The graduation cap is the internet’s official badge for “I did the thing.” Visually, the Apple/iOS version is a sleek black mortarboard with a shiny button on top and a golden-yellow tassel draped to the right, shown at a slight 3D tilt like it’s ready to be tossed. No face, no frills—just crisp shading and that unmistakable square board that screams ceremony and pomp. It’s the minimalistic cap you see in announcements, invites, and proud group chats everywhere.
People drop this emoji to celebrate finishing school, passing a brutal exam, wrapping a certification, or even completing a legendary to-do list. It pairs naturally with the diploma scroll, confetti, and champagne for that “commencement vibes” combo. Sarcastically, it’s perfect for tiny wins—like changing a tire, finally understanding taxes, or watching one YouTube tutorial and calling it a degree. You’ll also see it on LinkedIn flexes, IG stories, and “tassel turn” jokes about moving it from right to left when the deed is done.
Culturally, the hat is nicknamed the mortarboard because it resembles the tool bricklayers use, and the cap toss is the iconic cinematic moment of graduation season. Online, it moonlights as a “big brain” stamp—used when someone drops knowledge, nails a thesis-level clapback, or goes full professor mode with a thread. Sometimes it’s used dramatically—“graduating from bad habits”—or playfully flirty as in “school me,” but always with that polished, ceremonial swagger.
Definition
A traditional hat worn by students graduating from a school, college, or university. A mark of completion. Also called a mortarboard cap or square academic cap. A cap with a square board attached to the top. A tassel is attached to the top of the cap. The tassel can be different colors to symbolize the focused study of the student or accomplishments (honors). The tassel may also match the school colors. This emoji is used most frequently in the months of May and June, when most schools hold their graduation ceremonies.
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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.
A graduation mortarboard. Very classy. The icon was updated in iOS 5 from a shirt. Neat icon. Right on Apple! Previously: Graduation Ceremony iEmoji old name: Formal Black Foreign Shirt. Black shirt with gold buttons down the front. Traditional Clothing.
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Artifacts
Unicode Subcategory
Celebration Symbols
Names & Annotations
GRADUATION CAP * graduation ceremony
Symbol Information
U+1F393 proposed
Proposal Identifier
e-51A
Character Mapping/Crosswalk Notes
DoCoMo
[卒業式]
KDDI
#478 卒業式 U+EAE5 SJIS-F3B9 JIS-7A3B
Softbank
#311 #old404 卒業式 U+E439 SJIS-FB79
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)
e439
Formal Unicode Notation
U+E439
Decimal Code Point(s)
58425
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xEE 0x90 0xB9
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
EE 90 B9
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
356 220 271
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xE439
UTF-16 Hex
e439
UTF-16 Dec
58425
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0000E439
UTF-32 Hex
E439
UTF-32 Dec
58425
Python Src
u"\uE439"
PHP Src
"\xee\x90\xb9"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uE439"
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)
1f393
Formal Unicode Notation
U+1F393
Decimal Code Point(s)
127891
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xF0 0x9F 0x8E 0x93
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
F0 9F 8E 93
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
360 237 216 223
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xD83C 0xDF93
UTF-16 Hex
d83cdf93
UTF-16 Dec
55356 57235
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0001F393
UTF-32 Hex
01F393
UTF-32 Dec
127891
Python Src
u"\U0001F393"
PHP Src
"\xf0\x9f\x8e\x93"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uD83C\uDF93"
Emoji Character Encoding Data (equivalent or similiar)
