Snapchat lets you make extensive use of emojis, and most of those emojis are just for fun. But there are some symbols that will pop up while you’re using Snapchat that have an additional meaning. Here’s Snapchat’s green dot, yellow heart and more symbols explained.
Here’s What Those Snapchat Symbols Mean
There are several Snapchat symbols that you’ll encounter, typically next to account names or message, which have special meaning. It’s nothing to worry about typically, they’re informational rather than dire warnings, but it’s helpful to know what they mean.
So, here’s an explanation of Snapchat’s green dot, yellow heart and others you might come across (via SnapChat). We’ve used emojis to represent each symbol, so they might look slightly different on Snapchat but you’ll still be able to recognise them.
Green Dot = Activity Indicator. This means that a friend has been active on Snapchat recently. It doesn’t mean they’re online right now, just that they’ve not abandoned the app and are still around. However, you might not want people to know when or if you’re active on Snapchat. If that’s the case, do this.
- Hit the cog on your profile screen to go to settings
- Go down to private controls
- Toggle Activity Indicator off
Smiling Face = BFs. You’re best friends with someone and send them plenty of snaps but they’re not your absolute best friend.
Yellow Heart = Besties You’re #1 best friends with someone. You’ve sent them the most snaps and they’ve sent the most snaps to you.
Red Heart = BFF. You’ve been Besties with someone for two weeks in a row.
Double Red Heart = Super BFF. You’ve been #1 best friends with someone for two months.
Sunglasses = Mutual BFs. One of your best friends is also one of this person’s best friends.
Grimacing face = Mutual Besties. Your #1 best friend is also this user’s #1 best friend.
Flame = Snapstreak. Shown next to a number, with the number indicating how many days you’ve been continually snapping each other.
Hourglass = Snapstreak is about to end. Your snapstreak with this person is in danger of ending, so you need to get snap swapping if you want to keep it.
100 = 100 Day Snapstreak. This indicates you’ve been on Snapstreak for an amazing 100 days (via BeeBom). However, it goes back to the flame on the 101st day which is a little disappointing.
★ Black Star in Yellow Circle = Snap Star. This account is verified/notable. This status is usually given to celebrities, creators, notable accounts and so forth. You can apply for Snap Star status (find out more here) but there’s no guarantee you’ll get it.
Gold Star = Replayed Snap. Someone has replayed one or more of this friend’s snaps (via SMPerth).
Eyes = Rewatch Indicator. You’ll only see if this if you’re a Snapchat+ subscriber. It appears under Snapchat Stories that friends have watched more than once.
Peace Sign = Top Chat Group. This appears next to the group that you most engage with – in essence, your favourite group.
Cake = Friend’s Birthday. When you see this, it tells you that today is that friend’s birthday, if you want to chat with them and send them birthday wishes. However, on the flip side, you might not want people to know when your birthday is.
- Here’s how to disable it (via MakeUseof):
- Go to your profile
- Tap the cog icon to go to settings
- Select Birthday
- Toggle off Birthday Party
Snapchat will still have a record of your birth date, assuming you didn’t just lie, but no-one will be able to tell when your birthday is.
Baby = Recent Friend. This icon shows that you and a friend have just recently become friends.
Most of these symbols have to do with friendships, and encourage you to engage with both the platform and your friends. Snapchat could add new symbols but they may also remove them. There used to be a smirking face symbol which shows you were someone’s best friend, but they weren’t yours. This was apparently yanked for its potential to cause friends to fall out.
How To Change Your Snapchat Symbols
While the above symbols are the default for those categories, you don’t have to stick them. Instead, you can switch emojis, so your Snapstreak icon could be a piece of pizza. Here’s how to do that (via Snapchat)
- Go to your profile.
- Tap the cog icon to go into settings.
- Tap Customise Emojis on Android, or on iOS, tap Friend Emojis under Additional Services
- Customise your Symbols / Emojis as you see fit.
Just make sure remember which symbols you assigned or things could get quite confusing.
That’s Snapchat’s green dot, yellow heart and more symbols explained. And if you’re wondering how you rank amongst your friends’ best friends lists, here are the Snapchat planets in order and their meanings.