Jail Emoji

Unicode has no emoji named jail: press Copy for the chains and lock, or pick a face behind bars.

Jail Emoji

⛓️🔒JailU+26D3 U+FE0F U+1F512Ready to copy

58 items. Tap one to copy it.

Closest emoji 15

Faces for the cell 5

Bars and cells 8

Jail emoticons 8

Cell drawings 3

Jail lines 6

Jail combos 13

Next step Padlocks, keys and private linesNext: the siren, with alert lines

How it works

CLDR, Unicode’s list of search words, files nothing under jail, prison or prisoner, and arrest under the three police officers only. So the jail emoji here is a pair, Chains then Locked.

Read the full guide

Jail cell and jail bars, by CLDR

Bars is a search word of one emoji, Antenna bars, and cell of six, all to do with phones. So neither word reaches a lock. Crime leads to Fingerprint alone, and cuffs to Broken chain alone.

Bars from the keyboard

A prisoner emoticon is a face between bars, and ||(._.)|| types on any keyboard. ▥ is one plain character, Square with vertical fill. 囚 is prisoner in the Unihan database and, by Wiktionary, a person inside an enclosure. The drawings want monospaced text.

  • As an emoji for jail in a family chat, 📱⛓️ is Phone jail and 🏠🔒😔 is Grounded.

Questions and answers

Is there a jail emoji?

Not by that name. Unicode’s emoji list, version 18.0, has no jail, cell or handcuffs. ⛓️🔒, Chains then Locked, is the nearest pair.

What is the prison emoji or the prisoner emoji?

The same pair serves as a prison emoji, and the combo Prisoner adds a person: 🧍⛓️🔒. In American English, by Wikipedia, a jail holds people before trial or for short sentences and a prison for long ones.

What is the emoji behind bars?

A face between two chains. ⛓️😐⛓️ is the combo Behind bars, and Emoji in jail swaps in 🥺. Wiktionary gives behind bars as in jail or in prison.

Is there a jail emoticon?

Typed ones. Of the jail smiley face emoticons here, ||:(|| is the plainest. The Japanese emoticons for jail stand between two double vertical lines: ‖(・_・)‖ waits and ‖(；ω；)‖ cries.

All 58 items

Closest emoji 15

  • Antenna bars U+1F4F6. The only emoji with bars as a search word. Cell leads to six emoji, each to do with a phone. Emoji 0.6.
  • Balance scale U+2696 U+FE0F. Filed under justice and scales. Emoji 1.0.
  • Broken chain U+26D3 U+FE0F U+200D U+1F4A5. The only emoji filed under cuffs. Also filed under freedom. Emoji 15.1.
  • Chains U+26D3 U+FE0F. Filed under chain and chains. Unicode’s own note is tyre chains required. Emoji 0.7.
  • Door U+1F6AA. Filed under door. Emoji 0.6.
  • Fingerprint U+1FAC6. The only emoji filed under crime. Emoji 16.0.
  • Jail Chains, then locked.
  • Judge U+1F9D1 U+200D U+2696 U+FE0F. Filed under judge, justice and law. Emoji 12.1.
  • Key U+1F511. Filed under key, lock and unlock. Emoji 0.6.
  • Locked U+1F512. Filed under locked, closed and private. Unicode’s note: padlock in locked position. Emoji 0.6.
  • Oncoming police car U+1F694. Filed under police and car. Emoji 0.7.
  • Police car U+1F693. Filed under cops and patrol. Emoji 0.6.
  • Police car light U+1F6A8. Filed under siren and alarm. Emoji 0.6.
  • Police officer U+1F46E. One of three emoji filed under arrest. Also filed under cop and law. Emoji 0.6.
  • Unlocked U+1F513. Filed under unlock and open. Emoji 0.6.
Show all 58 items (43 more)

Faces for the cell 5

  • Crying face U+1F622. Filed under cry and tear. Emoji 0.6.
  • Neutral face U+1F610. Filed under deadpan and meh. Emoji 0.7.
  • Pensive face U+1F614. Filed under dejected and sad. Emoji 0.6.
  • Pleading face U+1F97A. Filed under mercy and please. Emoji 11.0.
  • Weary face U+1F629. Filed under weary and tired. Emoji 0.6.

Bars and cells 8

  • Double vertical line U+2016. Two upright bars in one character.
  • Jail, as a Han character U+7344. Prison or jail, by the Unihan database.
  • Number sign U+0023. On the keyboard already: a grid of four bars.
  • Prison, as a Han character U+7262. Prison, by the Unihan database; also a stable or pen.
  • Prisoner, as a Han character U+56DA. Prisoner or convict, by the Unihan database: a person inside an enclosure.
  • Square with orthogonal crosshatch fill U+25A6. The same window with cross bars.
  • Square with vertical fill U+25A5. A cell window in one plain character.
  • Triple vertical bar delimiter U+2980. Three upright bars in one character.

Jail emoticons 8

  • [|||] A cell window: three bars in brackets.
  • ||(._.)|| A face between two pairs of bars.
  • ||:(|| A sideways sad smiley behind bars.
  • ||:)|| The same smiley, cheerful about it.
  • ‖(・_・)‖ Japanese style: waiting it out.
  • ‖(；ω；)‖ Japanese style: in tears.
  • ┣(｀へ´)┫ Japanese style: gripping the bars.
  • ●-o-o-o-[] A ball and chain.

Cell drawings 3

  • Cell bars Four lines. Needs monospaced text.
  • Cell door with a lock Five lines, with a lock plate in the middle.
  • Face behind bars Five lines: two eyes in the gap.

Jail lines 6

  • the dog is in bath jail 🔒 For a photo of a wet dog.
  • ⛓️ grounded. see you next week For a status line.
  • out on good behavior 🔓 For the day the grounding ends.
  • phone jail until the homework is done For a quiet evening, not by choice.
  • send snacks through the bars For a study day.
  • sentenced to one group project For school.

Jail combos 13

  • Behind bars Chains, then neutral face, then chains.
  • Cat jail Chains, then cat face, then chains.
  • Day in court Balance scale, then judge, then spiral calendar.
  • Doing time Chains, then hourglass not done, then locked.
  • Emoji in jail Chains, then pleading face, then chains.
  • Grounded House, then locked, then pensive face.
  • Homework jail Books, then chains, then weary face.
  • Made a run for it Broken chain, then person running, then dashing away.
  • Out today Unlocked, then door, then partying face.
  • Phone jail Mobile phone, then chains.
  • Prisoner Person standing, then chains, then locked.
  • Threw away the key Locked, then key, then wastebasket.
  • Under arrest Police officer, then oncoming police car, then chains.

How this list was compiled: Built on 2026-10-09 from sources read that day. The emoji, their names, code points and Emoji version numbers are from the Unicode emoji list, 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. 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). Unicode has no emoji named jail: no emoji name, no CLDR search word and no character name in UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt), holds jail, gaol, prison, prisoner, inmate, convict, handcuffs or behind bars. CLDR files arrest under the three police officers; bars under Antenna bars alone; cell under six emoji to do with phones; justice under the three judges, Balance scale and Libra; crime under Fingerprint alone; cuffs and freedom under Broken chain alone. Unicode’s notes on Chains (tyre chains required) and Locked (padlock in locked position) are from NamesList.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/NamesList.txt). The meanings of the three Han characters are the kDefinition lines of the Unihan database, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Unihan.zip); that the first is a person inside an enclosure is from Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%9B%9A, CC BY-SA 4.0). That behind bars means in jail or in prison is from Wiktionary, behind bars (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/behind_bars); that gaol is a dated British spelling is from Wiktionary, jail (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jail). How American and Canadian English tell a jail from a prison is from Wikipedia, Prison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison, CC BY-SA 4.0). The typed lines, the drawings, the caption lines and the combos are this site’s own work. Licence: own work: the selection, the combo names, the text drawings and the notes are this site's own. Emoji names, code points and search words are Unicode and CLDR data and Unihan data, used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt). Facts from Wikipedia and Wiktionary are restated in this site's own words and credited in the source line.

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