• can indicate sorrow or regret • can indicate pleading
Information
Folded hands is the internet’s universal “please and thank you” button, doubling as a quick prayer, humble request, or gratitude blast. You’ll see it when someone is manifesting a good grade, begging for concert tickets, or sending thoughts and prayers after drama hits the timeline. Across cultures it nods to Namaste in South Asia and the gasshō pose in Japan, so it carries a polite, respectful vibe beyond religion. Meme lore also insists it’s a high five, which makes group chats chaos—are we praying together or slapping palms from different universes? It swings from sincere (thank you so much) to dramatic (pls universe) to jokingly desperate (I will do the dishes for a week, 🙏), and even sarcastic thanks when someone finally reads the email.
On Apple/iOS, it shows two bright yellow hands pressed palm-to-palm, fingers pointing up, thumbs aligned in the middle, wearing blue sleeves, with a soft golden glow that feels a little heavenly. The clean front-facing angle, smooth gradients, and crisp cuffs make it instantly recognizable in a feed, even at tiny sizes. People drop it after favors, apologies, prayer-chain posts, fundraising asks, or as a respectful sign-off—perfect for wholesome energy without sounding cheesy. Used flirtatiously, it can read as “notice me, please,” and ironically it can soften a spicy take: “No offense, but…” 🙏.
Definition
Folding your hands together palm to palm. Some emojis show a person with hands together and others just the hands. To pray. Also used to say sorry. The Apple version emoji, which does not show a person but just two hands, can be misinterpreted as meaning high five. A high five is when two people slap their hands together to express excitement or celebration.
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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)
29 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:pray:
Keywords
Pray, High Five, Hands, Sorrow, Regret, Sorry
Previous Names:
Person with Folded Hands
Pray
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Emoticons
Unicode Range
1F600–1F64F
Unicode Subcategory
Gesture Symbols
Editorial Comment
Hands together as if you were praying. Please.
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Faces and Smiley's
Unicode Subcategory
Gesture Symbols
Names & Annotations
PERSON WITH FOLDED HANDS * can indicate sorrow or regret * can indicate pleading Temporary Notes: "Sorry" or "Please"
