Saudi engineer turns crown prince’s heartfelt gesture into viral symbol of Arab identity

Dubai: In a world where diplomacy often plays out in carefully choreographed meetings and formal declarations, a single, unscripted moment between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and former U.S. President Donald Trump has struck a powerful chord, now immortalized not in treaties or headlines, but in the language of the digital age: an emoji.

The gesture came during Trump’s historic visit to Riyadh, where he announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, in an unexpected move that was met with enthusiastic applause at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum.

 Amid the applause, Crown Prince Mohammed placed both hands over his chest and smiled, a spontaneous show of warmth and gratitude that many Saudis described as deeply authentic and culturally resonant.

The moment, captured on video and widely shared across social media platforms, quickly gained traction. But it was Ali Al Mutairfi, a Saudi software engineer and head of curriculum at Tuwaiq Academy, who saw in the Crown Prince’s gesture a symbol worth preserving.

Within hours, he had designed a digital icon depicting a smiling man in traditional Saudi attire, white thobe, red-and-white checkered shemagh, and hands respectfully placed over his heart.

“It was a sincere gesture, full of Arab character,” Al Mutairfi said. “It wasn’t just about politics; it was a deeply human expression of gratitude. I felt we needed to capture that and give it a voice in the digital world.”

The emoji has since taken on a life of its own. Saudi users have adopted it widely on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where Al Mutairfi’s posts featuring the emoji design have been viewed over 3.6 million times and shared hundreds of times.

“The Japanese have a kimono emoji, Indians have one for the sari, even the French have their baguette,” Al Mutairfi noted. “But until now, nothing uniquely represented the Gulf or Arab world in a way that’s truly ours.”

The emoji, submitted to the Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that oversees global emoji standards, faces a lengthy review process, potentially lasting up to two years. If approved, it could appear on smartphones and platforms worldwide.

Huda Ata is an independent writer based in the UAE