The grey heart emoji 🩶 shows a quiet, low-key kind of affection. Emojipedia says that, like the other colour hearts, it's often used to show an affinity with people, places, groups, objects or ideas associated with its colour. In chats it usually reads as calm support, a neutral aesthetic or love for something grey, rather than big romance.
The grey heart is one of the newest hearts on your keyboard, and one of the hardest to read. It isn't red-hot like ❤️, cheerful like 💛 or dark like 🖤. It sits somewhere in the middle, which is exactly why people use it. Here's what it tends to mean, when it arrived, and how to tell a soft grey heart from a sad one.
What does 🩶 mean in a message?
Emojipedia's entry keeps it simple: a grey heart emoji, often used to express appreciation for things associated with the colour grey. That covers more than you'd think. Grey cats, silver jewellery, rainy-day moods, minimalist interiors and sports teams in grey kits all get 🩶.
Beyond the colour, the grey heart has picked up a feeling of its own. Because grey is muted, the heart reads as gentle and understated. It says 'I care' without saying 'I love you'. That makes it useful when a red heart feels like too much and no heart at all feels cold.
When the grey heart arrived
Emojipedia says the grey heart was approved as part of Unicode 15.0 in 2022 and added to Emoji 15.0 the same year. That release was recommended on September 13, 2022, and contained 31 new emojis, including the long-requested pink heart. Emojipedia notes it brought the total number of recommended emojis to 3,664 when you count every skin tone and gender variation.
Phones caught up later. Emojipedia's iOS 16.4 changelog describes Apple adding 31 new emoji designs, including 🩷 Pink Heart, 🩵 Light Blue Heart and 🩶 Grey Heart, and says the three together closed some notable gaps in the heart colour range. That's why some older devices still show a blank box where 🩶 should be.
The code behind 🩶
| Detail | Grey heart 🩶 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Grey Heart, with the British spelling |
| Code point | U+1FA76 |
| HTML code | 🩶 |
| Unicode version | Unicode 15.0, 2022 |
| Emoji version | Emoji 15.0 |
| Neighbours in the list | Light blue heart before it, pink heart after it in code order |
The British spelling matters for searching. The official Unicode name is Grey Heart, as the Unicode emoji test file lists it, so 'gray heart' searches can miss it on some keyboards. Try both spellings if your phone doesn't suggest it.
Grey heart, black heart or white heart?
Wiktionary describes 🩶 as a stylised grey heart and lists it as an alternative form of both the black heart 🖤 and the red heart ❤️. That's a useful way to think about it: grey is a softer black, and a quieter red.
- 🖤 Black heart: darker, often humour, grief or an edgy aesthetic.
- 🤍 White heart: pure, clean, often weddings or condolences.
- 🩶 Grey heart: in between, calm, muted, a little reflective.
- ❤️ Red heart: classic love, the strongest of the four.
If you want the full picture of the brightest one, my guide to the red heart emoji covers why it's still the most used heart.
Reading a grey heart: soft, sad or style?
Context does the work. A 🩶 after 'thinking of you today' is quiet support, often when someone's going through something hard. A 🩶 under a photo of a stone cottage or a silver ring is about the look. A 🩶 at the end of 'tired but OK' can mean a low mood, not a dramatic one.
These are made-up messages to show the range:
- 'Here if you need me 🩶' Gentle support without fuss.
- 'New sofa arrived 🩶' Love for something grey.
- 'Rainy Sunday, staying in 🩶' A calm, cosy mood.
- 'Miss him 🩶' A quiet, reflective feeling.
If you're unsure, mirror it. Sending 🩶 back matches their tone exactly, and a short 'you OK?' covers the sad reading.
Grey heart combinations
Emojipedia's research on heart emojis shows people often combine several colours side by side rather than sending one heart on its own, and 🩶 fits that habit. You'll often see it in a row of pastel colours with 🩷 and 🩵, the other Emoji 15.0 hearts, or paired with 🤍 for a neutral, minimalist look. 🩶🖤 together tends to lean moodier.
For the newest hearts side by side, my guide to the pink heart emoji covers the one that arrived in the same release.
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Grey heart vs the other Emoji 15.0 hearts
The grey heart arrived with two siblings, and it helps to know how they differ. 🩷 Pink Heart was the headline addition, the long-requested plain pink heart. 🩵 Light Blue Heart filled the gap between green and blue. 🩶 Grey Heart filled the space between black and white.
Put together, they made the heart row look more like a full colour chart. That's why you'll often see all three in pastel sets on Instagram and Pinterest, used for soft, coordinated looks. If someone sends you 🩷🩵🩶 together, they're usually going for an aesthetic, not a coded message.
They also share the same compatibility catch. Because all three came in Emoji 15.0, a device that can't show one usually can't show any of them. If your friend says they only see empty boxes, a software update is normally the fix.
Hearts are often sent with pet names, and the bae explainer looks at one of the most common.
Using 🩶 on a business account
The grey heart suits brands with a calm, minimal style: interiors, fashion, skincare, photography. It's also a thoughtful choice when you're responding to a sad or sensitive comment, where a red heart could feel too bright. Just remember it won't display on every older device, so don't rely on it alone to carry your message. And keep it occasional; a grey heart on every reply stops meaning anything.
A softer colour that is easy to confuse with it is covered in the light blue heart explainer.
Frequently asked questions
What does the grey heart emoji mean?
It shows calm, low-key affection, and Emojipedia says it can also show love for things associated with grey.
Is the grey heart a sad emoji?
Not always. It can mean quiet support or a low mood, but it's often just about style.
When did the grey heart emoji come out?
Emojipedia says it was approved in Unicode 15.0 in 2022 and added to Emoji 15.0.
What's the code for the grey heart emoji?
Its code point is U+1FA76, and it sits in the Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A block.
Is it grey heart or gray heart?
The official Unicode name uses the British spelling, Grey Heart.
Why can't I see the grey heart emoji?
Older devices that haven't updated to Emoji 15.0 may show a blank box instead.
