'Heart' of the matter: what does each colour of the heart emoji mean?

Whether its popping out of cartoon characters or beating away in a WhatsApp chat, the heart emoji is unanimously accepted as the language of love.

While modern pop culture will have you believe that the shape is inspired by erotic imagery like breasts or buttocks, some studies say that the heart symbol actually resembles the anatomical heart, but not the human one. The symbol looks like a dissected reptile heart!

A more believable theory credits the writings of Aristotle and Galen from the Middle Ages for inventing the modern heart. They described the human heart as 'three chambers with a small dent in the middle'.

Cut to 2020, you have almost 20 versions of the heart emoji on your keyboard, and you might want to know what the different colours actually mean! There's no official heart emoji guide, but the Internet does offer some answers.

As per emojimeanings.net, the red heart is your classic 'true love' symbol.
The orange one can be used to signify a 'just friends' relationship, some even call it the red heart's commitment-phobic cousin!
The yellow heart is believed to have no romantic side. Use it to spread good old platonic joy.
The green heart is often considered a jealous one but it's also used by nature lovers or health fanatics.
The blue heart is dubbed as the 'bromance' heart, and is also used to raise awareness about Autism.
Need something more? Netizens call the purple heart their go-to for lusty romancing.
The black heart is where things get tricky. Some use it to express dark humour, others say that it can express sadness and yet another group says that it is a symbol for cold heartedness.

There are many more versions, of course, including an envelope heart, but we'll let you guide us on what that could possibly mean.