The waving hand is the internet’s universal hello–goodbye, the digital equivalent of spotting someone across the room and doing a quick, slightly awkward, totally endearing flap. It works for a breezy “hi there,” a polite “I’m heading out,” or a sarcastic “bye, Felicia” after a mic drop. People use it to slide back into a chat after disappearing (ghosting recovery protocol), to greet new followers, or to signal “I’m lurking, but friendly.” Paired with sparkles it reads cute and flirty; paired with a door or skull, it becomes dramatic exit stage left energy.
On Apple/iOS, it’s a glossy golden-yellow palm tilted at a slight angle, fingers spread, thumb out, with small curved motion lines that make it look mid-wave—like it just said “hey” before you did. The shading is soft and rounded, giving a 3D feel, and you can choose skin tones if you want to match your IRL mitt. Culturally, it channels everything from the royal/parade wave to the “Zoom hello” at awkward intros, and it’s the go-to in Slack welcome threads and quick TikTok comments when you’re popping into the chat. It’s also meme-coded for soft goodbyes, “I exist!” check-ins, and playful IYKYK cameos—short, sweet, and just a little bit theatrical.
Definition
A hand waving at you. iEmoji old name: Wave.
Disqus Leave a comment!
Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji was part of the proprietary / non-standardized emoji set first introduced by Japanese carriers like Softbank. These emojis became part of the Apple iPhone starting in iOS 2.2 as an unlockable feature on handsets sold in English speaking countries.
In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
84 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
Not created yet
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:wave:
Keywords
Previous Names:
Waving Hand Sign
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
Unicode Range
1F300–1F5FF
Unicode Subcategory
Hand Symbols
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Abstract Concepts
Unicode Subcategory
Hand Symbols
Names & Annotations
WAVING HAND SIGN Old name: WAVING HAND Temporary Notes: Waving hello
