Pray and folded hands emoji
Copy the folded hands 🙏 in every skin tone, and settle the old question: prayer, please, thank you, or a high five?
Published · Updated
What 🙏 means (and the high-five myth)
🙏 is officially the folded hands, and Unicode’s own description lists prayer, thanks and a request among its meanings. In daily use it covers please, thank you, I hope so, bless you, sending prayers, and in Japan, where the gesture originates in emoji, a bow of apology or gratitude. It is one of the most used emoji in condolence and support messages.
The high-five reading comes from early artwork that showed two hands with a glow that looked like a slap. Almost every platform now draws clearly pressed palms, and the character has never meant high five in the standard. If you send it as a high five, most people will read it as thanks or a prayer. For an actual high five, 🙌 (raising hands) or ✋ are closer.
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| folded handsU+1F64F | Please, thank you, hope, prayer, condolence | Not a high five, whatever the old artwork suggested | |
| raising handsU+1F64C | Celebration, “yes!”, praise | The nearest thing to a high five | |
| palms up togetherU+1F932 | Palms up: offering, receiving, dua in Islamic contexts | Different gesture and meaning | |
| latin crossU+271D U+FE0F | A Christian cross for explicitly religious posts | See the cross emoji guide | |
| thumbs upU+1F44D | Simple thanks or agreement | See the thumbs up emoji guide |
Skin tones and everyday use
Folded hands supports all five skin-tone modifiers, and each card above copies the exact two-code-point sequence. The yellow default is the most common in group and public settings.
- Asking a favour: “could you send the file when you get a sec 🙏”
- Thanks: “got home safe, thank you for the lift 🙏”
- Hoping: “fingers crossed the weather holds 🙏” (🤞 works too)
- Condolence: “thinking of you 🙏”, often with 🤍 or 🖤
- Religious: prayer requests and blessings, often with ✝️ or 🕌
Questions people ask
Is 🙏 a high five or prayer?
Prayer, thanks or please. The Unicode name is folded hands. The high-five interpretation came from early artwork and is not how the character is defined or usually read.
Is it rude to use the prayer emoji if I’m not religious?
No. Most uses are secular: please, thank you and hope. Religious readers may take it as sincere prayer, which is rarely a problem.
What is the difference between 🙏 and 🤲?
🙏 has palms pressed together. 🤲 has palms open and facing up, used for offering, receiving and, in Islamic contexts, dua.
