💰 is a sack tied at the top with a $ symbol on its side. It arrived in Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and is officially named “money bag.” You may also hear “bag of money,” “cash bag” or just “the bag.” The dollar sign is the signature feature, so much so that the Japanese name literally means “dollar bag.” It turns up in almost every conversation about money, from boasts and jokes to marketing copy.
How it’s used
- Payday: “Salary just landed, and it’s already gone 💰”
- Profit: “Side hustle had a great month 💰”
- Price: “Saw the price tag on that bag 💰💰💰”
- Wishful thinking: “When I win the lottery, first stop is 💰”
- Securing income: “Got the bag, now back to work 💰”
💵 is a banknote, 🪙 a coin, and 💸 money with wings that is flying away, a sign of spending. 🤑 is a face with dollar-sign eyes. 💰 carries the strongest sense of accumulated, large money among them.
Korea, Japan and the English-speaking world
In English, 💰 is tied up with slang such as “secure the bag,” “money moves,” “getting paid” and “cash.” It appears constantly on finance, entrepreneur and investing accounts. For the same reason, it also shows up in crypto promos, multi-level marketing and get-rich-quick scams, so many people grow suspicious when a stranger sends a message with several 💰 in it.
In Korea, it goes with payday, New Year cash gifts, allowance and personal finance. Stock and crypto communities use it to show off gains, and it appears in New Year greetings wishing someone to “get rich.” It is common on secondhand-sale and shopping posts, and playfully used when lamenting an empty bank account.
In Japan it connects to お金, 儲け, 給料日 and 金運 (luck with money). Although the currency is yen, the bag shows a dollar sign, so people sometimes add or swap in 💴 (yen banknote) when they want to be precise. It also links to お年玉 at New Year and to the lucky-bag mood of good fortune and money.
Where it gets misread
- It is unclear whether it means income or spending. For money going out, 💸 is more accurate.
- It can come across as bragging, which makes a discussion of salary or profit feel boastful.
- A message from an unknown account that is stuffed with 💰 and promises returns is very often spam or a scam.
- In Japan and Korea, the dollar sign rarely makes people think of foreign currency, but write the amount and unit in words to be safe.
Design differences by platform
Every platform shows a tied sack with a $ mark, and the meaning is identical. The differences lie in the sack’s color, which can be brown, tan or yellowish, in the shape of the knot, and in the size of the dollar sign. Apple uses soft shading, Google’s Noto is simpler and flatter, and Microsoft’s Fluent and Samsung differ in outline and gloss, so how wealthy the bag looks changes a little from design to design.
