫡 she is usually doing exactly what everyone else does with it: acknowledging you without writing a sentence. It is a closing move, not an opening one - it says "got it, noted, conversation handled". Read the message it replies to. After a favour or a plan she likes, it is friendly and a little playful. After you have told her what to do, corrected her, or cancelled something, that same 🫡 is dry and slightly cold, closer to "yes sir 🙄" than to agreement. It is almost never flirty on its own; a flirty version usually arrives padded with 🥲, 😭 or a joke. If you get 🫡 and nothing else for several messages in a row, she is disengaging politely, not teasing you.
Saluting Face 🫡 and Waving Hand 👋 look closely related and get swapped constantly, but they land differently in a message. Here is what separates them, so you send the one you actually mean.
A sign-off with duty or respect attached. It says "understood", "my respects" or "I am leaving on your orders". Slightly formal, often dry, and it ends the exchange.
A plain hello or goodbye with no hierarchy in it. Warm, casual and reversible - you wave when arriving too. It carries none of the obedience or RIP undertone that 🫡 does.
It’s the same character everywhere — each platform just draws it in its own style. Here are three open emoji sets side by side, plus how your own device renders it:
| Platform | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Apple | Yellow face with a slight smile, eyes looking forward and a flat right hand angled crisply at the eyebrow with visible thumb - the most "formal" looking of the set. |
| Noto flat design, neutral straight mouth and a simple hand at the brow. Reads more deadpan than Apple's, which is why it feels sarcastic on Android. | |
| Samsung | Glossier face with rounder eyes and a softer, slightly cartoonish hand; the smile is more pronounced, so it lands as friendlier than the Google version. |
| Microsoft | Fluent 3D style with a tilted head and an exaggerated hand; older Windows 10 builds without the 14.0 font update show a blank box or a tofu square. |
| Uses its own JoyPixels-derived design on some builds and the system emoji on others, so the same 🫡 can look different between an iPhone and an Android in the same chat. |
Apple, Samsung and WhatsApp draw their own proprietary versions, which we don’t redistribute — the notes above describe how they differ. Open sets shown under their licences: Twemoji (CC-BY 4.0), Noto Emoji (Apache 2.0), OpenMoji (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The salute emoji 🫡 is not always read the way you intend it. These three situations change what 🫡 signals, and knowing them keeps you from sending the wrong message.
Quick answers to what people ask most about the salute emoji 🫡 — what it means in a text, who tends to send it, and how to copy it onto your own keyboard.
It means "understood", "yes sir" or "on it". Someone asks you to do something and you salute instead of typing a reply. Depending on tone it can be sincere agreement, respect for something impressive, or sarcastic obedience to a request you think is silly.
Both, and context decides. Sent alone after a reasonable request it is sincere. Sent after a long list of chores, a rule change or a boss message, it is almost always dry sarcasm - you are complying while making it obvious you have opinions.
Usually the same as when anyone sends it: acknowledgement without extra words. It is a low-effort, low-drama reply. It is not flirty by default, and if it lands after a plan you suggested it can quietly mean "fine, whatever you say" rather than enthusiasm.
o7 is an old text-art salute where o is a head and 7 is the arm at the brow, used in gaming, EVE Online and Twitch chat for respect or farewell. 🫡 is its modern replacement and carries the same RIP / respect / goodbye energy.
🫡 Saluting Face was approved in Unicode 14.0 in September 2021 and reached most phones during 2021 to 2022 - iOS 15.4, Android 12L and Samsung One UI 4.1. Older devices that were never updated show a blank box or a placeholder instead.
No. Saluting Face is a single yellow face with an attached hand and does not support skin tone modifiers, unlike standalone hand emojis such as 👋 or 🤝. There is one universal version across all platforms.
If 🫡 came up in a conversation, these are the emoji people most often look up next — each one explained the same way, with meanings you can actually use and characters you can copy.