The Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Medium-dark Skin Tone emoji (🫱🏼🫲🏾) means agreement, partnership, and respectful greeting, shown as two hands clasping with different skin tones. It represents deals, collaboration, and mutual trust between people of different backgrounds. It was added in Unicode 14.0 and works well in business and inclusive messaging.
What Does the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Medium-dark Skin Tone Emoji Mean?
This emoji means two parties have reached an agreement, formed a partnership, or greeted each other with respect.
Unlike the classic yellow handshake, this version lets the two hands carry different skin tones. The left hand uses the medium-light skin tone and the right hand uses the medium-dark skin tone, so the pairing visually communicates people from different backgrounds coming together.
The core meanings stay familiar from the handshake family:
- Agreement: a deal is done, terms are accepted, or a decision is settled.
- Partnership: two people, teams, or organizations are joining forces.
- Greeting: a polite, friendly hello or introduction.
- Trust and respect: mutual regard between the people involved.
Why Does This Handshake Use Two Different Skin Tones?
The two-tone design exists so that each person in an exchange can be represented by their own skin tone, or so the emoji can symbolize diversity and unity.
Before Unicode 14.0, the handshake emoji (🤝) could only appear in a single default color. Starting with Unicode 14.0 and Emoji 14.0, the handshake gained skin tone options, including mixed combinations where each hand has its own tone. This emoji is one of those combinations: medium-light on one side, medium-dark on the other.
That gives you two practical uses. You can pick the combination that matches you and the person you are talking to, or you can choose a mixed pairing simply to signal inclusion and multicultural cooperation.
How Is This Emoji Built, and Why Does It Sometimes Look Broken?
This emoji is a sequence of five codepoints joined together: U+1FAF1 (rightwards hand), U+1F3FC (medium-light skin tone modifier), U+200D (zero width joiner), U+1FAF2 (leftwards hand), and U+1F3FE (medium-dark skin tone modifier).
Because it is a sequence rather than a single character, it only displays as one clasped handshake on devices that support Emoji 14.0. On older software, you may see separate pieces, such as two individual hands with colored swatches, instead of a single combined image.
If a recipient reports seeing two hands side by side, their device likely predates Emoji 14.0 support. Sending the standard thumbs up emoji or a plain handshake alongside your message is a safe fallback.
How Do You Use the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Medium-dark Skin Tone Emoji?
Use it to confirm a deal, welcome a new partner, or celebrate collaboration between two people or groups.
Business and work messages
In professional chats, this emoji works as a quick confirmation that terms are agreed. It reads as warm and respectful rather than casual, which makes it a fitting choice for client updates, partnership announcements, and onboarding messages.
- Contract signed, looking forward to working together 🫱🏼🫲🏾
- Welcome to the team, we are glad to have you 🫱🏼🫲🏾
Social media and community posts
On social platforms, the mixed skin tones make this emoji a natural fit for posts about unity, collaboration between communities, and cross-cultural friendship. Brands and nonprofits often use handshake imagery when announcing collaborations.
- Two neighborhoods, one shared project. Proud to build this together 🫱🏼🫲🏾
What Does the Handshake Emoji Mean in Texting and Social Media?
In texting, it usually means "deal," "agreed," or "nice to meet you," depending on the context of the conversation.
Between friends, it can close a playful bet or confirm plans: a reply of this emoji says "we have an understanding." In group chats, it often signals that a disagreement has been settled peacefully. On social media, it frequently accompanies announcements of partnerships, mergers, and collaborations.
The tone is generally sincere. It rarely carries sarcasm, so it is a reliable way to express genuine goodwill when words feel too stiff.
How Does This Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
Every major platform draws it in its own style, but all show two clasped hands with the medium-light and medium-dark skin tones.
Support depends on the version of your operating system or app:
- 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: version 2.22 and later.
- Twitter/X: Twemoji 14.0 and later.
If your device is older than these versions, updating your system is the most reliable way to see the combined handshake correctly.
Which Emojis Pair Well With the Mixed-Tone Handshake?
Pair it with emojis that reinforce agreement, celebration, or professionalism.
- 👍 Thumbs Up: adds an approving tone to a confirmed deal.
- 👩💻 Woman Technologist: fits tech partnerships and project kickoffs.
- 🎉 Party Popper: celebrates a signed agreement or new collaboration.
- 🌍 Globe: emphasizes international or multicultural cooperation.
You can also browse more options in the People & Body emoji category, where the other skin tone variants of this gesture live.
When Should You Avoid This Emoji?
Avoid it when the two-tone design could distract from your message or when the context is not about agreement or unity.
Some situations call for caution:
- Sensitive conversations: using it to comment on someone's real-world identity can come across as tokenizing.
- Unwanted deals: sending it as a pushy "we agreed" can feel presumptuous if the other person has not committed.
- Older devices: recipients without Emoji 14.0 support may see a broken sequence of separate hands.
When you are unsure how a message will land, pair the emoji with plain text that clearly states your intent.
How Do You Copy and Paste the Handshake: Medium-light Skin Tone, Medium-dark Skin Tone Emoji?
Click the copy button on this page and the emoji is saved to your clipboard in one step.
After copying, paste it into your message, email, document, or social post with the standard paste command (Ctrl+V on Windows, Cmd+V on Mac, or a long press on mobile). Because the emoji is a multi-part sequence, copying it directly is more reliable than trying to assemble it from separate pieces.
If you want to express a whole sentence in emoji, try the Emoji Translator to turn text into emojis, or check the trending emojis page to see what people are using right now.
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