Twitter Emoji Updates

X Updates Its Iranian Flag Emoji Design

Earlier today, X (fka Twitter) updated its design for the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji within the official Twemoji GitHub. Proposing a historic design for the flag not previously used across emoji keyboards, this change would be the X's first emoji update since its 2024 revisions of the 🔫 Pistol emoji.

Keith Broni

• 4 min read
X Updates Its Iranian Flag Emoji Design

Earlier today, X (fka Twitter) updated its design for the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji within the official Twemoji GitHub. Introducing a historic design for the flag not previously used across emoji keyboards, this change (if implemented) would be the platform's first documented emoji update since its two revisions of the 🔫 Pistol emoji in 2024.

Editor's Note: In the time since the original publication of this article, X has indeed rolled out its new design for the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji. The update is currently available on web browsers and will apparently display on iOS devices in the coming days.

Above: screenshot of expected update to the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji.

The update was first previewed within the Twemoji GitHub repository, which had lain dormant following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk in 2022.

The update was made following this exchange on X between a user and Nikita Bier, the platform's Head Of Product.

Now that it has been officially implemented, users of the web browser version of X will see the updated flag design, which shows the Lion and Sun flag instead of the current state flag design historically used by all emoji vendors.

This update applies to all instances of the emoji on X viewed by web browsers, not just those posted since the change.

Users on Android devices will continue to see the flag displayed with their device's native emoji font, as has been the case since February 2023. However, iOS users are expected to see the design change be implemented in the coming days:

Editor's Note: The design is now also live on iOS devices.

While updates had been made to the version of the Twemoji emoji design set used on Twitter and then X since this time, none of these were added to the emoji set's official GitHub.

These updates include the introduction of support for 2022's Emoji 15.0 list of recommendations, as well as the aforementioned updates to the 🔫 Pistol emoji.

Above: the designs for Emoji 15.0 as made available on X in June 2023. Image: X/Twitter designs / Emojipedia composite.

You can read more about those specific updates here and here, respectively.

Additionally, here you can read about a branch of Twemoji that has been maintained by some of the emoji design set's original team, as well as additional designs from Discord.

Did Iran officially change its flag?

In short, no.

The official flag of Iran remains the tricolour of green, white, and red, featuring the red emblem introduced following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This design is the internationally recognised state flag and continues to be used by the Iranian government and in diplomatic contexts.

The Lion and Sun flag shown in X’s updated emoji design is a historic symbol of Iran, used in various forms for centuries and most recently as the national flag before 1980.

Above: screenshot of from the Flag of Iran Wikipedia page.

Today, it is commonly associated with Iranian opposition movements and segments of the Iranian diaspora, rather than with the current state.

You can read more context for why this design change has been requested by some here on Wikipedia.

Additionally, while there have been many messages of support for this change on the pull request within the official Twemoji GitHub, there have also been notable dissenting voices both there and within a similar pull request on Google's Noto Color Emoji GitHub.

So what happens now?

Users on X on a web browser will now see the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji represented with the Lion and Sun flag design.

Users of other platforms and devices will meanwhile continue to see the 🇮🇷 Flag for Iran emoji displayed as the current official flag of the nation.

If this alternative design were to gain broader acceptance internationally, other platforms could choose to incorporate it in future software releases.

Any such change, however, would remain at the discretion of major platform owners such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and others, who independently decide whether and when to update their emoji designs.

Although Emojipedia showcases a wide range of emoji designs, it does not influence how vendors like Apple, Google, Samsung, and others create or update their emoji sets.

Platform owners will instead weigh how any potential change aligns with international recognition and consensus, as companies are generally more inclined to adjust their emoji designs when a symbol is widely regarded as a legitimate representation of the state.

If you'd like to learn more about how changes to national emoji flags operate, you can read our past overviews of what happened to the 🇸🇾 Flag for Syria emoji and what hasn't happened to the 🇦🇫 Flag for Afghanistan emoji here and here, respectively.

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