Unicode has two dragons, the whole animal and the head, shelved with the reptiles between the snake and the sauropod. Dragon emoji copy and paste opens on Dragon; then castles, festival emoji, characters like ้พ, text dragons and 13 combos.
Read the full guide
Knights finds the dragon
No emoji is named knight. CLDR files knights under Dragon and Fleur-de-lis and nowhere else, so that search returns those two. Treasure finds Coin, wizard finds Mage and mahjong finds all three dragon tiles. For a dragon with flames attached, tap Full blast.
The Welsh flag can arrive black
Flag of Wales is a black flag plus six invisible tag characters, and Unicode's emoji report says a system without tag support shows the black flag alone. Both dragons carry early labels, Emoji 0.6 for the face and 1.0 for the animal. ้พ and the green and white tiles need a font that has them.
Tips
้พ is traditional, ้พ simplified, ็ซ Japanese. ้พ stacks three dragons into 48 strokes: the appearance of a dragon walking.
Add humps to ~^~^~^~{o> for a longer dragon, or brackets to the fire for a bigger flame.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between the two dragon emoji?
Dragon, U+1F409, is the whole animal and Dragon face, U+1F432, is the head. The face is older, from Emoji 0.6, and Dragon followed in 1.0. CLDR gives both the same search words, except that Dragon has knights where the face has face.
Is there a Chinese dragon emoji?
Not by name. Unicode has Dragon, Dragon face and Mahjong red dragon, and its emoji report says the shape of an emoji can vary significantly. For a dragon that is Chinese beyond doubt, copy ้พ, which Unicode's Han database defines as dragon.
Is there a dragon symbol in plain text?
Several. โฟ is named Kangxi radical dragon, ๐ and ๐ are the green and white mahjong dragon tiles, and โ is the astronomy sign Wikipedia calls the dragon's head. None is an emoji, so each takes the colour of your text.
๐DragonU+1F409. The whole animal, and the newer of the two. CLDR files it under knights, a word it shares only with Fleur-de-lis. Emoji 1.0.
๐ฒDragon faceU+1F432. The head alone, and the older of the two. It has the same search words as Dragon, with face in place of knights. Emoji 0.6.
๐Mahjong red dragonU+1F004. The third and last emoji filed under dragon. It is a game tile: Unicode's names list gives its Chinese name as hongzhong. Emoji 0.6.
The reptile shelf 6
๐CrocodileU+1F40A. First on the reptile shelf. Three search words: animal, crocodile and zoo. Emoji 1.0.
๐ฆLizardU+1F98E. The only emoji CLDR files under reptile, though Unicode shelves eight together, both dragons among them. Emoji 3.0.
๐ฆSauropodU+1F995. The neighbour on the other side. Filed under dinosaur, brontosaurus and diplodocus. Emoji 5.0.
๐SnakeU+1F40D. The dragon's neighbour in Unicode's list, filed under serpent, a word it shares only with Ophiuchus. Wikipedia traces the word dragon to a Greek word for serpent. Emoji 0.6.
๐ฆT-RexU+1F996. The only other emoji filed under dinosaur. Emoji 5.0.
๐ขTurtleU+1F422. Second on the shelf, filed under terrapin and tortoise as well. Emoji 0.6.
Show all 59 dragon items (50 more)
Knights, castles and treasure 10
๐ฐCastleU+1F3F0. Three search words: building, castle and European. Emoji 0.6.
๐ชCoinU+1FA99. Filed under treasure, a word it shares only with Pirate flag. A hoard starts here. Emoji 13.0.
โ๏ธCrossed swordsU+2694 U+FE0F. Filed under weapon, and nothing about knights. Emoji 1.0.
๐CrownU+1F451. CLDR files it under medieval, king and queen. Emoji 0.6.
๐ฅFireU+1F525. By Wikipedia, the Western tradition depicts dragons as fire-breathing. Search burn, flame, hot or lit. Emoji 0.6.
โ๏ธFleur-de-lisU+269C U+FE0F. The only emoji that shares the word knights with Dragon. Emoji 1.0.
๐Gem stoneU+1F48E. Filed under jewel, diamond and gem. Emoji 0.6.
๐งMageU+1F9D9. Filed under wizard, witch, sorcerer, spell and summon. Emoji 5.0.
๐ก๏ธShieldU+1F6E1 U+FE0F. Two search words, shield and weapon. Emoji 0.7.
๐บ๏ธWorld mapU+1F5FA U+FE0F. Two search words, map and world. For the edge of it, see Here be dragons below. Emoji 0.7.
Festivals and flags 6
๐ฅDrumU+1F941. Three search words: drum, drumsticks and music. Emoji 3.0.
๐งจFirecrackerU+1F9E8. Filed under fireworks, pop and spark. Emoji 11.0.
๐ง๐นFlag of BhutanU+1F1E7 U+1F1F9. By Wikipedia the dragon on it is the Druk, out of Bhutan's own mythology. CLDR's only search word for it is flag. Emoji 2.0.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟFlag of WalesU+1F3F4 U+E0067 U+E0062 U+E0077 U+E006C U+E0073 U+E007F. By Wikipedia the flag of Wales is a red dragon on a green and white field. CLDR's only search word for it is flag. Emoji 5.0.
๐งงRed envelopeU+1F9E7. CLDR files it under hรณngbฤo, its Mandarin name, and under luck and money. Emoji 11.0.
๐ฎRed paper lanternU+1F3EE. Filed under lantern, light, paper and red. Emoji 0.6.
Dragons in plain text 10
โฟThe dragon radicalU+2FD3 Kangxi radical dragon. Kangxi radical 212 by Unicode's names list, which maps it to the 16-stroke character: a dictionary heading with a code point of its own.
่พฐThe dragon year signU+8FB0 CJK unified ideograph-8FB0. The Han database calls it the fifth earthly branch. Wikipedia pairs that branch with the Year of the Dragon.
โDragon's headU+260A Ascending node. An astronomy sign. By Wikipedia, dragon's head is an old name for the Moon's ascending node, and this is its sign.
โDragon's tailU+260B Descending node. The partner of the sign before it. By Wikipedia the Moon's descending node is the dragon's tail.
้พDragon, the Han characterU+9F8D CJK unified ideograph-9F8D. Unicode's Han database defines it as dragon; Kangxi radical 212. Mandarin reading lรณng, 16 strokes.
็ซDragon, the Japanese characterU+7ADC CJK unified ideograph-7ADC. The Han database lists it as the new Japanese form of the 16-stroke character, with the readings ryลซ and tatsu.
้พDragon, the simplified characterU+9F99 CJK unified ideograph-9F99. The simplified form of the character above. The Han database defines it as dragon; symbolic of emperor.
๐ Green dragon tileU+1F005 Mahjong tile green dragon. The names list gives its Chinese name as qingfa. It is not an emoji, and neither is the white one: only the red tile is.
้พThree dragons in one characterU+9F98 CJK unified ideograph-9F98. The dragon character three times over, 48 strokes. The Han database defines it as the appearance of a dragon walking. Mandarin reading dรก.
๐White dragon tileU+1F006 Mahjong tile white dragon. Baiban in Unicode's names list. Wikipedia counts three types of Dragon tile: white, green and red.
One-line text dragons 8
(0) (%) {o>An egg, a crack and a hatchling
/|\(o..o)/|\A dragon facing you, wings out
~^~^~^~{o>A long dragon facing right, plain ASCII
~^~^~{o> ))))A dragon breathing fire
\_o_o_o_o_/{o>A dragon boat with four paddlers
<o}~^~^~^~A long dragon facing left
^v^v^v^v^v^v^A ridge of spines, for a divider
zZz {-> o0O$O0oAsleep beside the hoard
Dragon in Greek, Latin and Welsh 3
ฮดฯฮฌฮบฯฮฝDrรกkลn, the Ancient Greek word behind the English one
dracoDragon in Latin. By Wikipedia the English word came through it from the Greek one before it
draigDragon in Welsh. By Wikipedia the flag of Wales also goes by Y Ddraig Goch, the red dragon
Dragon combos 13
๐๐ฃ๐Dragon boatDragon, then person rowing boat, then water wave. By Wikipedia, racing dragon boats is how the Dragon Boat Festival is kept.
๐๐ฅ๐ฎDragon danceDragon, then drum, then red paper lantern. By Wikipedia, Chinese New Year is a common occasion for the dragon dance.
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅFull blastDragon, then fire 3 times. Stand well back.
๐๐ฐGuarding the castleDragon, then castle. Nobody in, nobody out.
๐ฅโก๏ธ๐ฒHatchlingEgg, then right arrow, then dragon face. CLDR files Egg under breakfast. This one is not for eating.
๐บ๏ธ๐Here be dragonsWorld map, then dragon. By Wikipedia, the only known historical use of the phrase, in Latin, is on the Hunt-Lenox Globe.
๐๐ช๐ช๐๐The hoardDragon, then coin 2 times, then gem stone, then crown. CLDR files Coin under treasure. The rest is what came with it.
โ๏ธ๐ก๏ธ๐Knight wantedCrossed swords, then shield, then dragon. CLDR files Dragon under knights, and no emoji is named knight.
๐๐ฐ๐ฒOnce upon a timeOpen book, then castle, then dragon face. Both dragons are filed under fairytale and tale, and Open book under fantasy.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ๐The red dragon of WalesFlag: Wales, then dragon. Y Ddraig Goch, the red dragon, which Wikipedia gives as a Welsh name for the flag itself.
๐ชป๐ฒSnapdragonHyacinth, then dragon face. CLDR files Hyacinth under snapdragon, the only other search word with dragon inside it.
๐ง๐น๐๐ฉ๏ธThunder dragonFlag: Bhutan, then dragon, then cloud with lightning. By Wikipedia, Bhutan's own name for itself means The Thunder Dragon Kingdom.
๐๐งง๐งจYear of the DragonDragon, then red envelope, then firecracker. By Wikipedia the Dragon comes fifth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac's cycle.
How this list was compiled: Built by script on 2026-09-19, not typed by hand. The 25 emoji, their names, code points and Emoji version numbers come from emoji-test.txt, version 18.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/emoji/emoji-test.txt); names are the CLDR short names printed in that file, in sentence case. Dragon face is U+1F432, Emoji 0.6, and dragon is U+1F409, Emoji 1.0; both are in the subgroup animal-reptile, printed after the snake and before the sauropod; mahjong red dragon, U+1F004, is the only other entry with dragon in its name. The search words are from the CLDR English annotations (https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/annotations/en.xml and https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/blob/main/common/annotationsDerived/en.xml, main branch). CLDR files exactly three emoji under dragon (dragon face, dragon, mahjong red dragon); knights belongs to dragon and fleur-de-lis alone, serpent to snake and Ophiuchus, reptile to lizard alone, treasure to coin and pirate flag, dinosaur to sauropod and T-Rex; snapdragon, a word of hyacinth, is the only other search word that contains dragon; no emoji is filed under wyvern, drake, hoard, lair, mythical or dragonfly. Every character that is not an emoji was checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt), and a note that names a character uses its name from that file. The Chinese names of the three mahjong dragon tiles and the note that U+2FD3 is Kangxi radical 212 are from NamesList.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt). The definitions, readings, variants and stroke counts of U+9F8D, U+9F99, U+7ADC, U+8FB0 and U+9F98 are the kDefinition, kMandarin, kJapaneseOn, kSimplifiedVariant, kJapaneseNewVariant and kTotalStrokes fields of Unihan, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Unihan.zip). Wikipedia, Dragon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon): a mythical creature found in folklore throughout the world, fire-breathing in the Western tradition; the word comes through Latin draco from Greek drรกkลn, serpent. Wikipedia, Dragon (zodiac) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(zodiac)): fifth of the 12-year cycle, associated with the Earthly Branch symbol U+8FB0. Wikipedia, Mahjong tiles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong_tiles): three Dragon tiles. Wikipedia, Lunar node (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_node): the ascending node is the dragon's head and the descending node the dragon's tail, with these symbols. Wikipedia, Here be dragons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_be_dragons): the only known historical use is on the Hunt-Lenox Globe. Wikipedia, Flag of Wales (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Wales): Y Ddraig Goch, a red dragon on a green and white field. Wikipedia, Flag of Bhutan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Bhutan): the Druk; The Thunder Dragon Kingdom. Wikipedia, Dragon dance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_dance): a common sight at Chinese New Year. Wikipedia, Dragon Boat Festival (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Boat_Festival): kept with dragon boat races. The word dragon in Ancient Greek, Latin and Welsh is from the translations table of Wiktionary's entry dragon (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dragon). That a system without a font for a character shows a missing glyph indicator, that only the base character of a tag sequence displays where tag sequences are not supported, and that the shape of an emoji can vary significantly are from UTS #51, Unicode Emoji, version 18.0 (https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr51/). That U+9F98 is U+9F8D over a pair of U+9F8D is from the composition data of Wiktionary's entries for U+9F98 and U+9F96 (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%BE%98, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%BE%96). The 10 plain characters, the 8 one-line drawings, the 3 words and the 13 combos are this site's own choice, the drawings are our own and repeat nothing on this site's dragon ASCII art page, and the combo names are our own. All sources were checked on 2026-09-19. Licence: own work: the selection, the combo names, the text drawings and the notes are ours. Emoji names, code points and search words are Unicode and CLDR data, and the Han definitions are Unihan data, used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt). Facts from Wikipedia and Wiktionary are restated in our own words and credited in the source line.