Tiger Face Emoji
U+1F42F:tiger:About Tiger Face ๐ฏ
Tiger Face () is part of the Animals & Nature group in Unicode. Added in Unicode E0.6. 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.
Often associated with animal, big, cat, and 3 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 friendly, cartoon-styled tiger face with orange-and-white fur, black stripes, and a gentle expression. Emojipedia says it's generally used with "more affection" than the full-bodied ๐
Tiger emoji. It represents real tigers, fictional tiger characters, and the concept of fierceness.
The tiger carries extraordinary cultural weight. In China, it's the third animal of the zodiac and considered the king of all beasts, symbolizing strength, courage, and the power to ward off evil spirits. In Korean culture, the tiger (ํธ๋์ด, horangi) is even more central: it's considered the guardian of the nation, appearing in founding mythology, folk paintings (minhwa), and the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics mascot Soohorang.
Dictionary.com notes it's used for actual tigers, fictional characters like Disney's Tigger and Kellogg's Tony the Tiger, sports teams named Tigers, and metaphorical fierceness.
๐ฏ serves a split audience. Sports fans use it for tiger-mascot teams (Clemson Tigers, LSU Tigers, Cincinnati Bengals, and 43 other NCAA "tiger" teams). East Asian communities use it during Lunar New Year for Year of the Tiger celebrations. Pop culture fans use it for Tony the Tiger, Tigger, and Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes.
The emoji saw its biggest search interest spike in Q1 2022, the Year of the Tiger, confirming that zodiac cycles significantly drive emoji usage. Netflix's Tiger King (2020) also boosted tiger-related content, though the show mostly used ๐
full-body tiger.
It represents a tiger and is used for fierceness, power, sports teams with tiger mascots, Chinese zodiac Year of the Tiger, and pop culture tiger characters like Tony the Tiger and Tigger. It's the cute, friendly version of the full-body ๐ .
The big cats family
What it means from...
From a crush, ๐ฏ is playful and confident. "Rawr ๐ฏ" is cute teasing. It signals bold, confident energy. It can also be their way of calling you fierce or strong.
Between friends, ๐ฏ is usually sports-related (game day for a tiger team), hype energy ("you're a tiger ๐ฏ"), or referencing someone's zodiac sign. It's always positive.
At work, ๐ฏ appears in Lunar New Year greetings (especially in companies with East Asian presence), sports talk, and occasionally as encouragement ("go get 'em ๐ฏ").
Usually it means fierceness, confidence, or sports fandom. "Rawr ๐ฏ" from a crush is playful teasing. In sports contexts, it's team spirit. There's no significant gender difference in how this emoji is used.
Emoji combos
Origin story
The tiger emoji draws from one of the most culturally loaded animals on Earth. In China, the tiger has been the king of beasts for thousands of years. Chinese children wear tiger-headed caps and shoes to ward off evil spirits. Tiger paintings are hung facing doorways so demons won't enter. The character ็ (king) is said to be visible in the markings on a tiger's forehead.
In Korea, the tiger (ํธ๋์ด) is arguably even more significant. Korean tiger culture traces back to the Dangun creation myth, where a tiger and a bear competed to become human. The tiger appears in traditional minhwa folk paintings, often depicted humorously alongside magpies. The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics chose a white tiger mascot named Soohorang (์ํธ๋), combining "protection" (์ํธ) and "tiger" (ํธ๋์ด).
In the West, tigers entered pop culture through Kellogg's Tony the Tiger (1952), A.A. Milne's Tigger (1928), Bill Watterson's Hobbes (1985), and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (1982, written for Rocky III). The tiger is also the most popular college sports mascot in the United States, with over 40 NCAA teams using the name.
Approved in Unicode 6.0 (2010) as TIGER FACE. Added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. No skin tone modifiers (animal emoji). Companion to ๐ Tiger (full-body, ).
Around the world
The tiger's cultural meaning shifts dramatically by region. In China, it's the zodiac king of beasts and a protector against evil. In Korea, it's the national guardian animal with a mythology as deep as any nation on earth. In India, the Bengal tiger is the national animal and a conservation symbol. In the West, it's primarily a sports mascot and pop culture character.
During Year of the Tiger celebrations (most recently 2022, next in 2034), ๐ฏ usage spikes across East Asian social media. Google Trends data shows a visible bump in Q1 2022 coinciding with Lunar New Year.
The tiger is the king of all beasts in Chinese culture (not the lion). It's the third zodiac animal, symbolizing strength, courage, and protection against evil. The character ็ (king) appears in the tiger's forehead markings. ๐ฏ spikes in usage during Year of the Tiger celebrations.
The tiger (ํธ๋์ด, horangi) is Korea's guardian animal. It appears in the founding myth, folk paintings, and was the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics mascot (Soohorang). Korean tiger symbolism is among the deepest of any country.
The most recent Year of the Tiger was 2022. The next will be 2034. In the Chinese zodiac, people born in tiger years are associated with bravery, competitiveness, and confidence.
2022 was the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac. Google Trends shows a visible jump in Q1 2022 coinciding with Lunar New Year celebrations worldwide.
Popularity ranking
Search interest
Often confused with
๐ Tiger shows the full body in profile. ๐ฏ Tiger Face shows just the head, front-facing. ๐ฏ is cuter and more affectionate. ๐ is more realistic and wildlife-oriented. Both represent tigers.
๐ Tiger shows the full body in profile. ๐ฏ Tiger Face shows just the head, front-facing. ๐ฏ is cuter and more affectionate. ๐ is more realistic and wildlife-oriented. Both represent tigers.
๐ฆ Lion has a mane and represents a different big cat. In Western culture, the lion is king of the jungle. In Chinese culture, the tiger holds that title. Different cultures, different kings.
๐ฆ Lion has a mane and represents a different big cat. In Western culture, the lion is king of the jungle. In Chinese culture, the tiger holds that title. Different cultures, different kings.
๐ฏ is a front-facing tiger face (cute, friendly). ๐ is a full-body tiger in profile (realistic, wildlife-oriented). Emojipedia notes ๐ฏ is used with "more affection" than ๐ . Both represent tigers but with different tones.
Do's and don'ts
- โUse for Lunar New Year (Year of the Tiger) greetings
- โUse for tiger-mascot sports teams
- โUse for fierceness, courage, and bold energy
- โConfuse ๐ฏ (face, cute) with ๐ (full body, realistic) in context-specific posts
- โUse it dismissively toward conservation topics (tigers are endangered)
Caption ideas
Aesthetic sets
Type it as text
Fun facts
- โขThe Chinese character ็ (wรกng, meaning "king") is said to be visible in the natural markings on a tiger's forehead. This is why the tiger, not the lion, is considered the king of beasts in Chinese culture.
- โขThere are over 40 NCAA teams nicknamed the Tigers, making it the most popular mascot name in American college sports. Clemson even created a custom tiger paw emoji for social media.
- โขThe 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics mascot Soohorang (์ํธ๋) was a white tiger. The name combines ์ํธ (sooho, "protection") and ํธ๋์ด (horangi, "tiger"), referencing the tiger's role as Korea's guardian spirit.
In pop culture
- โขTony the Tiger has been the mascot of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes since 1952. His catchphrase "They're Grrreat!" is one of the most recognized advertising slogans in history. ๐ฏ is the go-to emoji for Tony references.
- โขSurvivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (1982), written for Rocky III, became the ultimate pump-up anthem. The song title alone generates ๐ฏ usage whenever someone's getting hyped.
- โขNetflix's Tiger King (2020) was watched by 34.3 million people in its first ten days. While the documentary was about Joe Exotic and big cat ownership, it made tiger emojis spike across social media during early COVID lockdowns.
- โขTigger, from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh (first appeared in 1928), and Hobbes from Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes (1985) are the two most beloved fictional tigers. Both represent the playful, bouncy side of tiger energy that ๐ฏ captures better than ๐ .
Trivia
For developers
- โข๐ฏ is . Unicode name: TIGER FACE. CLDR: "tiger face." Common shortcodes: (Slack, Discord, GitHub).
- โขNo skin tone modifiers (animal emoji). Companion: ๐ (full-body tiger). Available as Apple Animoji.
๐ฏ Tiger Face was approved in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. It's one of the original animal face emojis.
See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.
What do you associate ๐ฏ with?
Select all that apply
- Tiger Face Emoji (emojipedia.org)
- Tiger Face emoji meaning (dictionary.com)
- Chinese Zodiac Tiger Symbolism (chinahighlights.com)
- The Korean Tiger: A Hallmark of Korean Identity (korelimited.com)
- Year of the Tiger zodiac (chinesenewyear.net)
- Korean Tiger Symbolism (storiesofkorea.com)
- Tiger King (wikipedia.org)
- Google Trends: ๐ฏ vs ๐ฆ vs ๐ป (trends.google.com)
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