Skull and crossbones Emoji

Smileys

A stark white human skull resting atop two crossed femurs. This classic emblem has long served as a universal sign for danger, poison, or lethal contents.

Usage Context

Widely used to denote something life-threatening, toxic, or strictly off-limits. In modern digital chatter, it is frequently used to express that someone is 'dying' of laughter, serving as a darker, edgier alternative to 😂 or 💀.

History

Rooted in 17th-century maritime history, the design—famously known as the Jolly Roger—was flown by pirate ships to intimidate merchant vessels. It transitioned into a standard industrial warning icon in the early 20th century to mark chemical hazards before being codified into Unicode 1.1 in 1993.

Details

Glyph

☠

Unicode

U+2620

Shortcode

:emoji_u2620:

HTML Entity

☠

Specifications

Vendor Microsoft

Category Smileys

Subcategory face-negative

Unicode Version 6.0

Emoji Version 1.0

License MIT

Microsoft Fluent License

Emoji graphics by Microsoft. © Microsoft Corporation. Licensed under MIT. Excludes assets such as Clippy, flags, and trademarks.

Microsoft Fluent Emoji assets are licensed under the MIT License. Certain assets—such as Clippy, country flags, and Microsoft product/brand trademarks—are excluded from this license and may not be used without separate permission.

MIT License Fluent Emoji Repository