Traffic light emoji 🚦 🚥
There are two traffic lights. 🚦 vertical traffic light is the tall three-lamp signal familiar in most countries; 🚥 horizontal traffic light is the sideways version used…
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What the traffic light 🚦 🚥 emoji means
There are two traffic lights. 🚦 vertical traffic light is the tall three-lamp signal familiar in most countries; 🚥 horizontal traffic light is the sideways version used in Japan and parts of the Americas. Both mean traffic, commuting, go/wait/stop, and in captions they stand for a decision or a status: “waiting for the green light 🚦”, “red light on that idea”. For a single light people use the coloured circles — 🟢 green light, 🟡 amber, 🔴 red light — from the circle emoji set, since no emoji shows one lamp lit.
Unicode name: vertical traffic light · U+1F6A6 · Emoji 1.0 (2015) · group: Travel & Places.
How people use it
- Traffic: commutes, road trips, driving lessons
- Green light: approval, go-ahead
- Status: red/amber/green project updates
- Waiting: for permission or a decision
Compare the options
| Emoji | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| vertical traffic lightU+1F6A6 | Tall signal | |
| horizontal traffic lightU+1F6A5 | Sideways signal (Japan) | |
| stop signU+1F6D1 | Stop | |
| green circleU+1F7E2 | Green light, go | |
| red circleU+1F534 | Red light, stop |
Questions people ask
What is the difference between 🚦 and 🚥?
Orientation only. 🚦 is vertical, as in most of Europe and North America; 🚥 is horizontal, as in Japan.
Is there a green light emoji?
Not a lit traffic light. 🟢 green circle is used for “green light”, and 🚦 for the signal itself.
Which platform shows the lights differently?
All show three lamps; Google and Samsung show all three lit, Apple shows red, amber and green in order. None highlights a single colour.
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.
