Which emoji to use for condolences
Dove is the closest thing to a universal RIP emoji: peace, the soul at rest, and no religion attached. White heart has become the standard sympathy heart — love without the romance of — and folded hands reads as prayer or "thinking of you". Candle stands for a vigil or a light kept for someone, and bouquet, rose and wilted flower are the flowers you would bring.
Hugs say more than faces here: people hugging or next to is warm without being bright. Of the faces, , and show that you are moved; save for people close to you, because to many readers it looks dramatic. The objects headstone, coffin and urn are literal; they fit an announcement or a memorial post better than a message to the family.
The condolence emoji heart: what each colour means
White heart is the safest sympathy heart: peace, purity and remembrance. Black heart means grief and mourning, and many people use it on the day of a death; some read it as dark humour, so it suits close friends better than acquaintances. Broken heart says "I'm heartbroken for you", and mending heart fits later, when someone is healing.
Red heart is fine with family and close friends — it simply says love. Grey heart is a muted alternative to . Avoid sparkling and party hearts such as in a sympathy message; they read as cheerful.
RIP symbols and text: †
RIP stands for the Latin requiescat in pace, "may they rest in peace", a common epitaph on Christian headstones. As text symbols, and its variants are used for Christians, for Jews, for Muslims and for Hindus; and work for anyone.
† Dagger is the plain-text death mark of genealogy and old obituaries: "† 1932" means died in 1932. It copies as a normal character and looks right in names, bios and spreadsheets where a coloured emoji would not. is the map symbol for a graveyard.
Sympathy emoji on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook
In a family WhatsApp group, a short line of words plus or is the norm; a row of emoji on its own can feel thin. On Instagram and Facebook memorial posts, people reply with , , or and the deceased's name, and many profiles add or next to their own name for a while.
Black and white are not mourning colours everywhere: in parts of East and South Asia, white is the traditional colour of funerals, so fits there especially well. often refers to the "rainbow bridge" when a pet has died, and is the usual way to say goodbye to a dog or cat.
Symboler
63Klik på et symbol for at kopiere det og åbne dets side.
How to use them
6 situationsKlik for at kopiereCondolence & RIP Emoji combos
13Godt at vide
- Dove only became an emoji in 2015, from Unicode 7.0; before that people mostly used or for RIP.
- White heart arrived in 2019 (Emoji 12.0) and quickly became the default sympathy heart.
- Headstone was added in 2020, joining coffin and funeral urn, which date from Unicode 4.1.
- The dagger † has marked a date of death in genealogies and reference books for centuries, sometimes paired with * for the date of birth.
Ofte stillede spørgsmål
8What emoji to use for condolences?
and are the safe set. Write a sentence first, then add one or two of them, for example "I'm so sorry for your loss ".
What heart emoji is for condolences?
white heart. black heart means mourning and suits close friends; says you are heartbroken; is fine with family. Avoid sparkly hearts.
Is there an RIP emoji?
There is no emoji named RIP. dove and headstone are used for it, and in plain text people write RIP with or †.
How do I copy and paste RIP emoji?
Tap any emoji or symbol on this page — † — and it is copied; paste it into WhatsApp, Instagram or a message.
What does the dove emoji mean when someone dies?
Peace and the soul at rest. is the most common RIP emoji and is not tied to any one religion.
What emoji to use for sorry for your loss?
or after the words "sorry for your loss". adds sympathy flowers.
Is the skull emoji OK for RIP?
No. Online means "I'm dead" from laughing, so it reads as a joke in a condolence message.
What does RIP mean in texting?
Rest in peace, from the Latin requiescat in pace. Online it is also used jokingly for small losses, so in a real condolence write it out or add .
