A shield, as used to block swords in close combat. Colors and styles vary across platforms, but generally depicted as a Heater shield with a metal border and a simple pattern.

Commonly used to represent various content concerning battle, defense, security, and protection. May be paired with (or fending off) ⚔️ Crossed Swords or 🗡️ Dagger. Not to be confused with 🔰 Japanese Symbol for Beginner.

Apple and Samsung’s designs feature a red-and-white sawtooth pattern, as did an earlier Microsoft version. Google’s design is metallic, while Facebook and WhatsApp use a blue-and-white checker pattern. Microsoft and Twitter’s designs are bisected into two shades of blue.

Shield was approved as part of Unicode 7.0 in 2014 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.