Hand Symbols
Copy hand symbols and finger gestures in one click: classic printers' manicules β β β β, peace sign β, writing hand β, thumbs up π, handshake π€, and pointing fingers.
Click any symbol to copy it. 31 symbols
Manicules and pointing text hands
9Common gestures and greetings
11Directional pointing fingers
4Expressive signs and gestures
7The medieval manicule: how pointing hands guided readers
The tradition of using hand symbols in written text dates back to medieval manuscript culture. Monastic scribes and early Renaissance scholars drew pointing handsβtraditionally known as "manicules" (from the Latin manicula, meaning "little hand")βin book margins to highlight crucial arguments, citations, and corrections. When movable type emerged, typefounders cast metal manicules like β and β as standard printer's marks for broadsides, advertisements, and public notices.
Today, pointing hand symbols remain exceptionally effective call-to-action indicators in digital layouts, guiding user attention toward links, subscribe buttons, and vital bullet points. For complementary interactive symbols, explore our cool symbols collection, review colorful digital gestures in emoji symbols, or check confirmation markers in check mark symbols.
Directional index fingers and gesture dingbats in Unicode
The Unicode Standard preserves historic printer manicules alongside modern finger gestures across several blocks. The Miscellaneous Symbols block houses the classic white pointing index β (U+261E) and black pointing index β (U+261B). The Dingbats block adds upward pointing hands β (U+261D), writing hand β (U+270D), and the victory/peace hand β (U+270C).
Because these legacy symbols exist as monochrome text glyphs, they render with crisp line work that follows your document's font color, making them ideal for minimalist UI buttons, navigation breadcrumbs, and terminal interfaces.
Skin-tone modifiers and accessibility in digital handshakes
With Unicode 8.0, the Unicode Consortium introduced the Fitzpatrick scale skin-tone modifiers (U+1F3FB through U+1F3FF), allowing modern hand emoji to represent diverse human skin tones authentically. Applying these invisible combining modifiers to base emoji such as thumbs up π, waving hand π, or handshake π€ transforms yellow default glyphs into personalized expressions of human identity across social chats and professional workplace platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Frequently asked questions
What is a manicule symbol β?
A manicule (from Latin for "little hand") is a pointing index finger symbol historically drawn in book margins by scribes to highlight important text passages.
How do I type the peace sign β or thumbs up π?
In Word, type 270C and press Alt + X for β. On mobile or Windows (Win + .), search the emoji menu for "peace" or "thumbs up" to insert π.
What do pointing hand symbols π π mean in text?
Pointing finger emoji are used directionally to point at links, call attention to important text, or express shy hesitation when paired together (ππ).
What are skin tone modifiers for hand emoji?
Unicode provides five Fitzpatrick skin tone modifiers (U+1F3FB to U+1F3FF) that adjust hand emoji from default yellow to diverse human skin tones.