🆘 Squared SOS emoji

[skwaird es-oh-es ih-moh-jee]

May 25, 2018

What does 🆘 Squared SOS emoji mean?

Help! The squared SOS emoji cries out in an emergency, sometimes earnestly but often sarcastically. For those who don’t know (no judgment) SOS is an internationally recognized distress signal in Morse code.

Related words:

🚑 ambulance emoji
🚒 fire engine emoji
🚓 police car emoji
🚨 police car light emoji

Where does 🆘 Squared SOS emoji come from?

In the early 1900s, SOS was adopted as the international distress signal, chosen because the letters S, O, and S are clear and easy to transmit in Morse code (- – – –– – – -).

While it was originally sent out by ships imperiled at sea, SOS spread as a shorthand for “emergency” more generally in the 20th century.

It was approved as an emoji in 2010 under Unicode 6.0, officially called Squared SOS but popularly going by SOS button, emergency, or simply SOS emoji.

The emoji is fairly uniform across platforms, depicting a rounded red square with SOS in white letters.

Examples of 🆘 Squared SOS emoji

What should I do w my hair 🆘

@SlaughterS03, September, 2016

...The SOS emoji. When to use it: When your feeling fabulous and like the prettiest poodle in town.

Kirsten King, BuzzFeed, December, 2014

Ιf you don't like what you see here GTFO. I post games,movies,politics,music etc. Unfollowed? I'll write it down to my testicals & keep an archive! The rest of you i give you my love! 🆘

@BillKouts1, November, 2017

Who uses 🆘 Squared SOS emoji?

The squared SOS emoji sometimes marks content noting actual emergencies or emergency services, such as when responders are on the scene or when alerts have been issued.

🆘🆘🆘@uscoastguard @USArmy @VP #PuertoRico #HumanitarianCrisis #Emergency #Tsunami threat‼🙏

— Angel (@sdfashionista3) January 10, 2018

#힙스터꿈나무 #hipster #형광 #우비 #비옷 #경찰들 #police #고생많으십니다 #🚔 #🆘 #👨🏿‍✈️👩🏿‍✈️

A post shared by 👀cutemonster (@veryx3cutemonster) on May 12, 2018 at 2:00pm PDT

The emoji is also used to plead for help in crises, especially for pet rescue or missing persons.

🆘🆘CRITICAL🆘🆘
🆘MEMPHIS IS SO FULL WE ARE SHARING KENNELS TO STAY ALIVE🆘
💀Please HELP ME LIVE💀
💵PLEDGE❤FOSTER💚RESCUE💜ADOPT💗#A303422 #memphis https://t.co/zlbEkyelSk
via https://t.co/P7SzHSaTOA pic.twitter.com/WarMjOBhug

— Anita (@chortletown) May 14, 2018

🆘 DESAPARECIDO#desaparecido #sosdesaparecidos #Missing #España #SantaUrsula #Tenerife pic.twitter.com/xa6APBUlnt

— ALERTA DESAPARECIDO (@sosdesaparecido) May 20, 2018

Often, the squared SOS emoji is used to signal humorous or ironic emergencies, feelings of distress, or cries for help. You doing OK, Katy?

so tired I can’t even fart 🆘💨

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) April 12, 2017

The emoji can also be used to call attention to something important or deemed urgent.

Take a break and hydrate! Caffeine and stress are both heavy contributors to dehydration. Put down the textbook for a minute to refresh with SOS so you can get back studying without the fatigue and decreased focus caused by dehydration!! 📸: @andrew.kitto #sosrehydrate #soscollege #drinkableiv #🆘 #hydratesmarter #deadweek #finals #study #exams #collegelife

A post shared by SOS Rehydrate College 🆘 🎓 (@sos_college) on Dec 5, 2017 at 4:27pm PST

NOTE

This is not meant to be a formal definition of 🆘 Squared SOS emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 🆘 Squared SOS emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.