U+1F198 · emoji since 2010
The SOS button is a bold call for help, the classic distress signal. It means emergency, mayday, and I need rescuing now.
Online it also dramatizes everyday crises, the half-joking cry of someone overwhelmed and out of options.
In texting, 🆘 does not carry a widely used hidden or slang meaning, so you can usually take it at face value. People send it just as it looks, to add a little visual touch or set the mood of a message. Only a handful of emoji have a separate texting code, and 🆘 is not really one of them.
Its official Unicode name is the SOS Button emoji. In everyday chat most people just call it the sos button emoji or describe what it shows. Copy and paste it from the button at the top of this page.
The 🆘 leads off a short phrase, and the rest of the words are written in cipher, every letter disguised as another emoji. Tap decipher to reveal the whole line.
Or make your own cipher in the translator.