and BTS performing the gesture in 2022|right In the 1990s, the finger heart gesture was called the "Timid V" (소심한 브이) in South Korea. This term was used by South Korean baby boomers and Generation X, but as they ended, the MZ generation began to call it the finger heart in the 2000s. By the 2010s, it had become widely accepted in South Korea, and spread to the rest of the world as a part of the
Korean Wave. Before the appearance of finger hearts, it was common to make small
hearts with two hands or to make large hearts by raising and curving both arms above the head. Heart gestures using both hands and arms also have been performed worldwide, but finger hearts are also called Korean Finger Hearts because of its association with the rise of
South Korean pop culture. In
South Korea, it is a popular symbol among Korean celebrities (namely actors and singers) and their fans, and popularly performed using the thumb and index finger. Although various instances of finger hearts may be found from before 2010 (namely in K-pop musician
G-Dragon's childhood photo), finger hearts are considered to have been first popularized by actress
Kim Hye-soo then in the
K-pop community by
Infinite's
Nam Woohyun in 2011. The thumb and index finger gesture has become popular across Asia due to the popularity of
K-pop and
Korean dramas. Notable South Korean celebrities – including
G-Dragon and
PSY – as well as groups including
Exo and
BTS, have popularized the gesture to a wider international audience. During the
2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang,
The North Face provided gloves with highlighted thumb and index finger sleeves to highlight this symbol. In 2021 the finger heart was added to
Unicode 14.0 and
Emoji 14.0 with the codepoint as "Hand with Index Finger and Thumb Crossed". ==See also==