What β€οΈβπ₯ means
It can be either; the fire adds heat, the heart adds love, and the target decides. The emoji fuses two of the most used reaction emoji. on its own already means "hot", "amazing" or "on fire" in the sense of doing brilliantly, and is the everyday "I love it". Put together they mean something is loved intensely, and when the thing is a person, that intensity reads as attraction or desire.
So read the target. Under a friend's concert video, a new haircut or a big win, β€οΈβπ₯ is hype: "this is incredible, I'm obsessed." In a private chat, next to a compliment about how you look, it is flirtation at the very least, and many people use it deliberately for lust, which and are too soft to carry. It is also the heart of choice for fandom passion: a favourite band, player or series gets β€οΈβπ₯ where a milder fan would send .
It is a strong emoji, and that is its risk. Sent to a colleague's photo or a casual acquaintance it can feel like more than you meant, where or alone would have been safe. Some people also use it for themselves rather than someone else: "heart on fire" as a mood, meaning fired up, burning with motivation, or burning with feeling after something emotional, including a breakup. In that use the flames are about the sender's own state, not about you.
Why can a burning heart be religious?
A heart wrapped in flames is also the Sacred Heart, a central Catholic image. In the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion, Jesus' heart is shown burning with love for humanity, usually with a cross on top and a crown of thorns around it. The modern devotion grew in 17th-century France around the visions of a nun, Margaret Mary Alacoque, and the image hangs in countless Catholic homes, churches and medals, especially in Latin America, Southern Europe, Ireland and the Philippines. Catholics mark a Feast of the Sacred Heart each year in June.
Because the emoji has no cross or thorns, nobody will mistake a flirty text for a prayer. But in a message about faith, under a church post or near a saint's day, β€οΈβπ₯ is often chosen on purpose as a small Sacred Heart, meaning devotion and divine love rather than romance. The proposal that brought the emoji into Unicode listed this religious reading alongside passion and lust, which is a neat summary of its two lives.
Hot and emphatic. Fine among friends and fans, loaded between two people who might fancy each other, and too much for a work chat.
On a near-stranger's photo it reads as a come-on, where or alone would not.
Part of collections
What it means when someone sends it to you
5 readingsAttraction or desire: "you look incredible" with heat behind it.
Don't confuse it with
3
Two separate emoji side by side. Spacing gives it away: β€οΈβπ₯ is one glyph with flames growing out of the heart.
Related characters
3
Combination ideas
6Worth knowing
- β€οΈβπ₯ isn't one character but a sequence: a red heart, an invisible zero-width joiner and a fire emoji. Phones that predate it can't glue them and show instead.
- The Sacred Heart the emoji echoes shows flames, a cross and a crown of thorns; the emoji keeps only the flames, which is why it passes equally well as a love note or a prayer.
Questions people ask
4Why do I see and instead of one emoji?
Your device or app doesn't support the joined sequence, so it shows the two parts. The sender almost certainly sent the single heart on fire; update your system or app and it should merge.
Does β€οΈβπ₯ mean they like me?
It can. On your photo or next to a compliment it signals attraction or desire. On your music, your team or your news it is just intense enthusiasm. Look at what the heart is pointed at and what else they send.
What's the difference between β€οΈβπ₯ and ?
says something is great or hot; β€οΈβπ₯ says you love it, with heat. Fire alone is safe on anyone's post; the heart on fire adds feeling, and on a person it adds attraction.
Is it rude to use the Sacred Heart as a flirt emoji?
No. The emoji is a plain heart with flames and most people never think of the religious image. Catholics who use it for devotion do so in religious contexts, where the meaning is clear from the words.
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15
πLove Emoji
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βοΈTelegram Symbols & EmojiHow to type or find β€οΈβπ₯
- Also called
- burning heart Β· flaming heart Β· fire heart
- Search it as
- heart with fire Β· passion heart Β· lust emoji Β· sacred heart emoji
- Type it as
- :heart_on_fire:
- Around since
- 2021 Β· Emoji 13.1
- Shows up on
- Every phone Β· iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux
:heart_on_fire:Common shortcode in Slack, GitHub, Discord, Mattermost and other chat apps; a few apps use a different name.❤️‍🔥Codes and encoding4 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.