Cross emoji and symbols
“Cross emoji” means two very different things: the Latin ✝️ and Orthodox ☦️ crosses of Christianity, or the ❌ and ✖️ marks for “no” and “wrong”. Copy the right one here.
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Religious crosses
✝️ (latin cross) is the Christian cross: used for faith, prayer requests, funerals and memorials, Easter, and in bios to signal belief. ☦️ (orthodox cross), with its extra bars, is specific to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Both are older text symbols with a variation selector; some platforms show them as plain black glyphs, others in a coloured tile. They are not the same as the plus sign ➕, which is a maths symbol.
For the praying hands that often accompany a cross, see the pray emoji guide. A few related crosses exist only as plain text characters without emoji styling, such as the heavy latin cross (U+1F547), which shows in fewer fonts and is not part of the emoji set.
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| latin crossU+271D U+FE0F | Christian faith, memorials, Easter, prayer | Plain black on some platforms | |
| orthodox crossU+2626 U+FE0F | Eastern Orthodox Christianity | Specific; not a generic cross | |
| plusU+2795 | Plus, add, medical cross (with ⚕️ or 🏥) | Not religious |
Cross marks for “no”
❌ (cross mark) is the red X: wrong, no, cancelled, delete. ✖️ (multiply) is a thinner black X, more neutral, used as a bullet or a “times” sign. ❎ (cross mark button) is an X in a green box, meaning “not selected” or “cancelled”; its confusing colour makes it rare. The matching ticks are in the check mark emoji guide.
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| cross markU+274C | Wrong, no, cancel, delete | Blunt as a reply to a person | |
| multiplyU+2716 U+FE0F | Multiplication, a neutral X, decorative bullets | Renders as plain text on some devices | |
| cross mark buttonU+274E | Cancelled, deselected | Green box confuses readers |
Cruz emoji: the Spanish word for cross
Spanish speakers use the same cross symbols displayed on this page: ✝️ (Latin cross), ☦️ (Orthodox cross), ❌ (cross mark) and ✖️ (multiplication X). These symbols are used to mark a location, express faith, or indicate something is wrong. For example, “No puedo ir ❌” means “I can’t go ❌.” You’ll often see ✝️ in messages about religious events, like “La misa es a las 10 ✝️” (Mass is at 10 ✝️), or ☦️ in Orthodox communities. The red ❌ is common for mistakes, and ✖️ works as a neutral bullet point in lists. The cross emoji are universal across languages, so you can copy any of them and use them in Spanish conversations just as you would in English.
Other cross symbols: Catholic, Jerusalem, iron and West Syriac
The Catholic cross is the same Latin cross ✝️ used across Christianity; there is no separate Catholic cross emoji. The Jerusalem cross (☩) and West Syriac cross (♰) exist as plain text characters but are not part of the emoji set, so they may not display as coloured emoji on all devices. The Iron Cross, a German military symbol, is not a Unicode character at all and has no emoji equivalent. If you need these specific designs, you can copy the text characters from a character map, but they will lack the consistent emoji styling. For most purposes, the standard ✝️ or ☦️ are the recognised cross emoji, and they are the ones you can reliably copy and paste from this page.
The Jerusalem cross, a symbol associated with the Crusades and the Holy Land, is sometimes requested for religious or historical contexts, but as a text character it is not guaranteed to show on all platforms. The West Syriac cross, used in some Eastern Christian traditions, faces similar display limitations. The Iron Cross is not available as an emoji or standard Unicode symbol; you would need to use an image. For a simple, cross-shaped emoji that works everywhere, stick with ✝️ or ☦️.
Chat examples
Real messages with ✝️, and a reply that fits.
Easter service at 10 ✝️
we’ll be there
wrong answer ❌ try again
ugh, ok
✖️ cancelled, sorry
no worries, next week?
Questions people ask
Is there a plain cross emoji?
✝️ is the plain Latin cross. If it appears in colour on your device, that is the platform’s design; the character is the same.
What is the difference between ❌ and ✖️?
❌ is the emoji-style red cross mark for “no” or “wrong”. ✖️ is the heavy multiplication X, usually black, used as a symbol rather than a verdict.
Why does ✝️ sometimes look like text?
Latin cross is an older symbol (U+271D). The variation selector requests emoji presentation, but some apps still draw it as a plain glyph.
Is there a Catholic cross emoji?
No, there is no separate Catholic cross emoji. The Latin cross ✝️ is used in Catholic contexts.
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.
