Symbol for luck

The four-leaf clover and the shamrock

Most clover has three leaves; a four-leaf clover is a rare mutation, often estimated at around one in several thousand plants. Finding something that rare felt like a sign of fortune, so the four-leaf clover 🍀 became a lucky charm across Europe and North America. The three-leaf shamrock ☘️ is different: it is the emblem of Ireland and, by legend, the plant St Patrick used to explain the Trinity. Mixing them up is common but, strictly, only 🍀 means luck. More plants are in the flower symbols collection.

Crossed fingers and wishing stars

Crossing your fingers 🤞 means “I hope it goes well” in English-speaking countries and much of Europe. In a few places, such as Vietnam, the gesture can be rude, so be careful with international audiences. A shooting star 🌠 is where you make a wish, and a horseshoe hung over a door is another traditional charm, though there is no horseshoe emoji.

Games of chance give us 🎲 and the lucky 7️⃣, the number that pays out on slot machines. Our dice symbols collection has the text dice faces ⚀ to ⚅.

Luck in Chinese and Japanese traditions

福 (fú) means good fortune and blessing. At Lunar New Year it is pasted on doors, often upside down, because “upside down” (dào) sounds like “arrives”, so an inverted 福 says “fortune has arrived”. Red envelopes 🧧 filled with money are given to children and younger relatives for luck. In Japan, the bamboo 🎋 decorated for the Tanabata festival carries written wishes. More characters are in our Chinese symbols collection.

The ladybug 🐞 is considered lucky in many European countries; in German it is even called Glückskäfer, the “luck beetle”. Luck charms overlap with charms against misfortune, such as the nazar; those are on our symbols for protection page.