The Kiss: Man, Man, Medium Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone emoji (👨🏽❤️💋👨🏻) shows two men kissing, one with a medium skin tone and one with a light skin tone. It stands for romantic love, affection, and intimacy between a male couple, and it lets two people represent their own skin tones in a shared moment.
What Does the Kiss: Man, Man, Medium Skin Tone, Light Skin Tone Emoji Mean?
This emoji means romantic affection between two men, shown through a kiss, with the two partners drawn in different skin tones.
It belongs to the family of couple emojis that Unicode groups under the "kiss" label. The base design (👨❤️💋👨) shows two men kissing with a small heart between them. This version adds a medium skin tone to one man and a light skin tone to the other, so the image can mirror the real couple using it.
People use it for love, anniversaries, wedding news, Pride messages, and everyday sweetness between partners. It can also signal support for same-sex love when someone posts it in celebration of LGBTQ+ relationships.
Why do the two skin tones matter?
The two tones let a couple see themselves in the emoji. A pair with different complexions no longer has to settle for a single default look, which makes the emoji feel personal rather than generic. That is a large part of why mixed-tone couple emojis exist at all.
What Are the Technical Details of This Emoji?
This emoji is a multi-part sequence that was added in Unicode 13.1 and Emoji 13.1, and it sits in the People & Body category.
It is not a single character. It is built by joining several codepoints with Zero Width Joiners (U+200D), which tell your device to display them as one image:
- U+1F468 (man) followed by U+1F3FD (medium skin tone modifier)
- U+200D, then U+2764 and U+FE0F (red heart with emoji presentation)
- U+200D, then U+1F48B (kiss mark)
- U+200D, then U+1F468 (man) followed by U+1F3FB (light skin tone modifier)
The shortcode is :kiss_man_man_medium_skin_tone_light_skin_tone:. The first man in the sequence carries the medium skin tone and the second carries the light skin tone, so the order of the modifiers is meaningful.
Emoji 13.1 was the release that introduced mixed-skin-tone options for the couple emojis, including kissing and couple-with-heart sequences. The plain version without skin tones is on its own page: Kiss: Man, Man emoji.
How Do You Use This Emoji in Texting and on Social Media?
You use it to express romantic love, to celebrate a relationship, or to show affection toward a male partner, usually alongside a short message or caption.
In private chats, couples drop it into goodnight texts, anniversary messages, or replies to a sweet gesture. It works as a visual kiss, warmer than a heart on its own because it shows two people rather than a symbol.
On social media, it commonly appears in relationship announcements, wedding and engagement posts, and Pride month captions. Because the skin tones can match the couple, many people prefer it to the default version when posting photos of themselves with a partner.
Here are a few realistic examples:
- Three years with my favorite person 👨🏽❤️💋👨🏻
- Goodnight, love you more than coffee 👨🏽❤️💋👨🏻
- We said yes! Wedding planning starts now 👨🏽❤️💋👨🏻
Does This Emoji Always Mean Romance?
Mostly yes, but context can shift the tone from intimate to celebratory to supportive.
Between partners, it is a tender or flirty romantic signal. Posted by friends or family, it often reads as a congratulation on a relationship milestone or as a show of support for a couple. In Pride content, it can represent visibility and acceptance of same-sex love more broadly.
It is not a platonic emoji. If you send it to a friend without any joking context, the recipient may well read it as romantic. Use it with people you are actually romantic with, or in clearly celebratory settings.
How Does This Emoji Look on Different Platforms?
The emoji shows two kissing men on every supporting platform, but each vendor draws its own artwork, so faces, hair, and proportions differ.
Support depends on your operating system or app version, because the sequence only works where the vendor added the Emoji 13.1 mixed-skin-tone couples:
- Apple: iOS 14.5 and later, macOS 11.3 and later
- Google: Android 12.0 and later
- Microsoft: Windows 11 and later
- Samsung: One UI 4.0 and later
- WhatsApp: version 2.21.16 and later
- Twitter: Twemoji 13.1 and later
On a device that does not support this sequence, you may see two separate men, a heart, and a kiss mark side by side instead of a single couple image. That fallback is normal behavior for joined emoji sequences and usually fixes itself after a system update.
Which Emojis Pair Well With This Emoji?
Hearts, sparkles, rings, and celebration emojis pair best because they reinforce the romantic or festive message.
Good combinations include:
- ❤️ or 💞 for a more heartfelt message
- 🏳️🌈 for Pride posts and celebrations
- 💍 for engagement and wedding news
- 🥂 or 🎉 for anniversaries
- 😍 for a flirtier tone
If you want to react to a couple's post without sending romance yourself, a simple thumbs up emoji or an eyes emoji works as a lighter response. You can also explore what is popular right now on the trending emojis page.
When Should You Avoid This Emoji?
Avoid it when romance would be unwelcome, unclear, or inappropriate for the setting.
Skip it in professional chats, with acquaintances, and with anyone who might misread it as a romantic overture. It is also worth thinking twice before using it in a group where you are not sure how members will react, or in places where public displays of same-sex affection could put someone at risk.
Also avoid using it as a joke about someone's identity or relationship. The emoji represents real love between real people, and mocking use lands badly. If you simply want to say "thanks" or "good job," a gesture emoji such as a shrug or a facepalm like this one carries a clearer, non-romantic tone.
How Is It Different From the Other Man and Man Kiss Emojis?
The only difference is the skin tones: this version uses medium for the first man and light for the second, while other versions use different pairings or none.
The default man and man kiss emoji uses the platform's standard yellow or neutral tone. Mixed-tone versions let you pick a specific combination. Choosing the exact pair is a small but meaningful way to represent yourself and your partner, so a couple with different complexions can select the combination that fits them.
All of these emojis belong to the same family and mean the same thing. The choice is about representation, not a change in meaning. You can browse similar sequences in the People & Body emoji category.
How Do You Copy and Paste This Emoji?
You can copy it with one click right on this page, then paste it into any message, post, or document.
Click the copy button near the emoji at the top of the page. Then paste it wherever you like using Ctrl+V on Windows or Command+V on Mac, or long-press and choose Paste on a phone. Because the emoji is a joined sequence, copying is more reliable than typing it, and it keeps all the parts together.
If the pasted emoji appears as separate pieces, your device or app probably does not support Emoji 13.1 yet. Updating your operating system or messaging app should fix it. If you would like to turn a full sentence into emojis, try the emoji translator tool.
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