Snapchat symbols and what they mean

While browsing Snapchat, you may have noticed all sorts of emojis next to your friends, in messages, or stories. What do all of these different symbols mean? To help you decipher these hieroglyphics, here’s a simple guide to Snapchat symbols and what they mean.

What do friend emojis mean on Snapchat?

If you’ve been confused by the emojis next to your friend’s entries, here’s what each of them means:

• ⭐ Gold star: Someone replayed this person’s snaps within the past 24 hours.
• 💛 Yellow heart: You’re #1 best friends with this person. That means you share the most snaps with each other.
• ♥️ Red heart: You’ve been #1 best friends with this person for two weeks.
• 💕 Pink hearts: You’ve been #1 best friends with this person for two months.
• 👶 Baby: You just became friends with this person.
• 😎 Face with sunglasses: One of your best friends is one of this person’s best friends. That means you send a lot of snaps to someone they also send lots of snaps to.
• 😏 Smirking face: You’re one of this person’s best friends, but they aren’t a best friend of yours. That means you don’t snap them often, but they snap you a lot.
• 😊 Smiling face: They’re a best friend of yours, but not a #1 best friend. That means you snap them a lot, but not the most.
• 😬 Grimacing face: Your #1 best friend is also their #1 best friend. That means you send the most snaps to the same person they send the most snaps to.
• 🔥 Fire: You’re on a Snapstreak, meaning you have snapped this person every day, and they have snapped you back.
• 💯 Hundred: You’re on a 100-day Snapstreak. This appears next to the fire emoji after you’ve been on a streak for 100 days in a row.
• ⏳ Hourglass: Your Snapstreak will end unless you send another snap to keep it going.
• 🎂 Birthday Cake: This friend’s birthday is today. This will only appear if you enable “Birthday Party” in Snapchat’s settings.

Speaking of birthdays, you may see that some friends have their astrological sign next to their entry if they have entered their birthday in Snapchat. These will appear along with the birthday cake emoji, and here are the dates they correspond with:

• ♒ Aquarius (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
• ♓ Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
• ♈ Aries (March 21 – April 19)
• ♉ Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
• ♊ Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
• ♋ Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
• ♌ Leo (July 23 – Aug 22)
• ♍ Virgo (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
• ♎ Libra (Sept 23 – Oct 22)
• ♏ Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21)
• ♐ Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
• ♑ Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Notably, Snapchat has other friend-related symbols. You can even change your friend emojis on Snapchat if you want to.

If you’re a Snapchat Plus subscriber, you may have stumbled across Friend Solar System icons. Each Snapchat planet has its own distinct meaning.

What do Snapchat message icons mean?

When looking at your messages, you may also notice additional emojis. Here is what they mean:

• ⮞ Sent without sound: You sent a snap without sound.
• ⮞ Sent with sound: You sent a snap with sound.
• ⮞ Message sent: You sent a chat message.
• ▷ Opened without sound: Your friend opened your snap without sound.
• ▷ Opened with sound: Your friend opened your snap with sound.
• ▷ Message opened: Your friend opened your chat message.
• ▷ Message viewed with cash: Your friend viewed your message and received cash.
• ■ Received without sound: You’ve received a snap without sound.
• ■ Received with sound: You’ve received a snap with sound.
• ■ Received chat message: You’ve received a message.
• □ Viewed without sound: Your snap without sound has been viewed.
• □ Viewed with sound: Your snap with sound has been viewed.
• □ Viewed chat message: Your message has been viewed.
• ⪤ Screenshotted without sound: Your snap without sound has been screenshotted.
• ⪤ Screenshotted with sound: Your snap with sound has been screenshotted.
• ⪤ Screenshotted chat message: Your message has been screenshotted.

What do Snapchat story icons mean?

Additionally, some icons may appear in stories on Snapchat. Here’s what they mean:

• 👥 Custom audience: Someone shared this story with a select group of people, and you’re in that group.
• 🔒 Private story: This story is only visible to friends you choose, but they cannot contribute to it.
• No icon: This story is visible to everyone.