Chequered or checkered? Same emoji
Unicode calls U+1F3C1 the chequered flag, using the British spelling, while most American sites and the Discord, Slack and GitHub shortcode use :checkered_flag:. They are the same emoji. It is one of the oldest flag emoji there is: it was in the Japanese mobile emoji sets and became part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010. Because it is a single code point with no hidden joiners or tags, it shows up almost everywhere, including Windows PCs that can’t draw country flags.
What 🏁 means in a text
- The end of a race: Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP, karting and sim racing.
- “Finished!” A project shipped, exams over, the last day of work before a holiday.
- Arrival: the end of a road trip, a flight landing or a marathon finish.
- Start of something: “let’s go”, often paired with 🏎️💨.
A quick guide to racing flags
The chequered flag ends a race or session, and the first driver to see it is the winner. The other flags have jobs too. Red stops the session. Yellow warns of danger ahead, with no overtaking. Green means the track is clear. Blue tells a driver to let a faster car through. Black calls a driver into the pits, usually as a penalty. White means a slow vehicle is ahead in F1, but the final lap in NASCAR and IndyCar.
Most of these have no emoji of their own. Unicode’s 🚩 is a triangular flag on a post, which people use as a “red flag” warning, and there is a plain 🏳️ white flag. For yellow, green and blue, racing fans usually type coloured squares: 🟨🟩🟦.
Where the chequered pattern comes from
Nobody agrees on the exact origin. Popular stories point to 19th-century bicycle races, horse racing and early 1900s American road rallies, where officials wanted a flag that stood out against dust and crowds. What is certain is that motor racing was using a chequered flag to mark the finish by the early 20th century. Today the same pattern shows up on finish lines in running and cycling too.
Typing 🏁 on any device
On a phone, search “finish” or “race” in the emoji keyboard. On Windows press Win + . and search “flag”, and on a Mac press Control + Command + Space and search “flag”. In HTML you can write 🏁 or 🏁.
Chequered flag emoji codes
| Unicode name | chequered flag |
| Code points (1) | U+1F3C1 |
| Emoji version | Emoji 0.6 (2010) |
| HTML hex | 🏁 |
| HTML decimal | 🏁 |
| UTF-8 bytes (4) | F0 9F 8F 81 |
| URL encoded | %F0%9F%8F%81 |
| JavaScript (ES6) | \u{1F3C1} |
| JSON / Java / C# (UTF-16, 2 units) | \uD83C\uDFC1 |
| Python | \U0001F3C1 |
| CSS content | "\1F3C1" |
| Shortcodes | :checkered_flag: (Discord, Slack, GitHub) |
Chequered flag emoji FAQ
Is it called the chequered flag or checkered flag emoji?
Both. The official Unicode name is “chequered flag” (British spelling), and most apps use the shortcode :checkered_flag: (American spelling). It is the same emoji, 🏁, U+1F3C1.
What does 🏁 mean in texting?
It usually means finished or done, or refers to motor racing such as F1 and NASCAR. People also use it for reaching a goal, finishing a race, or arriving at the end of a trip.
Is there a yellow or green racing flag emoji?
No. Unicode has the chequered flag 🏁, the red triangular flag 🚩, a white flag 🏳️ and a black flag 🏴. Racing fans use coloured squares such as 🟨 and 🟩 for yellow and green flags.
Does the chequered flag emoji work on Windows?
Yes. Unlike country flags, 🏁 is a single character included in the Windows emoji font, so it shows correctly on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.
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