Man Cartwheeling Emoji
U+1F938 U+200D U+2642 U+FE0F:man_cartwheeling:Skin tonesAbout Man Cartwheeling 🤸♂️
Man Cartwheeling () is part of the People & Body group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E4.0. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. Click copy above to grab it, paste it anywhere.
Works in iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, and every app that supports Unicode. Pick a skin tone above to customize it.
Often associated with active, cartwheel, cartwheeling, and 6 more keywords.
Meaning varies across cultures, see cultural notes below.
Scroll down for the full story: meaning, trends, combos, and more.
How it looks
What does it mean?
A man doing a cartwheel, mid-rotation with arms and legs outstretched. 🤸♂️ started life as a straightforward gymnastics emoji when it landed in Unicode 9.0 (2016), but people almost immediately co-opted it for something bigger: that feeling when you're so thrilled your body can't contain it. "Got the job offer 🤸♂️" doesn't mean you literally did a cartwheel in the parking lot, but the energy is the same.
The word "cartwheel" itself dates to the late 14th century, originally meaning the wheel of a cart. The acrobatic sense only showed up in 1861, because the move mimics a spoke rotating around an axle. In German, the gymnastics move is called Radschlag, literally "wheel strike," and the city of Düsseldorf has held competitive cartwheel tournaments since the Middle Ages.
Today 🤸♂️ sits in a sweet spot: athletic enough to caption a gym clip, expressive enough to punctuate pure excitement, and playful enough to not take itself seriously. It's the emoji version of throwing your hands in the air and letting gravity sort it out.
🤸♂️ shows up in three main lanes on social media. First, literal athletics: gymnastics clips, cheerleading highlights, parkour edits, and any kind of tumbling content. Second, figurative excitement: people drop it after good news, accepted offers, weekend plans, or anything that makes them want to celebrate physically. Third, the Philippine "Beshy" meme blew this emoji into mainstream memeland in June 2023.
On Instagram and TikTok, fitness creators and gymnasts use it as a go-to caption emoji alongside 🤾 and 🏋️. On Twitter/X, it leans more metaphorical: "Monday is over 🤸♂️" or paired with 🎉 after announcements. In group chats, it reads as lighthearted hype, the kind of energy you bring when a friend shares something worth celebrating.
One quirk: because the emoji shows a full-body flip, some people use it to signal a total mood shift. "Was stressed all week but just booked a vacation 🤸♂️" communicates a 180-degree emotional turn. The cartwheel isn't just celebration, it's transformation.
🤸♂️ represents a man doing a cartwheel. It's used for literal gymnastics and fitness content, but most people use it metaphorically to express excitement, celebration, or feeling so happy you could physically flip. Think of it as the emoji equivalent of "I'm doing cartwheels over this."
What it means from...
From a crush, 🤸♂️ reads as giddy excitement. They're telling you that something you said or did has them "doing cartwheels" emotionally. It's not overtly flirty like ❤️ or 😘, but the energy is clear: you make them feel like flipping. If they drop it after you make plans together, they're genuinely stoked.
Between partners, this is celebration shorthand. "Got the promotion 🤸♂️" or "Friday finally 🤸♂️" — it's sharing joy in a way that's animated without being over the top. Partners use it to show they're having a genuinely good moment they want you in on.
From a friend, it's pure hype energy. "We're going to the concert 🤸♂️" or "passed the exam 🤸♂️" — they're pumped and want you to match that energy. It's one of those emojis that almost demands an equally excited response.
Family members, especially younger ones, use it for literal gymnastics references ("watch my cartwheel!") or general kid energy. From parents, it might caption a video of their child doing actual cartwheels in the yard.
In work contexts, 🤸♂️ signals celebratory energy about professional wins. "Q4 numbers are in 🤸♂️" or "finally shipped the feature 🤸♂️" — it's informal enough to stay fun but not inappropriate. Keep it to Slack, not email.
From someone you don't know well, it's almost always literal: they're into gymnastics, fitness, or acrobatics. On dating apps, a 🤸♂️ in a bio usually signals they're active and energetic. In comments, it's generic positivity.
Flirty or friendly?
🤸♂️ leans heavily friendly. It's all enthusiasm and energy, with almost no romantic coding. Where 😏 or 😉 carry flirty weight, the cartwheel is too busy being excited to be seductive. That said, in the right context ("you make me 🤸♂️") it can signal that someone gives you butterflies. Read the conversation, not just the emoji.
- •Friendly when reacting to general good news
- •Potentially flirty if used in response to something YOU specifically did
- •Athletic context: always literal, never flirty
- •Repeated use (🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️) = extremely excited, still usually friendly
From a guy, 🤸♂️ almost always means he's excited or pumped about something. It's rarely flirty on its own — it's more about high energy and celebration. If he sends it after you make plans together, he's genuinely stoked. If it's after his own good news, he's sharing his joy with you.
From a girl, same deal: excitement and enthusiasm. Girls tend to use 🤸♂️ in celebration contexts ("got the job 🤸♂️") or to express playful energy. It can mean she's really happy about something you said, but read it as friendly excitement rather than romantic interest unless other signals point that way.
Not typically. 🤸♂️ is one of the friendlier emojis — it's all energy and enthusiasm with very little romantic coding. The exception: if someone says "you make me 🤸♂️" or uses it specifically in response to YOU rather than a general event, there might be a hint of butterflies mixed in.
Emoji combos
Origin story
The cartwheel predates gymnastics as a formal sport by thousands of years. A fresco from the Palace of Knossos in Crete, dating to roughly 1500 BCE, shows a figure performing what appears to be either a cartwheel or a handspring over a charging bull. That's 3,500 years of humans flipping sideways for reasons ranging from ritual to entertainment.
The word "cartwheel" entered English in the late 1300s simply meaning the wheel of a cart. It took nearly 500 years for someone to notice the resemblance between a rotating spoke and a person with outstretched limbs, and the acrobatic meaning wasn't recorded until 1861. In Düsseldorf, Germany, the Radschläger (cartwheel turners) have been a civic symbol since at least the 15th century, with children competing in cartwheel tournaments to celebrate military victories.
Modern gymnastics arrived at the first modern Olympics in Athens (1896), though the cartwheel itself is considered a fundamental skill, not a competitive event. It's the first acrobatic move most people learn as kids, which is why the emoji carries such strong nostalgia alongside its athletic meaning.
🤸♂️ was approved in Unicode 9.0 (2016) as a ZWJ sequence combining 🤸 Person Doing Cartwheel with ♂️ Male Sign. It joined a batch of activity emojis that reflected Unicode's push to represent sports and fitness beyond the traditional ⚽🏀 ball sports.
Design history
- 2016Approved in Unicode 9.0 / Emoji 3.0 as Person Doing Cartwheel + Male Sign ZWJ sequence↗
- 2016Google releases first design in Android 7.0 (August 2016)
- 2016Samsung adds in TouchWiz 7.1 (December 2016)
- 2017Apple releases in iOS 10.2 — shows figure in a leotard, suggesting professional gymnast
- 2018Twitter redesigns with woman figure; Samsung changes to young boy↗
- 2023Philippine 'Beshy' meme makes cartwheeling emoji go viral globally (June 2023)
Around the world
In the Philippines, 🤸 became a cultural phenomenon in June 2023 through the "Beshy" meme. The format (inserting 🤸 between every word) originated from a GMA Network drama scene where two friends did cartwheels to cheer each other up. The trend went so wide that Philippine celebrities, brands like GrabFood, and even government social media accounts adopted it.
In Germany, cartwheels carry specific civic meaning. Düsseldorf's Radschläger tradition celebrates cartwheeling children as a symbol of the city's identity, appearing on manhole covers, fountains, and official emblems. A German user sending 🤸♂️ might be referencing this local pride rather than generic excitement.
In gymnastics-heavy cultures like Romania, Russia, China, and the US, the emoji reads more literally as an athletic reference. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, gymnastics-related emoji usage spiked globally, with Simone Biles becoming the first female athlete to receive a custom Twitter emoji (a 🐐 GOAT, not a cartwheel, but it elevated the whole gymnastics-emoji connection).
Across most other cultures, the emoji is universally read as excitement or playfulness. Unlike emojis that shift meaning across borders (👍 in Iran, 🤙 in different contexts), the cartwheel is one of the safer cross-cultural sends.
The "Beshy" meme originated from a Philippine TV show called Magpakailanman, where two friends did cartwheels while asking "Bakit malungkot ang beshie ko?" (Why is my bestie sad?). A clip went viral on Twitter in June 2023 with 1.6M views. The meme format inserts 🤸 between every word, and it spread to Filipino celebrities and brands.
Activity emoji usage comparison
Often confused with
The woman cartwheeling variant (🤸♀️) is the same move with a female sign. On most platforms they look nearly identical, and people use them interchangeably. The gender distinction matters less than the energy.
The woman cartwheeling variant (🤸♀️) is the same move with a female sign. On most platforms they look nearly identical, and people use them interchangeably. The gender distinction matters less than the energy.
🤸 is the gender-neutral Person Cartwheeling. 🤸♂️ is the male variant (Man Cartwheeling), a ZWJ sequence adding the male sign. On most platforms they look nearly identical, and people use them interchangeably. The gendered variants exist for inclusivity, but the meaning doesn't change.
🤸♂️ (Man Cartwheeling) shows a sideways flip, representing gymnastics or excitement. 🤾 (Person Playing Handball) shows a figure throwing a ball. Both are airborne, which causes confusion, but the energy is different: cartwheeling is tumbling and joy, handball is throwing and competition.
Do's and don'ts
- ✓Use for celebrating wins, good news, or exciting plans
- ✓Pair with fitness content: gym clips, gymnastics, cheerleading
- ✓Drop into group chats to hype up a friend's achievement
- ✓Use as a reaction to something that genuinely excites you
- ✗Don't use in formal work emails — it's too animated for professional contexts
- ✗Avoid in serious or sensitive conversations — cartwheels feel dismissive next to heavy topics
- ✗Don't spam it without context — three cartwheels with no explanation reads as random
- ✗Skip it when someone shares bad news, even if you're trying to cheer them up
In casual work channels (Slack, Teams), 🤸♂️ works great for celebrating wins: shipped features, hit targets, Friday energy. Skip it in formal emails, client-facing communication, or serious discussions. It's too animated for contexts that demand professionalism.
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- •The word "cartwheel" meant "wheel of a cart" for nearly 500 years before anyone used it for the gymnastics move. The acrobatic sense wasn't recorded until 1861.
- •Düsseldorf, Germany, has used cartwheeling children (Radschläger) as a civic symbol since the Middle Ages. The image appears on the city's manhole covers, fountains, and official emblems.
- •A fresco from the Palace of Knossos in Crete, roughly 3,500 years old, shows what appears to be a person doing a cartwheel over a charging bull. It's one of the oldest depictions of acrobatic movement.
- •The Philippine "Beshy" meme in June 2023 made cartwheeling emojis so viral that the original Twitter clip hit 1.6 million views in days. Even GrabFood Philippines made their own version.
- •Simone Biles became the first female athlete to receive a custom Twitter emoji — though it was a 🐐 (GOAT), not a cartwheel. The gymnastics-emoji connection runs deep.
Common misinterpretations
- •Some people read 🤸♂️ as chaotic or out-of-control energy rather than positive excitement. In the wrong context ("everything is falling apart 🤸♂️") it can look sarcastic or unhinged, like you're literally tumbling through a crisis.
- •Older recipients might not associate cartwheeling with excitement at all and read it purely as a sports emoji. If your aunt responds to 🤸♂️ with "are you doing gymnastics?" that's why.
In pop culture
- •The Magpakailanman "Beshy" scene (GMA Network, 2019) became the defining pop culture moment for 🤸. Two friends doing cartwheels while cheering each other up spawned an entire meme format across Filipino social media.
- •Simone Biles' 2024 Paris Olympics Instagram post captioning her gold medals with "lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions" drove gymnastics emojis into peak usage. Her TikTok "attitude check" video hit 1.6M likes.
- •The r/MemeEconomy "golfer, wheelchair, cartwheel" format (2020) used the trio of activity emojis 🏌️🧑🦽🤸 as an escalation meme, with the cartwheel as the punchline for maximum chaos.
- •Her Campus published a viral essay titled "Why the Cartwheel Emoji is My Favorite" arguing that 🤸 captures the specific feeling of being so happy you want to physically move, a sensation that no other emoji quite nails.
Trivia
For developers
- •🤸♂️ is a ZWJ sequence: (Person Doing Cartwheel) + (ZWJ) + (Male Sign) + (Variation Selector-16). Four codepoints, one glyph.
- •Shortcodes vary by platform: on GitHub/Slack, on some systems. Test before relying on shortcode rendering.
- •Skin tone modifiers apply to the base before the ZWJ: = . Five codepoints for a skin-toned gendered cartwheel.
- •The base emoji () renders gender-neutrally on most modern platforms. If your app doesn't need to specify gender, skip the ZWJ sequence and use 🤸 directly for simpler string handling.
Person Doing Cartwheel (🤸) was approved in Unicode 9.0 in 2016 and added to Emoji 3.0. The gendered variants (🤸♂️ Man Cartwheeling, 🤸♀️ Woman Cartwheeling) were added as ZWJ sequences in the same release. It first appeared on Google Android 7.0 (August 2016), Samsung TouchWiz 7.1 (December 2016), and Apple iOS 10.2 (2017).
Vendor design choices vary. Older Twitter versions showed a woman for the base 🤸 emoji, while Samsung showed a young boy, and Apple showed a gender-neutral figure in a leotard. This is why the ZWJ gendered variants (🤸♂️🤸♀️) exist: to give users explicit control over the character's gender presentation.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
What does 🤸♂️ mean to you?
Select all that apply
- Man Cartwheeling Emoji (emojipedia.org)
- Person Cartwheel Emoji (dictionary.com)
- Person Cartwheeling Emoji (emojiterra.com)
- Cartwheel — Etymology (etymonline.com)
- Gymnastics History (britannica.com)
- Origin of the Beshy Meme (interaksyon.philstar.com)
- Beshy Meme Inspiring Story (gmanetwork.com)
- Simone Biles Custom Twitter Emoji (sports.yahoo.com)
- Simone Biles Paris Olympics Caption (nbcwashington.com)
- Emoji Design Convergence Review (blog.emojipedia.org)
- Radschlag — Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org)
- Why the Cartwheel Emoji is My Favorite (hercampus.com)
- Golfer/Wheelchair/Cartwheel Meme (knowyourmeme.com)
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