Bear emoji
Bear, teddy and polar bear: copy them here, and see why 🐻❄️ sometimes splits in two.
Published · Updated
What the bear emoji means
🐻 (bear) is the brown bear face: the animal, “bear hug”, hibernation jokes about winter, and a pet name. 🧸 (teddy bear, Emoji 11.0) is the toy: cuteness, childhood, comfort, a soft aesthetic. 🐻❄️ (polar bear, Emoji 13.0) is a joined sequence of bear plus snowflake and may show as two symbols on old devices. 🐼 and 🐨 are the panda and koala.
Unicode name: bear · U+1F43B · Emoji 0.6 (original set) · group: Animals & Nature.
How people use it
- The animal: hikes, zoos, wildlife
- Cuteness: 🧸🩷
- Pet names: “my bear 🐻”
- Winter: 🐻❄️❄️
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| bearU+1F43B | Bear face | Brown | |
| teddy bearU+1F9F8 | Teddy bear; cute, comfort | Newer | |
| polar bearU+1F43B U+200D U+2744 U+FE0F | ZWJ sequence | ||
| panda / koalaU+1F43C · U+1F428 | Other cuddly animals |
Soft and emotional bear emoji uses
The bear emoji can carry a tender tone. A plush-looking 🧸 or a friendly 🐻 face works well for expressing comfort, softness or a gentle request for a hug. Pairing the bear with muted symbols such as raindrops, clouds or a black heart can signal a quieter, more wistful mood.
The teddy bear’s link to childhood comfort makes it a natural choice for soft or slightly downcast messages. The bear face itself remains warm, which keeps the overall tone gentle even when the surrounding emojis are sombre.
Chat examples
Real messages with 🐻, and a reply that fits.
hug 🧸
🐻
🐻 saw a bear on the trail
WHAT
🐻❄️ zoo day
cute
Questions people ask
Why does the polar bear show a bear and a snowflake?
🐻❄️ is a joined sequence. Devices without Emoji 13.0 support display the parts separately.
What does 🧸 mean?
A teddy bear: cuteness, comfort, childhood or a soft aesthetic.
Is there an emo bear emoji?
No, there is no dedicated emo bear emoji. The bear face 🐻 is a neutral animal symbol, but you can give it an emo feel by pairing it with 🖤 or 🥀 in a message.
About this guide
Written and maintained by the Emoji Directory editorial team, without ads or sponsorship. Meanings describe how the emoji is commonly used in public posts and messages, not an official definition. Names, code points, versions, keywords and translations come from the Unicode Emoji 18.0 and CLDR data; shortcodes from the gemoji project. Last reviewed . Spotted a mistake or a new usage? Tell us, or read how the directory is made.