The Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone emoji (🫱🏼🫲🏻) means agreement, partnership, and mutual respect, shown as two hands clasping in greeting or a deal. Each hand carries a different skin tone, so it also signals diversity, inclusion, and people from different backgrounds working together. It arrived with Unicode 14.0 and Emoji 14.0.
What Does the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone Emoji Mean?
This emoji means a deal has been struck, a greeting exchanged, or two parties have agreed to cooperate, with the two-tone design adding a message of unity across differences.
The plain handshake has long stood for business agreements, introductions, and sealed promises. This version keeps all of that and adds a visual layer: the right-side hand and the left-side hand are drawn in two different but close skin tones, medium-light and light. The effect is subtle, a pairing of neighbors on the skin tone scale rather than a stark contrast.
People often pick a two-tone handshake because it feels more personal than a single default color. It can represent two people who each want to see their own tone reflected, a couple, friends, colleagues, or partners.
Quick facts about this emoji
- Category: People & Body
- Unicode version: 14.0
- Emoji version: 14.0
- Shortcode: :handshake_medium_light_skin_tone_light_skin_tone:
- Codepoints: U+1FAF1 U+1F3FC U+200D U+1FAF2 U+1F3FB
How Is This Handshake Emoji Built From Unicode?
It is a sequence of five codepoints joined together, not a single character.
The sequence starts with U+1FAF1 (rightwards hand) and U+1F3FC (the medium-light skin tone modifier). Next comes U+200D, the zero width joiner, which tells your device to merge what follows into one image. Then U+1FAF2 (leftwards hand) and U+1F3FB (the light skin tone modifier) finish the pair.
This structure is why the emoji only appeared in Unicode 14.0. Earlier handshake emojis used a single fixed image. The newer approach lets each hand take its own skin tone, which makes this one of several two-tone handshake variations in the People & Body emoji category.
If a device does not recognize the whole sequence, it may fall back and show the two separate hands side by side instead of a joined handshake. That is a sign of an older system, not an error in the emoji you copied.
How Do You Use the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone Emoji?
Use it whenever you want to confirm an agreement, welcome someone, thank a partner, or celebrate people working together.
Its meaning shifts slightly by setting. In professional messages it works as a quick confirmation. In friendly chats it reads as warmth and solidarity. In community posts it highlights collaboration between different groups.
Closing a deal or agreement
Drop it at the end of a message once terms are settled. It works as a compact "we're agreed" without needing extra words.
- Contract signed, looking forward to working together 🫱🏼🫲🏻
- Thanks for the quick turnaround, deal confirmed 🫱🏼🫲🏻
Greeting or welcoming someone
It can also work as a digital handshake when you meet someone new in a group chat, a forum, or a networking thread.
- Great to meet everyone in the new team channel 🫱🏼🫲🏻
Celebrating partnership and unity
For announcements about collaborations, joint projects, or community events, the two-tone design adds a visible nod to togetherness.
- Proud to partner with this amazing group on the neighborhood project 🫱🏼🫲🏻
What Does 🫱🏼🫲🏻 Mean in Texting and on Social Media?
In texting and social media it usually means "we're good," "agreed," or "thank you for working with me," with a friendly and inclusive tone.
In a one-on-one text, it can settle a plan or end a disagreement politely. After a small dispute, sending it signals that you consider the matter resolved and that no hard feelings remain.
On social media, brands, nonprofits, and creators use handshake emojis in announcements about partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations. The two-tone version stands out because it feels deliberate, as if the poster chose it to reflect the people involved rather than accepting the default.
In comments, it often shows support or respect for someone else's post, similar to a nod. Pairing it with a short line of text keeps the meaning clear, since a lone emoji can be read as either agreement or a formal sign-off.
Why Choose a Two-Tone Handshake Instead of the Standard One?
You choose it when you want the emoji to reflect real people, especially two individuals with different skin tones, rather than a generic default.
The standard handshake uses a single neutral look. A two-tone handshake lets each side of the clasp carry its own tone, which many people feel makes the symbol more representative. This particular pairing, medium-light and light, suits situations where the two people sit close together on the scale but still want that difference acknowledged.
It is also useful when you simply like how the pair looks. There is no rule that the tones must match the people sending the message. Some users pick combinations to match friends or partners, others choose them for the visual effect.
One note: this emoji is listed as not supporting further skin tone adjustment. The tones are already fixed in the sequence, so you cannot change them after the fact. If you want a different pairing, you select another handshake variant instead.
How Does the Handshake Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
It appears as two clasped hands with two distinct skin tones on every platform that supports Emoji 14.0, though each vendor draws the artwork in its own style.
Support depends on how recent your operating system or app is. Based on the platform data for this emoji:
- Apple: iOS 15.4 and later, macOS 12.3 and later
- Google: Android 12L and later
- Microsoft: Windows 11 22H2 and later
- Samsung: One UI 5.0 and later
- WhatsApp (Meta): version 2.22 and later
- Twitter (X): Twemoji 14.0 and later
If you or your recipient use an older system, the emoji may show up as two separate hands or as a blank box. When sending an important message, it helps to add a few words so the meaning survives even if the image does not render correctly.
Which Emojis Pair Well With the Two-Tone Handshake?
It pairs best with emojis that reinforce approval, positivity, or collaboration.
- 👍 Thumbs Up to add a clear "approved" signal after an agreement.
- 👀 Eyes to hint that you are watching a deal or partnership develop.
- 👩💻 Woman Technologist when announcing a tech collaboration or a new project with a dev team.
- 🥷 Ninja for playful messages about a stealthy or highly skilled partnership.
A short sequence like New partnership announced 🫱🏼🫲🏻👍 is easy to read and works well on most platforms. If you are unsure which emojis fit a message, the Emoji Translator can turn plain text into emoji suggestions, and the trending emojis page shows what people are using right now.
When Should You Avoid the Handshake Emoji?
Avoid it when the situation is tense, sensitive, or unclear, since a friendly handshake can feel dismissive or sarcastic.
Sending it in the middle of an unresolved argument may read as forcing a truce. Using it to close a legal, financial, or serious workplace matter can also come across as too casual, because an emoji is not a substitute for a formal confirmation.
Be cautious about assuming the tones carry a hidden message. The two-tone design is generally read as a gesture of inclusion, but it should not be used to make a point about specific people or groups unless that is clearly your intent and context makes it respectful.
In very formal communication, such as official emails, contracts, or notices, it is safer to leave emojis out entirely and state the agreement in words.
How Do You Copy and Paste the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone Emoji?
You can copy this emoji with one click on this page, then paste it anywhere that accepts text.
Click the copy button near the emoji at the top of the page, open your messaging app, document, or social media post, and paste it with Ctrl+V on Windows or Cmd+V on Mac. On a phone, press and hold in the text box and choose Paste.
Here is the emoji ready to use: 🫱🏼🫲🏻. Because it is built from five codepoints joined together, always copy the whole sequence rather than typing parts of it. If it shows up as two separate hands after pasting, update your device or app to a version that supports Emoji 14.0.
For other expressive options in the same family, browse the People & Body category and copy whichever gesture fits your message.
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