Christmas emoji meanings: the ones everyone uses
The Christmas tree is the default way to say "it's Christmas" in one character; most platforms draw it decorated with baubles and a star on top. The evergreen tree is the plain version, handy when you mean a real tree in the forest or a winter walk rather than the holiday itself. Santa Claus is joined by Mrs. Claus and the gender-neutral Mx Claus , and all three take skin-tone modifiers.
The wrapped gift stands for presents, gift exchanges and Secret Santa; the ribbon and heart with ribbon lean softer and cuter. The bell means Jingle Bells and church bells alike, the deer stands in for Santa's reindeer (there is no separate reindeer emoji), and the sled completes the sleigh. is the classic plate left out for Santa on Christmas Eve, and / are the shorthand for the nice and naughty lists.
Christmas symbols copy and paste: stars, snowflakes and crosses in plain text
Some places can't show colourful emoji, or you simply want something lighter: usernames, game chats, plain-text email signatures, Word documents. For those, use Christmas text symbols, which are ordinary Unicode characters that take the colour of the surrounding text: stars , snowflakes , a snowman , a ringing bell , music notes , and the crosses for a religious greeting.
The snowflake is a special case: the same character can appear as a flat text symbol or as the colourful emoji , depending on an invisible variation selector and on the app. If you need it to stay a small text glyph, mix it with and , which never turn into emoji. A string like ｡ Merry Christmas ｡ works almost everywhere.
Christmas emoji games: guess the movie or song
Many people searching for Christmas emoji want a Christmas emoji quiz, emoji pictionary or a "guess the Christmas movie" game for a class, an office party or a family group chat. The rule is simple: spell a title in emoji only, and the others guess. Easy rounds use direct pictures ( Jingle Bells); harder ones use puns and sounds ( Silent Night).
Good movie rounds: (Home Alone), (Elf), (The Grinch), (The Polar Express), (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). Song rounds: (Let It Snow), (Frosty the Snowman), (Santa Claus Is Coming to Town), (All I Want for Christmas Is You). Put the answers on a separate slide or under a spoiler.
Merry Christmas emoji text for WhatsApp, Instagram and cards
For a quick "Merry Christmas" text, two or three emoji after the words read better than a long row: "Merry Christmas! " or "Merry Christmas from all of us ". In Instagram captions and stories, people mostly pick a colour palette: classic red and green , a Christmas emoji aesthetic in white and gold , or pink for a softer look.
Christmas emoji work in email subject lines and in Outlook and Teams messages too; one at the start of a subject line stands out in an inbox without looking like spam. On older Windows versions some newer emoji such as may show as two separate pictures, so stick to when you don't know the reader's device.
Where the Christmas emoji came from
, , and were already on Japanese mobile phones before they entered Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The rest arrived in later Unicode updates: the deer and Mrs. Claus in 2016, the sled , socks , scarf and gloves in 2017, and Mx Claus in 2020.
The text symbols are much older: , , and the snowflakes come from the dingbat and symbol blocks of Unicode 1.1 (1993), which copied the printer's ornaments of typefaces like Zapf Dingbats. That is why they look at home in a printed Christmas card as well as on a phone.
Symbols
85Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
How to use them
6 situationsClick to copyChristmas Emoji combos
14Worth knowing
- "Xmas" is not a modern shortcut: the X is the Greek letter chi, the first letter of Χριστός (Christ), and the abbreviation has been used in English for centuries. The chi-rho symbol combines the first two Greek letters of the name.
- There is no reindeer emoji: everyone uses deer, which arrived in 2016. The sled followed a year later, in 2017, so emoji Santa only got a full sleigh team recently.
- Mx Claus , the gender-neutral Santa, was added in Emoji 13.0 in 2020, so on older phones it can appear as a person followed by a separate .
- As of Emoji 17.0 there is still no candy cane, gingerbread man or mistletoe emoji; people use , and instead.
Questions people ask
7How do I copy and paste Christmas emoji?
Tap or click any emoji or symbol on this page to copy it, then paste it into your message, caption or document. The combos above can be copied as one piece.
What are the most popular Christmas emoji?
Christmas tree, Santa Claus, wrapped gift, snowflake, snowman, sparkles and bell, usually together with and for the Christmas colours.
What does the Christmas tree emoji mean?
It means Christmas or the holiday season in general: decorating, festive plans, holiday greetings. For a plain pine tree with no holiday meaning use instead.
What are good Christmas emoji combos?
for a general greeting, for Christmas Eve, for Santa on his way, for a white aesthetic and for a cosy night in.
Is there a reindeer emoji?
No. Use the deer , which every platform supports; or (Rudolph) make the meaning clear.
How do I write Christmas symbols in text without emoji?
Use Unicode text symbols such as . They work in usernames, plain-text emails and documents and take the colour of the text around them.
How do I make a Christmas emoji quiz?
Write movie or song titles in emoji only, for example (Jingle Bells), (Home Alone) or (Frosty the Snowman), number them and keep the answers separate.
