Until now, Japanese phone carrier Docomo has most often been widely [https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/03/26/meet-shigetaka-kurita-the-father-of-emoji/] credited [https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/3966140/how-emoji-conquered-the-world] as the originator of what we know as emoji today. It turns out, that might not be the case, and

WhatsApp has begun to roll out WhatsApp 2.19.62 [https://emojipedia.org/whatsapp/2.19.62/], an update to the messaging service which contains a selection of emoji design changes. Above: A selection of the changed emoji designs featured in WhatsApp 2.19.62 [https://emojipedia.org/whatsapp/2.

The latest version of WhatsApp includes a Transgender Pride flag [https://emojipedia.org/transgender-pride-flag/], hidden from the emoji keyboard. This is created using a ZWJ sequence [https://emojipedia.org/emoji-zwj-sequences/] of the 🏳️ White Flag [https://emojipedia.org/waving-white-flag/] emoji and ⚧ Male with Stroke and Male and Female Sign [https://emojipedia.

The Unicode Consortium has today released version 12 of the Unicode Standard. The release includes 61 new emoji characters and 493 non-emoji characters. This follows last month's announcement of the final list of 230 new emojis for 2019 [https://blog.emojipedia.org/230-new-emojis-in-final-list-for-2019/], and paves the way for

Facebook Messenger has a new dark mode that can be activated by sending the 🌙 Crescent Moon emoji [https://emojipedia.org/crescent-moon/] in any message thread. Once the 🌙 emoji has been sent, a message appears noting that Dark Mode can now be turned on (or off) in Settings. This tip comes

In this month's Emoji Wrap podcast [http://podcast.emojiwrap.com/3129d111] John Kelly (Senior Emoji Lexicographer at Emojipedia) joins me to discuss the latest emoji happenings. > “Hot takes galore on the internet with the new emoji release, how to spot a PR campaign, and officer I'

On Friday, February 22, the London Times ran an article [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3444dd84-361d-11e9-b41a-ec1745518ba6] on emojis that made many of us go 😂, 🙃, or 🤔 online. > The Times emoji explainer is killing me. 🍆 🍑 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uA8Th2Mc62 [https://t.co/uA8Th2Mc62] — Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) February 22, 2019

Earlier this month 230 new emojis were approved [https://blog.emojipedia.org/230-new-emojis-in-final-list-for-2019/] for release in 2019; but what about all the other requests? The number one emoji wanted by Emojipedia users is “happy tears”: an emoji to show a sense of being proud or emotional in a happy way.

Today at a press event in San Fransisco, Samsung announced the Galaxy S10 series of phones which all ship with the recently rebranded Samsung One UI. This custom Android implementation changes a considerable number of emoji designs, and shows new emojis from 2018 [https://blog.emojipedia.org/samsung-experience-9-5-emoji-changelog/] on the

Earlier this month, the Unicode Consortium debuted its final list of new emojis for 2019 [https://blog.emojipedia.org/230-new-emojis-in-final-list-for-2019/] —and we debated it. Some men felt challenged by what Pinching Hand [https://emojipedia.org/pinching-hand/] implied about their bodies [https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/pinching-emoji-tiny-dick-gesture-unicode-consortium-sexting] while some women

The final emoji list for 2019 has now been approved by the Unicode Consortium and includes a total of 230 new emojis [https://emojipedia.org/emoji-12.0/] coming to major platforms this year. Additions include previously drafted [https://blog.emojipedia.org/white-heart-flamingo-added-as-emoji-candidates/] candidates such as a Flamingo [https://emojipedia.org/

Twitter has today begun to roll out a new update to its native Twemoji emoji set: Twemoji 11.3. The first update to the vendor’s designs in 2019, it features a series of minor adjustments to several previously-released emoji designs. Above: a selection of the revised emoji designs featured

Today EmojiOne has released a new version of its emoji suite, updating a considerable number of pre-existing emoji designs: a now well-established practice for the freemium [https://blog.emojipedia.org/emoji-one-goes-freemium/] emoji vendor. First previewed in October 2018 [https://twitter.com/emojione/status/1055185820427018240], no new emojis are featured within

A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. So, too, at least in the realms of texting and social media, is an emoji. Behold the wide eyes and red cheeks of 😳 Flushed Face [https://emojipedia.org/flushed-face/]. In recent years, 😳 Flushed Face [https://emojipedia.org/flushed-face/] has made

WhatsApp has released new emojis for Android, along with design modifications for its native emoji set. The latest update means that WhatsApp users on Android now have access to both the 157 new Emoji 11.0 [https://emojipedia.org/emoji-11.0/] additions from 2018 as well as redesigned versions of

Emojipedia has a monthly newsletter containing emoji stories you might not have seen from around the web. Curated by me, Emojiepdia's Editor in Chief ("Chief Emoji Officer" is the more fun title for my role), this is sent no more than once a month, and currently

A comprehensive list of emojis used at Christmas time, where they come from, and most importantly: how much cheer they spread on each platform. Both ⛄ Winter [https://emojipedia.org/winter/] and 🎅 Christmas [https://emojipedia.org/christmas/] are well represented on the emoji keyboard. But have you taken a closer look

As we saw in our Emojiology on 👻 Ghost [https://blog.emojipedia.org/emojiology-ghost/], Halloween [https://emojipedia.org/halloween/] is downright haunted by emojis to mark the occasion. Close behind it, on the holiday front, is Christmas [https://emojipedia.org/christmas/]. From a 🎁 Gift [https://emojipedia.org/wrapped-present/] under the 🎄 Christmas

As with most things Unicode-related, emoji flags are more complicated than they may first appear. With calls in recent years for emoji representation of the Aboriginal Australian flag, Transgender flag, Brittany flag, Kurdish flag (and many more) it's worth taking a closer look at the ways that flags

Questions about Samsung emoji support are a frequent occurrence on Emojipedia's various social media accounts. In particular, users often want to know why they don't have emojis that other platforms include. Samsung has come a long way to making various emoji designs closer to other platforms

Facebook has confirmed its major emoji update for 2018 is now available for the majority of Facebook users. The release, of which some elements began to be surface in June [https://twitter.com/Emojipedia/status/1011948853560512513], features 157 new emojis as well as a glossy design overhaul. With the rollout

As many of us around the world move into the colder months of the year, we bundle up our emojis with scarves 🧣 [https://emojipedia.org/scarf/], coats 🧥 [https://emojipedia.org/coat/], and gloves 🧤 [https://emojipedia.org/gloves/], prepared for the freezing snow ❄️ [https://emojipedia.org/snowflake/] and icy winds 🌬️ [https:

On November 21, 2008 Apple released a free software update for iPhone users in Japan which contained Apple's first emoji font and keyboard. Ten years later, it's clear that this release paved the way for the widespread emoji support we see around the world today. Background

Apple's emoji font — Apple Color Emoji — is iconic. It wasn't the first emoji set in existance, but it is certainly the most recognizable. First debuting as part of iPhone OS 2.2 [https://emojipedia.org/apple/iphone-os-2.2/] on November 21, 2008, this font is now

“I’ve been waiting forever for the ginger emoji and THIS is it?? Uh, hello? Redheads feel all the emotions, too.” Self-confessed “feisty redhead” Becca Watters on Twitter [https://twitter.com/beccawatters/status/1058445113314013184] wrote about her frustration with new emoji choices available upon the release of iOS 12.1