Man: Red Hair Emoji
U+1F468 U+200D U+1F9B0:red_haired_man:Skin tonesAbout Man: Red Hair ๐จโ๐ฆฐ
Man: Red Hair () is part of the People & Body group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E11.0. Type on GitHub and Slack to use it. On Discord it's . 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 adult, bro, man, and 1 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?
The man with red hair emoji represents, well, a man with red hair. But the backstory of how it got here is way more dramatic than the emoji itself.
Redheads make up 1-2% of the global population. For years, they had no emoji representation at all. When Unicode diversified skin tones in 2015, hair colors were left out. Emma Kelly, founder of the redhead-focused site Ginger Parrot, launched a Change.org petition that collected over 20,000 signatures. She delivered it to Apple's headquarters on a USB stick decorated with a carrot. The campaign ran for over three years before Unicode finally added red hair as an emoji component in Emoji 11.0 (2018), alongside curly hair, white hair, and bald.
The emoji landed in a cultural moment. Redhead discrimination (yes, that's a thing) had been amplified by South Park's 2005 "Ginger Kids" episode, which spawned real-world "Kick a Ginger Day" events that led to actual arrests. The viral 2010 YouTube video "Gingers Do Have Souls" by CopperCab, which got over 40 million views, became one of the defining memes of the early 2010s. Having an emoji felt, to some redheads, like overdue recognition.
People use ๐จโ๐ฆฐ to represent themselves (if they have red hair), to reference specific redheaded people in conversation, or as part of descriptions. It's common in bios of redheaded users on Instagram and TikTok. On #GingerTikTok, creators use it as part of their identity branding.
Outside self-representation, it gets used in discussions about hair color, genetics, and occasionally in jokes about ginger stereotypes (sunburns, freckles, "no soul" references). Some redheads have reclaimed these jokes. Others find them tired. The emoji itself is neutral, but the context it appears in often isn't.
It represents a man with red hair. People use it for self-representation, to describe redheaded individuals, or as part of ginger pride culture. The emoji was added in 2018 after a multi-year campaign by the redhead community.
What it means from...
If your crush sends you ๐จโ๐ฆฐ, they're either describing someone with red hair or teasing you about yours. Not a flirting move in itself. If they call you their "ginger prince" or similar, combined with this emoji, that's different energy.
Partners use it as a stand-in for each other if one of them has red hair. It shows up in contacts, saved names, and bio descriptions. "My ๐จโ๐ฆฐ" in someone's Instagram bio means they're proud of their redheaded person.
Friends use it to reference the redhead in the group. "Is ๐จโ๐ฆฐ coming tonight?" as a nickname. Also appears in roast-format jokes about sunburns and freckles. Whether this is welcome depends on the specific friendship.
Used when describing family members with red hair, especially in genetics discussions. "Dad's a ๐จโ๐ฆฐ, mom's a brunette, and somehow I got the ginger gene." The MC1R conversation starter.
Rarely used in work contexts. Describing a colleague by hair color in professional settings is iffy. If it appears, it's usually in casual Slack channels, not work product.
In comment sections and social media, it's often used to identify with the redhead community or to tag content as redhead-related. #GingerTikTok creators use it as a badge.
Flirty or friendly?
๐จโ๐ฆฐ on its own is almost never flirty. It's descriptive. If someone uses it to describe you to others or in your contact name, that's affection or familiarity, not romantic signaling. The exception is if someone explicitly says something like "I have a thing for ๐จโ๐ฆฐ" in which case... yeah.
- โขUsed in your contact name or with a heart? That's endearment, not generic flirting.
- โขUsed to describe a third person? Purely descriptive. No romantic signal.
- โข"I love a ๐จโ๐ฆฐ" in a dating bio? They're stating a preference. That's as close to flirty as this emoji gets.
If a guy sends ๐จโ๐ฆฐ, he's likely either representing himself (he has red hair) or describing someone else who does. It's descriptive, not emotional. Don't read romantic subtext into it unless there are other clear signals.
She's probably describing someone with red hair or expressing a preference. "I love a ๐จโ๐ฆฐ" in a dating context is about hair color preference. In casual texting, she might be referencing a specific person or character.
Emoji combos
Origin story
The redhead emoji campaign is one of the longest and most public emoji advocacy stories. Popular Science documented the full oral history and it reads like a bureaucratic thriller.
When Unicode expanded skin tones in 2015, Emma Kelly noticed redheads were left out. She ran Ginger Parrot, a website celebrating red hair culture, and she started a Change.org petition. Media covered it: The Guardian, Bustle, Yahoo News. She physically delivered the petition to Apple headquarters in Cupertino on a USB stick wrapped in a carrot-shaped case.
The Unicode Technical Committee took it seriously but the implementation wasn't simple. Jeremy Burge, then Emojipedia's founder and emoji subcommittee vice chair, submitted L2/17-011 in January 2017 outlining the committee's options. They could add a standalone redhead person (like ๐ฑ), create a hair color modifier, or build a ZWJ component system. Emojipedia covered the deliberations across four separate blog posts.
The committee chose the component approach: a standalone ๐ฆฐ red hair emoji that could combine with any person emoji via ZWJ. This meant red hair, curly hair (๐ฆฑ), white hair (๐ฆณ), and bald (๐ฆฒ) all shipped together in Emoji 11.0 in June 2018. Apple added them in iOS 12.1 in October 2018.
The reception was mixed. Redheads celebrated, but quickly noticed they weren't included in every human emoji variant. A redheaded woman existed (๐ฉโ๐ฆฐ) but not a redheaded police officer or construction worker. Emojipedia's "Redheads: Is This It?" post captured the frustration. The hair components worked, but only when vendors chose to implement them across their full emoji sets.
Added in Emoji 11.0 (June 2018). It's a ZWJ sequence combining (๐จ Man), (Zero Width Joiner), and (๐ฆฐ Red Hair component). The red hair component was part of a batch that also included (๐ฆฑ Curly Hair), (๐ฆณ White Hair), and (๐ฆฒ Bald). The approach used emoji components rather than standalone characters, allowing hair styles to combine with any person emoji and skin tone.
The redhead emoji journey started with Jeremy Burge's L2/17-011 proposal in January 2017, which summarized the Emoji Subcommittee's options for implementation. Unicode debated several approaches: a standalone ginger person (like ๐ฑ person with blond hair), a hair color modifier, or the ZWJ component system they ultimately chose.
Design history
- 2015Unicode adds skin tone modifiers but no hair color options. Emma Kelly starts the redhead emoji petitionโ
- 2015Petition delivered to Apple HQ on a USB stick in a carrot-shaped case
- 2017Jeremy Burge submits L2/17-011 summarizing implementation options for redhead emojiโ
- 2018Emoji 11.0 ships with red hair component (๐ฆฐ) and ZWJ sequences for person + red hair
- 2018Apple adds ๐จโ๐ฆฐ and related variants in iOS 12.1 (October 2018)โ
- 2019Gender-neutral ๐งโ๐ฆฐ (Person: Red Hair) added in Emoji 12.1
Around the world
Red hair is concentrated in Northern Europe. Scotland has the highest rate at 13%, followed by Ireland at around 10%. In most of Asia, Africa, and South America, natural red hair is extremely rare, which means the emoji reads differently in different regions: in Ireland, it's self-representation. In Japan, it might evoke anime characters with red hair more than real people.
The cultural weight of "ginger" varies too. In the UK and Australia, ginger jokes are so common they're practically a genre. The "gingers have no souls" meme, amplified by South Park in 2005, has genuine cultural reach. But in many non-English-speaking countries, red hair carries no particular stigma or cultural baggage. It's just uncommon.
World Redhead Day is celebrated on May 26. The Irish Redhead Convention in Crosshaven, County Cork, draws attendees from around the world. There's a Ginger Pride Walk in Edinburgh. These events give context to why some redheads treat this emoji as a symbol of community identity, not just a hair color descriptor.
The emoji itself is neutral representation. But context matters. Using it to set up ginger jokes can be hurtful, especially given the history of redhead bullying amplified by South Park's "Ginger Kids" episode and real-world "Kick a Ginger Day" incidents. The emoji was literally created because redheads campaigned for representation.
Variants of the MC1R gene on chromosome 16. It's recessive, so both parents need to carry it. The gene affects melanin production, causing higher pheomelanin (red/yellow pigment) and lower eumelanin (brown/black pigment), which also explains the pale skin and increased sun sensitivity.
Popularity ranking
Often confused with
Person with blond hair (๐ฑ) was the only hair color variant for years. Some people mistook it for a redhead depending on platform rendering, since the shade of "blond" varied. They're different emojis representing different hair colors.
Person with blond hair (๐ฑ) was the only hair color variant for years. Some people mistook it for a redhead depending on platform rendering, since the shade of "blond" varied. They're different emojis representing different hair colors.
Person with red hair (๐งโ๐ฆฐ) is the gender-neutral version, added in Emoji 12.1 (2019). ๐จโ๐ฆฐ is specifically a man. Use ๐งโ๐ฆฐ when gender isn't relevant or when you want to be inclusive.
Person with red hair (๐งโ๐ฆฐ) is the gender-neutral version, added in Emoji 12.1 (2019). ๐จโ๐ฆฐ is specifically a man. Use ๐งโ๐ฆฐ when gender isn't relevant or when you want to be inclusive.
๐จโ๐ฆฐ is specifically a man with red hair. ๐งโ๐ฆฐ is the gender-neutral version (person with red hair), added a year later in Emoji 12.1 (2019). Use ๐งโ๐ฆฐ when gender isn't relevant.
Do's and don'ts
- โUse it to represent yourself if you have red hair
- โUse it respectfully when describing someone with red hair in context
- โCelebrate Ginger Pride and World Redhead Day with it
- โPair it with positive combos that embrace red hair culture
- โUse it to set up a "gingers have no souls" joke unless the recipient is actually comfortable with that humor
- โAssume all redheads find ginger jokes funny (many are tired of them, and some have experienced real bullying)
- โUse it in professional contexts to identify a colleague by hair color
- โIgnore that for some people, this emoji represents hard-won representation after years of campaigning
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- โขOnly 1-2% of the world's population has natural red hair. Scotland has the highest concentration at 13%, followed by Ireland at 10%.
- โขThe ๐ฆฐ red hair component and its siblings (๐ฆฑ curly, ๐ฆณ white, ๐ฆฒ bald) were shipped together in Emoji 11.0 as a single system for hair diversity.
- โขEmma Kelly delivered her redhead emoji petition to Apple on a USB stick inside a carrot-shaped case. Sometimes advocacy is about the props.
- โขSouth Park's 2005 "Ginger Kids" episode led to real-world "Kick a Ginger Day" events. Two 12-year-olds were arrested for battery at one school. The episode's impact on redhead stigma is still debated.
- โขCopperCab's "Gingers Do Have Souls" video got 40+ million views on YouTube. South Park parodied it directly, which is either vindication or cruel irony depending on your perspective.
- โขWorld Redhead Day is May 26. National Redhead Day in the US is November 5, created by the Vendetti sisters in 2011 as a counter to "Kick a Ginger Day."
Common misinterpretations
- โขSome people use the red hair emoji as shorthand for all ginger stereotypes (fiery temper, no soul, can't tan). Whether this is reclamation or bullying depends entirely on context and the relationship between sender and recipient.
- โขThe emoji sometimes gets used to reference anime characters with red hair rather than real people, especially in non-Western contexts where natural red hair is rare.
- โขOn platforms with inconsistent rendering, the shade of "red" varies enough that some people confuse it with auburn, strawberry blond, or even brown. What counts as "red hair" is surprisingly subjective.
In pop culture
- โขThe Weasley family from Harry Potter is the most iconic fictional redhead clan. Ron Weasley (played by Rupert Grint) made red hair and hand-me-down robes a beloved combination for an entire generation. ๐จโ๐ฆฐ๐จโ๐ฆฐ๐จโ๐ฆฐ๐ฉโ๐ฆฐ๐ฉโ๐ฆฐ in a row is instantly recognizable.
- โขEd Sheeran is probably the world's most visible male redhead. He's leaned into it: his tour merchandise, album art, and personal branding all embrace the ginger identity. The Irish Post headline when the emoji dropped specifically mentioned how Irish redheads finally had representation.
- โขPrince Harry's red hair is one of his most discussed physical features, possibly second only to his family drama. He's been described as the world's most famous ginger, which is a title no one applied for.
- โขThe "Gingers Do Have Souls" video by CopperCab (2010, 40M+ views) remains one of YouTube's most iconic early memes. South Park created a direct parody commercial for their 14th season premiere.
- โขPopular Science's oral history of the ginger emoji traces the full journey from Change.org petition to Unicode committee meetings to your phone. It's one of the best-documented emoji origin stories.
Trivia
For developers
- โขZWJ sequence: (Man) + (ZWJ) + (Red Hair). Three code points total.
- โขSkin tone modifier goes between the man and the ZWJ: + (skin tone) + + . This creates ๐จ๐ปโ๐ฆฐ.
- โขThe ๐ฆฐ component () is an emoji component, not a standalone emoji. It's meant to be used in ZWJ sequences, not on its own, though most platforms render it as a red hair swatch.
- โขAll four hair components were added in Emoji 11.0: (red), (curly), (bald), (white).
- โขFallback: on systems without ZWJ support, this renders as ๐จ๐ฆฐ (man + red hair swatch side by side).
Unicode added skin tone diversity in 2015 but didn't address hair color. The technical implementation was debated: should it be a standalone character, a modifier, or a ZWJ component? It took from 2015 (when Emma Kelly's petition started) to 2018 (when Emoji 11.0 shipped) to resolve.
Yes. All five Fitzpatrick skin tone modifiers work with this emoji, creating variants from ๐จ๐ปโ๐ฆฐ to ๐จ๐ฟโ๐ฆฐ. The skin tone modifier goes between the man base character and the ZWJ + red hair component.
The hair components (red, curly, white, bald) only combine with base person emojis, not profession emojis. So ๐จโ๐ฆฐ works but there's no redheaded ๐จโ๐ firefighter. Emojipedia flagged this limitation in their "Redheads: Is This It?" blog post when the emoji launched.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
If you have red hair, how do you feel about the ๐จโ๐ฆฐ emoji?
Select all that apply
- The redhead emoji: A timeline (Ginger Parrot)
- The oral history of the ginger emoji (Popular Science)
- Summary of options for redhead emoji (L2/17-011) (Unicode Consortium)
- Redheads: Is This It? (Emojipedia Blog)
- The Trouble With Redheads (Emojipedia Blog)
- Gingers Do Have Souls (Know Your Meme)
- Red hair (Wikipedia)
- Ginger Kids (South Park) (Wikipedia)
- iOS 12.1 Emoji Changelog (Emojipedia Blog)
- Irish people rejoice as ginger emoji arrives (The Irish Post)
- World Redhead Day (National Today)
- Kick a Ginger Day (FindLaw)
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