TOP Arrow Emoji

The word "TOP" in capital letters with an upward-pointing arrow above it. Originally a "back to top" navigation button on Japanese mobile phones, it's been repurposed by texters to mean something much cooler: "the best," "number one," or "on top of the world."

Emojipedia describes it as the TOP arrow, approved in Unicode 6.0 (2010) under the name TOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVETOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVE. It's the fifth member of the word-arrow emoji family alongside 🔜 (SOON), 🔙 (BACK), 🔚 (END), and 🔛 (ON!). While the others indicate temporal status, 🔝 was designed for spatial navigation: scroll to the top of the page.

But nobody uses it that way. In modern texting, 🔝 means excellence. "That performance was 🔝" or "you're 🔝" is a compliment. The "top" concept is deeply embedded in how we rank everything: Billboard's Top 100, Reddit's top posts, Spotify's Top Songs, gaming leaderboards. Being "on top" is universal shorthand for winning.

🔝 sits in an interesting spot. It's the second most-used word-arrow emoji after 🔜 (SOON), but it's still niche compared to alternatives like 🔥 or 💯 that people reach for when they want to say "the best." Where 🔝 does show up is in two specific subcultures.

First, gaming and esports. Leaderboard culture is obsessed with being "on top." Climbing to the top of a ranked ladder in Valorant, League of Legends, or Overwatch is the whole point. 🔝 fits naturally in gaming contexts: "finally hit Diamond 🔝" or "our team is 🔝 of the bracket."

Second, the hustle/grindset community. "Stay on top 🔝" aligns with the motivational content style that dominates certain corners of Instagram and TikTok. The word "TOP" in all caps has natural synergy with statements about success and ambition.

The "Top G" slang, popularized by Andrew Tate in 2022, briefly spiked interest in the concept of being "top" as a personality trait. While the phrase is controversial and Tate was banned from major platforms, the cultural mark of "top" as an adjective meaning "dominant" or "best" persists in Gen Z slang.

Like its siblings, 🔝 was born on a Japanese mobile phone circa 1999. In the original NTT Docomo emoji set, it served as a "top of page" navigation control, the flip-phone equivalent of today's "back to top" button on long-scrolling websites.

The concept of a "back to top" shortcut has been part of computing since the earliest text interfaces, but it became visually prominent in web design as pages got longer. Nielsen Norman Group's UX research recommends the back-to-top button for any page longer than four screens, noting that most users don't know keyboard shortcuts like Home.

Apple embedded the concept directly into iOS: tapping the status bar at the top of the screen instantly scrolls any app to the top. This feature has existed since the original iPhone in 2007, and most iPhone users have no idea it exists. Android doesn't have it natively, though third-party apps like TapScroll can replicate it.

The word "top" in a cultural ranking sense is much older. Billboard launched the Hot 100 chart on August 4, 1958, with Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" as the first #1. The idea of a "top" hit, "top" player, or "top" performer has been central to music, sports, and entertainment ever since. 🔝 inherits all of that energy.

Approved in Unicode 6.0 (2010) under the name TOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVETOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVE. Added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015. It's the spatial member of the word-arrow emoji family. Where 🔜, 🔛, and 🔚 indicated event timing (upcoming, happening, finished), 🔝 and 🔙 were navigation controls. 🔝 scrolled to the top of the page. 🔙 went to the previous page. Both functions are now handled by UI buttons, not emoji.

1. 1958Billboard launches the Hot 100 chart on August 4, establishing 'top' as the measure of music popularity↗
2. 1999NTT Docomo's emoji set includes TOP with arrow as a 'top of page' navigation control↗
3. 2007Original iPhone includes tap-status-bar-to-scroll-to-top gesture, embedding the concept into iOS
4. 2010Unicode 6.0 standardizes U+1F51D TOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVE↗
5. 2015Added to Emoji 1.0, becoming available on all major platforms
6. 2022"Top G" slang goes viral through Andrew Tate's social media presence, connecting 'top' with dominance culture↗

• •🔝 was originally a "top of page" navigation button on Japanese flip phones (1999). Nobody uses it for that anymore.
• •The Billboard Hot 100 chart launched on August 4, 1958. Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" was the first #1. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" holds the record for longest-running #1 at 22 weeks.
• •On iPhone, tapping the status bar scrolls to the top of any app. This gesture has existed since 2007 and most people have no idea it works.
• •Reddit's ranking algorithm makes being on top inherently temporary. A post loses rank exponentially over time: after 12.5 hours it needs 10x more upvotes to stay in place.
• •"Top G" slang, meaning "top guy" or "top gangster," went viral in 2022 through Andrew Tate's social media. Despite the controversy and bans, the phrase pushed "top" as an adjective meaning "dominant" into Gen Z vocabulary.
• •The Unicode name TOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVETOP WITH UPWARDS ARROW ABOVE is 33 characters long. The emoji itself shows only three letters: T, O, P.

• •Using 🔝 as a literal "scroll to top" instruction will confuse everyone. That was its original Japanese phone purpose, but nobody reads it that way in modern texting.
• •🔝 can read as overly earnest or "grindset" if used too much. One 🔝 in a caption is a compliment. Three 🔝🔝🔝 after every sentence reads like a motivational Instagram bot.
• •In some contexts, 🔝 can accidentally evoke "Top G" energy, which carries controversial connotations. If you're complimenting someone's work, 💯 or 🔥 are safer alternatives.

• •Billboard Hot 100 (1958-present) — The world's most famous music chart has defined what it means to be "on top" in music for nearly 70 years. Being a "chart-topper" remains the gold standard. The Beatles have the most #1 hits (20), and the chart now factors in streaming, radio, and sales.
• •"Top G" slang (2022) — Andrew Tate popularized the phrase to mean someone who's the best at everything. Despite his banning from major platforms for controversial statements, the phrase entered Gen Z vocabulary. "Top" as an adjective meaning "dominant" or "elite" persisted beyond the controversy.
• •Esports leaderboards — Competitive gaming is built around climbing to the top. Valorant's Radiant rank, League of Legends' Challenger tier, and Overwatch's Top 500 all use "top" as the literal measure of skill. 🔝 captures the feeling of finally reaching that peak rank.
• •Reddit's "Top" sort — Reddit users can sort content by "Top" to see the highest-upvoted posts. But Reddit's time decay algorithm ensures that being on top is always temporary. Every hour that passes makes it exponentially harder to hold the position.

• •The codepoint is U+1F51DU+1F51D. Shortcodes: :top::top: (GitHub, Slack). The full word-arrow family: :back::back: (🔙 U+1F519U+1F519), :end::end: (🔚 U+1F51AU+1F51A), :on::on: (🔛 U+1F51BU+1F51B), :soon::soon: (🔜 U+1F51CU+1F51C), :top::top: (🔝 U+1F51DU+1F51D).
• •Like all word-arrow emojis, 🔝 displays English text on every platform regardless of locale. Be aware of this if your app serves non-English users.
• •For building 'back to top' buttons in web apps, use a standard UI component rather than this emoji. The arrow icon is more recognizable in modern interfaces than the text-based emoji.

See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.