Meaning
The anchor emoji depicts a classic nautical anchor—typically rendered in gray, silver, or black metal with the characteristic curved flukes at the bottom and a ring at the top, exactly as you'd picture a ship's anchor. The design is immediately recognizable and carries the visual weight of maritime tradition and seafaring culture.
People use the anchor emoji in literal maritime contexts—discussing boats, sailing, naval topics, or seaside activities. But beyond that, it's become a powerful metaphor for stability, security, and being grounded. "You're my anchor" means someone is your emotional foundation, and the emoji appears in messages about steadiness, commitment, and holding things together. It works well in conversations about finding your footing or staying stable through chaos.
The anchor also symbolizes hope and perseverance—sailors throughout history have seen anchors as symbols of safe harbor and the promise of stability. In social media, it's used to represent core values, foundational relationships, or the thing that keeps you grounded. Some communities use it to signal reliability or trustworthiness.
Approved as part of Unicode Emoji 0.6 in 2010, the anchor has maintained consistent design across platforms, remaining a timeless symbol. The emoji bridges literal nautical use with deep metaphorical meanings, making it one of the richest symbols in maritime communication and personal expression online.
Common Uses
- • Discussing sailing, boats, or maritime topics
- • Representing stability and emotional grounding
- • Metaphorically meaning being 'grounded' or steady
- • Expressing commitment or foundational relationships
Popular Combos
Did You Know?
The anchor has been a universal symbol of hope and stability for centuries—in maritime culture and in military tattoos—so its metaphorical use in emoji communication taps into thousands of years of symbolism.
Keywords
Related Emoji
Technical Reference
Platform Shortcodes
:anchor: :anchor: :anchor: Developer Codes
| HTML (decimal) | ⚓ |
| HTML (hex) | ⚓ |
| CSS | \2693 |
| JavaScript | \u2693 |
| Python | \U00002693 |
| Java | \u2693 |
| Perl | \x{2693} |
| PHP / Ruby | \x{2693} |
| Punycode | xn--7mb |
| URL Encoded | %E2%9A%93 |
| UTF-8 Bytes | 0xE2 0x9A 0x93 |
⚓️ in 28 languages
Names sourced from Unicode CLDR and emojibase.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Bengali | নোঙর |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 锚 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 錨 |
| Danish | anker |
| Dutch | anker |
| English | anchor |
| English (UK) | anchor |
| Estonian | ankur |
| Finnish | ankkuri |
| French | ancre |
| German | Anker |
| Hindi | एंकर, चिह्न |
| Hungarian | vasmacska |
| Italian | ancora |
| Japanese | 錨 |
| Korean | 닻 |
| Lithuanian | inkaras |
| Malay | sauh |
| Norwegian | anker |
| Polish | kotwica |
| Portuguese | âncora |
| Russian | якорь |
| Spanish | ancla |
| Spanish (Mexico) | ancla |
| Swedish | ankare |
| Thai | สมอเรือ |
| Ukrainian | якір |
| Vietnamese | mỏ neo |