This is the classic red celebratory seal from Japan, featuring the kanji 祝 (shuku) for “congratulations.” It gives instant “pop the confetti” energy and gets dropped for wins, birthdays, promotions, exam passes, or any W worth shouting about. Think of it as the classy cousin of 🎉 — same hype, a little more formal kimono energy. You’ll also see it in Japanese life on gift envelopes and grand‑opening banners, so it carries that new‑beginnings, good‑fortune vibe even online.
On Apple/iOS it appears as a glossy red circle with a crisp white 祝 centered inside, high contrast and slightly embossed, like a sticker you’d slap on a present. The round badge, clean strokes, and subtle gradient make it super recognizable at a glance, especially stacked next to party poppers and clinking glasses. Some platforms lean flatter or deeper crimson, but the Apple look screams “festive stamp.”
People spam it in timelines and group chats for everything from “I passed my driving test” to “secured the bag,” and yes, it also works perfectly for sarcastic congrats (“nice job, bestie, missed the meeting by 3 hours”). It pops up in anime/J‑pop stan culture as aesthetic flair, and in meme land as a tidy, one‑tap “achievement unlocked” reaction. Pair it with 🥳, 🍾, or a smug clap for maximum effect, or drop it solo when words feel extra — it’s basically a celebratory mic drop.
Definition
An ideograph that means congratulations. An ideogram (pictogram or ideograph) is a symbol or picture used to communicate a concept or idea.
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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.
The code generated for this emoji was changed slightly in iOS 7 / OSX 10.9 (a variation selector was added) advising the OS to display character emoji style instead of black and white text when available. We don't mind Apple, thank you! We just love our emojis! [Sources 11438-emoji-var.pdf 13.7 Variation Selectors (unicode.org)]
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
1066 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
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LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
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ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:congratulations:
Keywords
Previous Names:
Circled Ideograph Congratulation Japanese "Congratulations" Button
Congratulation
