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Unicode® Emoji

Emoji are pictographs (pictorial symbols) that are typically presented in a colorful form and used inline in text. They represent things such as faces, weather, vehicles and buildings, food and drink, animals and plants, or icons that represent emotions, feelings, or activities.

This page provides information about Unicode emoji and their development. For external resources on emoji, see Emoji Resources. For information about emoji images on this site, see Emoji Images and Rights.

The presentation at the top right gives an overview of Unicode emoji. There isn’t a voice-over, so click on the gear to open the speaker notes.

Unicode Emoji Resources

Unicode Emoji Charts illustrate various features of the emoji in Unicode, and accompany the material in UTS #51.
UTS #51 (Unicode Emoji) provides design guidelines and data for improving emoji interoperability across platforms, and gives background information about emoji
Unicode Emoji Data Files are the machine-readable emoji data files associated with UTS #51.
Submitting Emoji Proposals describes how emoji are proposed and selected for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.
FAQ: Emoji Submission provides some frequently-asked questions and answers for submitters of emoji proposals.
FAQ: Emoji and Dingbats provides some frequently-asked questions and answers for general topics related to emoji.
Emoji-related Press Archived collection of emoji-related media articles and presentations.
Unicode Utilities Emoji Set displays emoji characters as an LDML/ICU UnicodeSet; primarily intended for software developers.

Unicode Emoji Standard and Research Working Group

The Unicode Emoji Standard and Research Working Group is a Working Group of the Unicode Technical Committee operating under the Technical Group Procedures. The working group is responsible for the following:

  • Updating, revising, and extending emoji-related resources, such as UTS #51 and Unicode Emoji Charts.
  • Taking input from various sources and reviewing proposals for new emoji.
  • Creating proposals for the Unicode Technical Committee regarding additional emoji and new emoji-related mechanisms.
  • Investigating longer-term mechanisms for supporting emoji as images (stickers).

Participation in the working group weekly video/phone meetings and mailing list is open to members of the Unicode Consortium as per the section Participation in Technical Groups of the Technical Group Procedures, plus invited guests. Please see Technical Committees for information about the current chair and vice chairs.  Contact us for more information.