A holiday with its own visual language

Lunar New Year celebrations across China, Vietnam, Korea, and other communities share a recognizable set of colors and symbols — red and gold, lanterns, and fireworks — that translate naturally into emoji.

The red envelope

The red envelope (hongbao) emoji is the single most-used symbol for this holiday, standing in for the tradition of gifting money in red packets for good luck — pairing it with a money-with-wings or sparkle emoji is a common way to wish someone prosperity.

Lanterns, fireworks, and the zodiac animal

A red lantern and fireworks capture the festive atmosphere, while adding that year's zodiac animal emoji — a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, and so on — personalizes the message to the specific year being celebrated.

Putting together a greeting

A simple, warm Lunar New Year message might combine a lantern, the year's zodiac animal, and a red envelope, closed out with a folded-hands or heart emoji — all of which you can find quickly by searching this keyboard for 'lantern,' 'envelope,' or the animal's name.