Clutch Bag

Both: the artwork and the label change from phone to phone. The character's permanent Unicode name is POUCH, while the short name on most emoji keyboards is "clutch bag". Some designs draw a sleek, structured evening clutch with a flap; others draw a soft rounded pouch with a zip across the top. Whichever you see, it is the same character, and it reads as "a small bag you hold in your hand" everywhere.

A clutch bag, for anyone who has never shopped for one, is a flat handbag without straps, sized for a phone, keys, cards and a lipstick. It is the bag people carry to weddings, parties and dinners, when a big everyday bag would spoil the outfit. A pouch is the humbler cousin: the zipped fabric or leather bag that holds makeup, toiletries, chargers or pencils, and often lives inside a larger bag or suitcase. The emoji's two faces cover both.

It arrived in Unicode 6.0 with the other Japanese mobile carrier emoji, as one of a trio of bags: 👛 a coin purse with a clasp, 👜 a handbag with a handle, and 👝 the strapless one. If you are hunting for "the purse emoji", that trio is where the confusion starts.

What does it mean when someone sends 👝?

Usually: I'm getting ready, I'm going out, or look what I bought. On its own it is a plain picture of a small bag, with no hidden or rude meaning. In outfit photos and "getting ready" messages it stands for the finishing touch: dress, heels, clutch. Next to 💄 or 💅 it turns into the makeup bag being packed. In a packing list or travel chat it is the pouch of cables and toiletries. In shopping posts it is simply the new bag.

The tone is light and practical. Nobody takes offence at it, and the only real risk is the mild one of someone picturing a glittery evening clutch while you meant your scruffy zip pouch.