This is the shoshinsha, a.k.a. the wakaba mark—the green-and-yellow V badge stuck on real cars in Japan to say, “New driver, please be nice.” Online, it’s the universal newbie sticker: you drop it when you’re starting a hobby, posting your first gym selfie, learning to code, or soft-launching a side quest in life. It reads humble, hopeful, and a little “I’m baby,” which is perfect for asking patience without writing a whole TED Talk. Cue captions like “tutorial mode activated” or “day 1—roast me gently.”
On Apple/iOS, it looks like a glossy two-tone leaf/chevron: green on the left, yellow on the right, a thick black outline, and a pointed bottom that makes a tidy V. The subtle gradient and crisp edges give it that clean iOS shine, like a sprout ready to level up. You’ll recognize it instantly as the down-pointing badge that looks part leaf, part racing decal. It pops in timelines because the colors scream “fresh start.”
Culturally, it’s tied to actual novice drivers in Japan—don’t confuse it with the seniors’ badge (different symbol). In meme land, it’s used ironically when veterans pretend to be new, flirtatiously with “teach me, senpai,” or dramatically to own your skill issue but with main-character growth energy. You’ll see it on first posts, challenge threads, and gamer chats where someone admits they’re in tutorial mode IRL.
Definition
The Shoshinsha mark. A symbol used in Japan to denote a beginner. New drivers in Japan are required to display this symbol on their automobile. A warning sign to other drivers. A symbol for noob. Noob is slang for newbie, or someone that does not have much experience doing or playing something.
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)
1248 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
:beginner:
Keywords
Previous Names:
Japanese Symbol for Beginner
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
Unicode Range
1F300–1F5FF
Unicode Subcategory
Tool Symbols
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Artifacts
Unicode Subcategory
Tool Symbols
Names & Annotations
JAPANESE SYMBOL FOR BEGINNER Temporary Notes: (In Japan) Known as the "wakaba" mark - young/green-yellow leaf. Originally referred to a newly licensed driver. Now it refers to any neophyte.
Symbol Information
U+1F530 proposed
Proposal Identifier
e-044
Character Mapping/Crosswalk Notes
DoCoMo
[若葉マーク]
KDDI
#179 若葉マーク 「若葉maaku」 U+E480 SJIS-F658 JIS-7539
Softbank
#351 #old189 初心者マーク 「初心者maaku」 U+E209 SJIS-F7A9
Emoji Character Encoding Data
Emoji Code Version
iOS 4 Code
UTF-8 Unicode Character(s)
UTF-8 Character Count
1
Character(s) In Input
AppleColorEmoji Font (available in OSX/iOS)
Decimal HTML Entity

Hexadecimal HTML Entity

Hex Code Point(s)
e209
Formal Unicode Notation
U+E209
Decimal Code Point(s)
57865
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xEE 0x88 0x89
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
EE 88 89
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
356 210 211
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xE209
UTF-16 Hex
e209
UTF-16 Dec
57865
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0000E209
UTF-32 Hex
E209
UTF-32 Dec
57865
Python Src
u"\uE209"
PHP Src
"\xee\x88\x89"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uE209"
Emoji Code Version
iOS 5 - Current
UTF-8 Unicode Character(s)
🔰
UTF-8 Character Count
1
Character(s) In Input
AppleColorEmoji Font (available in OSX/iOS)
🔰
Decimal HTML Entity
🔰
Hexadecimal HTML Entity
🔰
Hex Code Point(s)
1f530
Formal Unicode Notation
U+1F530
Decimal Code Point(s)
128304
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xF0 0x9F 0x94 0xB0
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
F0 9F 94 B0
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
360 237 224 260
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xD83D 0xDD30
UTF-16 Hex
d83ddd30
UTF-16 Dec
55357 56624
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0001F530
UTF-32 Hex
01F530
UTF-32 Dec
128304
Python Src
u"\U0001F530"
PHP Src
"\xf0\x9f\x94\xb0"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uD83D\uDD30"
Emoji Character Encoding Data (equivalent or similiar)
