Siren emoji
🚨 is the emoji for “attention, now”. Copy it here with the other alert symbols.
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What the siren emoji means
🚨 (police car light) is the emoji for “attention, now”: breaking news, an urgent announcement, a red alert, “🚨 spoilers”. It is the loudest of the alert symbols and often opens a post. ⚠️ is the calmer warning sign, ⏰ the alarm clock, 🔔 the notification bell and 📢 the loudspeaker. There is no dedicated “alarm” or “alert” emoji beyond these.
Unicode name: police car light · U+1F6A8 · Emoji 0.6 (original set) · group: Travel & Places.
How people use it
- Breaking news: 🚨 at the start of a post
- Urgency: deadlines, sales, drops
- Spoiler warnings: 🚨 spoilers
- Jokes: “🚨 red flag alert”
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Use it for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| police car lightU+1F6A8 | Urgent alert, breaking news | Loud; overuse dulls it | |
| warningU+26A0 U+FE0F | Caution | See the warning emoji guide | |
| alarm clockU+23F0 | Alarm clock; wake up, deadline | Time-specific | |
| loudspeakerU+1F4E2 | Announcement | See the megaphone emoji guide |
Chat examples
Real messages with 🚨, and a reply that fits.
🚨 new episode out
watching now
🚨 sale ends tonight
on it
🚨 gossip incoming
spill
Questions people ask
What does 🚨 mean?
Urgent attention: breaking news, an alert or a warning. Its Unicode name is police car light.
Is there an alarm emoji?
⏰ alarm clock for time alarms, 🚨 for emergency-style alerts.
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.