🫡

Saluting Face

suh-LOO-ting feys
Smileys & Emotion Unicode 14.0 common

Meanings

1
Gesture · Respect Common

A yellow face with a hand raised to its head in a military-style salute, showing respect, compliance, or acknowledgment of instructions. Often used to convey a sense of duty, honor, or patriotism.

Commonly used in contexts requiring formality, acknowledgment of orders, or showing respect to authority figures.

Ready for the presentation, boss! 🫡 📋 Work chat
Mission accomplished, heading home now 🫡 📋 Family group chat
When your friend asks you to pick up snacks on the way over 🫡 📋 Social media caption

Reflects military traditions of saluting as a sign of respect. In digital communication, often carries a tone of playful obedience or ironic compliance.

2
Emotional · Humor Common

Used ironically or humorously to indicate mock obedience, playful compliance, or sarcastic agreement to requests or commands.

Popular among younger users to acknowledge requests with a touch of humor or mild sarcasm.

Mom: Can you clean your room before I get home? Me: 🫡 📋 Text message
When the group chat decides on plans without asking you 🫡 📋 Meme caption

The ironic usage has evolved from literal meaning to become a playful response indicating willingness to comply, often with a hint of performative deference.

Combos with 🫡

🫡✅
Task acknowledged and completed or will be completed promptly.
Common in workplace communication to confirm receipt and completion of assignments.
🫡🇺🇸
Showing respect for American military or patriotic sentiment.
Used during national holidays or in discussions about military service in the US.
🫡😂
Playfully or ironically acknowledging a request or command.
Indicates humorous compliance, suggesting the person will follow instructions but finds it amusing.
🫡🫠
Reluctantly following orders while feeling overwhelmed.
Expresses the tension between duty and personal stress, common in work contexts.
🫡💪
Ready and capable to take on a challenge or assignment.
Combines respect with confidence, showing both acknowledgment and ability.

Culture

The saluting gesture represents hierarchical respect in military and organizational structures, reflecting power dynamics that have transferred to digital communication.

Younger users have transformed the formal military connotation into an ironic gesture, creating a playful subversion of authority while still acknowledging compliance.

One of the newer face emojis, filling a communication gap for acknowledging instructions in remote work environments where visual cues are limited.

Functions as a non-verbal acknowledgment, replacing phrases like 'understood,' 'will do,' or 'on it' with a single visual symbol that carries emotional context.

United Kingdom More often used ironically or humorously than with sincere patriotic intent. Common in workplace banter to indicate mock obedience.
United States Strongly associated with patriotism and military respect. Often used in contexts related to national service, veterans, and military appreciation.
Gen_X: More literal usage, often in contexts of actual respect or acknowledgment. Less likely to use it sarcastically or in meme contexts.
Gen_Z: Frequently used ironically or sarcastically to acknowledge requests. Popular in memes about reluctant compliance or mock obedience to friends and family.
Older: Limited usage, primarily in patriotic contexts or when communicating with younger family members about tasks or requests.
Millennials: Commonly used in workplace communication to acknowledge tasks professionally. Also used humorously in personal chats to indicate willingness to help.

History

2021

Introduced in Emoji 14.0, filling a gap for representing formal respect and acknowledgment.

Growing need for expressing respectful compliance in digital communication.

2022

Gained popularity as a response to requests, especially in workplace and school contexts.

Remote work culture increased need for acknowledging tasks digitally.

2023

Evolved to include ironic usage, particularly among Gen Z users as a humorous response.

Younger users adopting the emoji with a layer of irony or playful compliance.