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🆘SOS Button Emoji
The SOS button emoji 🆘 carries the codepoint U+1F198 and has been in the standard since Unicode 6.0 (2010). It belongs to Symbols → Alphanumeric Symbols.
What 🆘 SOS button means
Squared letter and word buttons, most of them inherited wholesale from Japanese carrier emoji and never rethought since. 🆒, 🆕, 🆓 and 🆗 still see use as labels, and 🆘 is read as a genuine call for help. 🅰️, 🅱️, 🅾️ and 🆎 are blood-type buttons, a category that matters in Japan, where blood type is discussed the way star signs are elsewhere.
Unicode tags this one button, help and sos and files it under Symbols → Alphanumeric Symbols.
Shortcodes
Type these instead of pasting — most chat apps expand them as you type.
Codes & technical data
| Unicode | U+1F198 | |
|---|---|---|
| HTML hex | 🆘 | |
| HTML decimal | 🆘 | |
| CSS | \1F198 | |
| JavaScript | \u{1F198} | |
| Python | \U0001F198 | |
| Java / C# | \uD83C\uDD98 | |
| Rust | \u{1f198} | |
| Swift | \u{1F198} | |
| PHP | \u{1F198} | |
| URL encoded | %F0%9F%86%98 | |
| UTF-8 bytes | F0 9F 86 98 | |
| UTF-16 bytes | D83C DD98 | |
| Base64 | 8J+GmA== | |
| Decimal | 127384 | |
| Introduced | Unicode 6.0 (2010) | |
Keywords
- button
- help
- sos
Appears in these collections
How to type 🆘
- Windows — press
Win + .and search “SOS button”. - macOS — press
Ctrl + Cmd + Spaceto open the character viewer. - iOS & Android — switch to the emoji keyboard and type “button”.
- Linux — press
Ctrl + Shift + U, then type1f198and Enter. - HTML — paste
🆘.
How 🆘 renders
The same character drawn with whichever emoji fonts your device has installed. Apple, Google and Microsoft each draw it differently, so what you see below depends on what you are reading this on.
- 🆘Apple
- 🆘Segoe
- 🆘Noto
- 🆘System
Frequently asked questions
What does the 🆘 SOS button emoji mean?+
🆘 is the SOS button emoji, tagged button, help and sos. Squared letter and word buttons, most of them inherited wholesale from Japanese carrier emoji and never rethought since. 🆒, 🆕, 🆓 and 🆗 still see use as labels, and 🆘 is read as a genuine call for help. 🅰️, 🅱️, 🅾️ and 🆎 are blood-type buttons, a category that matters in Japan, where blood type is discussed the way star signs are elsewhere.
What is the Unicode code for 🆘?+
SOS button is U+1F198. In HTML that is 🆘, in CSS \1F198, and in JavaScript \u{1F198}. The full table above lists every escape format.
When was the 🆘 emoji added?+
SOS button got its emoji presentation in Unicode 6.0 (2010). Platforms that shipped before that release may draw it in plain text, or not at all — that is why the same character can look different on an old phone.
Related emojis
More emojis from Alphanumeric Symbols in Symbols.
Added in Unicode 6.0 (2010)
Other emojis that shipped in the same Unicode release as 🆘 SOS button.