Salute emoji
Copy the saluting face 🫡 and learn why it means “on it”, “respect” or “o7”, when it is sincere and when it is a joke, and which emoji to use if it shows as a box.
Published · Updated
What 🫡 means
🫡 (saluting face) arrived with Emoji 14.0 and filled a gap people had been covering with the text salute “o7” (an o for the head and a 7 for the raised arm). Its meanings are the same: yes sir, on it, understood, respect, and a farewell to something or someone with mock ceremony. Most uses are playful obedience: your friend asks you to bring snacks, you reply 🫡.
The face has no skin-tone variants in the Emoji 18.0 data, unlike the hand gestures. Because it is fairly new, it can appear as a blank box on devices that have not updated their emoji font; 👍 is the safe fallback for “got it”, and 🙋 (person raising hand) works for “count me in”.
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| saluting faceU+1FAE1 | “On it”, respect, mock-military obedience, farewell | Newer; may not render on older devices | |
| thumbs upU+1F44D | Acknowledged | Plainer; see the thumbs up emoji guide | |
| person raising handU+1F64B | Volunteering, “me!” | Different meaning: offering, not accepting | |
| melting faceU+1FAE0 | Melting face, quietly falling apart | Same release; often paired for comic effect | |
| heart handsU+1FAF6 | Heart hands, affection | Same release; warm rather than dutiful |
Sincere salute or joke?
- Reply to an instruction: 🫡 alone means “will do” and is friendly.
- Respect: “30 years at the same company 🫡” is sincere.
- Farewell: “goodbye to my favourite café 🫡” is affectionate.
- Gaming and online communities: 🫡 and o7 are interchangeable.
- Avoid: using it to a manager who might read it as sarcasm.
Questions people ask
What does o7 mean?
It is a text salute: “o” is the head and “7” the arm. 🫡 is the emoji version and carries the same meaning.
Is the salute emoji sarcastic?
It can be, in the same way a spoken “yes sir” can be. Between friends it is usually cheerful obedience. Add words if the tone matters.
Why does 🫡 show as a box or question mark?
Saluting face was added in Emoji 14.0, so older phones and desktop fonts may not include it. The receiving device needs an updated emoji font to display it.
