Skull and Crossbones

☠️ is a skull and crossbones. It signals poison, danger or piracy, and like 💀 it can mean “dead” from laughter.

Tone

Context-dependentIt warns of poison or danger, or, like 💀, means “dead” from laughing.DBEmoji editorial interpretation

Common uses

DBEmoji editorial interpretation

Warning about poison or danger
Pirate themes
Hyperbole for laughing hard

Technical details

Source: Unicode Consortium

Unicode name: SKULL AND CROSSBONES
CLDR short name: skull and crossbones
Codepoint: U+2620 U+FE0F
Hex: 2620 FE0F
Emoji version: 1.0
Unicode version: 8.0
First released: 2015
Unicode group: Smileys & Emotion
Unicode subgroup: face-negative
Status: Recommended for General Interchange (RGI)

Data verified 2026-10-21 · Unicode Emoji 16.0 · How this data is built

GitHub shortcode

From GitHub's own emoji list (gemoji). Slack, Discord and other apps keep separate lists, so a code may differ there.

:skull_and_crossbones:

Keywords

Source: Unicode CLDR

bone · crossbones · dead · death · face · monster · skull

How it looks

Skull and Crossbones — Fluent 3D — Fluent 3D

Skull and Crossbones — Fluent Color — Fluent Color

Skull and Crossbones — Fluent Flat — Fluent Flat

Your device

Rendered from open-licensed emoji sets. Your device shows its own design. Microsoft Fluent Emoji (MIT)

Download as image

Renders ☠️ with your system emoji font into PNG, WebP, or SVG. Pick a pixel size, then download.

Note: PNG and WebP use the emoji font installed on your device (Apple Color Emoji on macOS/iOS, Segoe UI Emoji on Windows, Noto Color Emoji on Android/Linux), so the look matches your platform. SVG embeds the character as text — rendering depends on the viewer.

Microsoft Fluent UI Emoji — original artwork

Download Microsoft's official Fluent rendering of ☠️. SVG files are vector (scales to any size); the 3D PNG is 256×256.

Questions people ask

What does the ☠️ skull and crossbones emoji mean?: ☠️ is a skull and crossbones. It signals poison, danger or piracy, and like 💀 it can mean “dead” from laughter.
What is the Unicode codepoint for ☠️?: U+2620 U+FE0F: the character U+2620 (SKULL AND CROSSBONES) followed by U+FE0F, variation selector-16, which asks for the colour emoji form. Without U+FE0F many systems draw U+2620 as a plain text symbol.
When was the ☠️ skull and crossbones emoji released?: It was added in Emoji 1.0, published in 2015, alongside Unicode 8.0. Phones and computers show it once their system software supports that version; older devices may show an empty box instead.
How do I type ☠️ on my phone or computer?: On iPhone or Android, open the emoji keyboard and search for “skull and crossbones”. On Windows, press Windows key + . (full stop); on a Mac, press Control + Command + Space, then search for the same word. You can also copy ☠️ from this page with one click.
What is the shortcode for ☠️?: On GitHub, type :skull_and_crossbones: and it turns into ☠️ — that code comes from GitHub's own emoji list. Slack, Discord and other apps keep their own shortcode lists; many codes match GitHub's, but check the app's emoji picker to be sure.