Face with medical mask Emoji
Smileys
A yellow face wearing a white surgical mask that covers the nose and mouth. The eyes are typically shown as oval-shaped, giving the impression of someone who is tired, unwell, or avoiding germs.
Usage Context
Widely used to communicate that someone is sick, has a cold, or is trying to avoid catching an illness. In many Asian countries, wearing this mask is a standard social courtesy when feeling under the weather, but it has gained universal status as a shorthand for public health concerns and safety measures. It is frequently sent alongside 🤒 or 🤧 when someone is calling in sick or discussing recovery.
History
While the mask was part of the original emoji sets used in Japanese mobile phone networks in the late 90s, its global usage exploded in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic turned this specific icon into a primary tool for digital communication regarding health safety, mandates, and the shared experience of living through a global health crisis.
Details
Glyph
😷
Unicode
U+1F637
Shortcode
:emoji_u1f637:
HTML Entity
��
Specifications
Vendor Google
Category Smileys
Subcategory face-unwell
Unicode Version 6.0
Emoji Version 1.0
License CC-BY 4.0
Google Noto License
Emoji graphics by Twitter/X, licensed under CC-BY 4.0
Noto Color Emoji graphics are copyrighted by Google Inc. and licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. Font files may also be subject to the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.
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