Emoji 13.1 — Now final, to be widely available in 2021

Emoji 13.1 is now final with 217 new emoji sequences! Of these, 210 are skin tone variants; the other seven new emoji are:

Most of the skin tone variants are for the multi-person emoji groupings couples with heart and couples kissing.

This minor release was created to add new emoji before 2022. The Unicode Consortium is a volunteer organization and we would be completely without new emoji in 2021 if it weren’t for the dedication of many volunteers who make this possible. Thank you! ✨

The new emoji are listed in Emoji Recently Added v13.1. The images provided on that page are just samples: vendors for mobile phones, PCs, and web platforms create their own images.

New emoji in this release should begin appearing on devices in the coming months. These new emoji will also be available for adoption. Donations for adoptions help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

For implementers:

1. There are no new atomic characters. Instead, each emoji is a sequence of existing characters.
2. UTS #51 and associated data files have been updated for Emoji 13.1.
3. CLDR v38 alpha has also been updated for Emoji 13.1. This includes names, search keywords, and sort orderings for the new emoji, available for over 80 languages. It is scheduled for release at the end of October.

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Over 140,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

Unicode Emoji 13.0 — Now final for 2020

The Emoji 13.0 are now final, with 62 new emoji such as:

Smiling face with tear	Polar bear
Bubble tea	Pickup truck
Fondue	Teapot
Piñata	Transgender flag

There are also 55 gender and skin-tone variants, including new gender-inclusive emoji. See the seven cases in boxes below:

The new emoji are listed in Emoji Recently Added v13.0, with sample images. These images are just samples: vendors for mobile phones, PCs, and web platforms will typically use different images. In particular, the Emoji Ordering v13.0 chart shows how the new emoji sort compared to the others, with new emoji marked with rounded-rectangles. The other Emoji Charts for Version 13.0. have been updated to show the emoji.

The new emoji typically start showing up on mobile phones in September/October — some platforms may release them earlier. The new emoji will soon be available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

For implementers:

1. The Emoji 13.0 test file (emoji-test.txt) provides data for vendors to begin working on their emoji fonts and code ahead of the release of Unicode 13.0, scheduled for March 10.
2. The emoji specification (UTS #51) will have additional guidelines on gender and skin tone, and other clarifications. The definitions in UTS #51 and data files have been enhanced to be more consistent and useful. The final text will be available on March 10.
3. The CLDR names and search keywords for the new emoji in over 80 languages, and the sort order for emoji, will be finalized by mid-April with the release of CLDR v37.

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Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages

New Public Review Issues for Unicode Technical Reports

The Unicode Consortium has recently opened several Public Review Issues for proposed updates to Unicode Standard Annexes and other technical reports . The closing date for comments on these open issues is September 30, 2019, for feedback to be reviewed at the UTC meeting.

Highlights include a major proposed update to UTS #51, Unicode Emoji as well as significant updates to UAX #14, Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm, UTS #18, Unicode Regular Expressions, UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation, and UAX #38, Unicode Han Database.

Please see the Public Review Issues page for a full list of the items for review and links to the documents.

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Over 136,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Last Call on Unicode 11.0 Review

The beta review period for Unicode 11.0 and related technical standards will close on April 23, 2018. This is the last opportunity for technical comments before version 11.0 is released in Q2 2018. Implementers and interested parties are encouraged to download data files, review proposed updates, and submit comments.

Unicode 11.0 adds seven new scripts, including Hanifi Rohingya, 66 additional emoji characters, including four new components for hair color (for a total of 157 emoj sequences). The set of Georgian Mtavruli capital letters has been added to support modern casing practices.

• For more information about testing the 11.0 beta, see unicode.org/versions/beta-11.0.0.html
• For the current draft summary of Unicode 11.0, see unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0

In addition to the Unicode core specification, five Unicode Standard Annexes and two Unicode Technical Standards have significant specification and/or data file updates that are correlated with the new additions for Unicode 11.0.0. Review of those changes is strongly encouraged during the beta review period.

UAX #14, Unicode Line Breaking Algorithm

• Uses Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing

UAX #29, Unicode Text Segmentation

• New support for Indic virama handling
• Uses Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing
• A new table of formal regex definitions

UAX #31, Unicode Identifier and Pattern Syntax

• Refines the use of ZWJ in identifiers
• Broadens the definition of hashtag identifiers

UAX #38, Unicode Han Database (Unihan)

• Five new fields and improved regular expressions.
• Document extension of Unihan properties to non-Unihan

UAX #44, Unicode Character Database

• New property Equivalent_Unified_Ideograph
• New regular expressions Bidi_Paired_Bracket & Equivalent_Unified_Ideograph
• More discussion of emoji variation sequences
• Clarification of values allowed for the Age property

UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Clarification of search tailoring in visual-order scripts

UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Enhances discussions of joining controls & combining sequences

UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing

• Updates data to Unicode 11.0
• Changes the format of the test file for arbitrary input settings
• Updates input setting for Transitional_Processing

UTS #51, Unicode Emoji

• Supplies Extended_Pictographic property for future-proofing
• Simplifies emoji sequence definitions
• EBNF and Regex expressions for loose matches
• More proposed guidelines: gender-neutral emoji, skin-tone modifiers, ZWJ visible fallbacks, hair-style components
• Mechanism for changing the “facing” direction for emoji

Please review the documentation, adjust your code, test the data files, and report errors and other issues to the Unicode Consortium by April 23, 2018. Feedback instructions are in each public review page. For more information, see the open public review issues.

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Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

Last call on UTS #51 Unicode Emoji

The Unicode Consortium is soliciting feedback on the text and data changes in the proposed update UTS #51 Unicode Emoji. This specification is now synchronized with Unicode Version 11.0, and slated for release at the same time, in early June. Feedback is due by April 23 — this is the last chance to provide feedback on any changes and any open review issues.

The recent changes modify the definition of emoji combining sequences, add a section describing the emoji property stability (including under operations like lowercasing) and a section providing EBNF and Regex expressions for loose matches on emoji in running text, and some clarifications of gender neutral characters.

Note: the emoji characters and properties for Version 11.0 have already been finalized, so this last call is just for the text of the specification, not the emoji characters or properties.

Unicode Emoji 11.0 Beta

Emoji 11.0 beta is now available for developers, with 130 Draft Candidates, such as:

The list is not final: changes can include removals or additions: for example, new ZWJ sequences could be added. The decisions of the 2017Q4 UTC meeting for emoji have been incorporated into the draft Charts, Specification, and Data, and are now available for testing and feedback. The contents will be finalized in 2018Q1. The following are the expected dates for 2018.

Emoji Set	Decision date	Announcement of final list	Market availability
Draft Emoji Candidates (2018)	2018-01	2018-03	2018H2

The version number for the next release of Unicode emoji is jumping from the previously-released Emoji 5.0 to Emoji 11.0 (instead of 6.0). This is due to alignment of the emoji versions in 2018 and beyond with the versions of the Unicode Standard.

The draft emoji 11.0β Charts now show the candidates in context: for example, Emoji Ordering, v11.0β shows the sorting of all the emoji, with the candidates highlighted with rounded-rectangles. Feedback on the sort-order, categories, names, and keywords is welcome.

The draft 11.0β Specification has a number of changes, including proposed guidelines for display, handling gender, handling skin tone, and a proposed mechanism for allowing emoji to point either to the right or left.

The draft 11.0β Emoji Data provides property data, which determines how implementations handle the new characters.

Over 130,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.

New Emoji Subcommittee Vice-Chairs

The Emoji Subcommittee (ESC) is on the front lines of Unicode emoji. It is responsible for accepting requests for new emoji and emoji sequences, helping requesters to fill out missing areas in their proposals, and providing prioritized recommendations to the Unicode Technical Committee.

Peter Edberg is stepping down as the co-chair of ESC, a role he has filled since its inception. He is one of the key people involved in Unicode emoji since the very beginning, so we are very lucky that he will continue as one of the technical leaders of ESC, and remain the co-author of “Unicode Emoji” (UTS #51). To ensure the smooth operation of the ESC, we have three eminently-qualified new vice-chairs: Jeremy Burge, who has been responsible for crafting and refining proposals from the most popular requests received at Emojipedia; Jennifer 8 Lee, who has played a pivotal role in developing, inspiring, and mentoring emoji requests through Emojination; and Tayfun Karadeniz, who has researched, organized, and shepherded emoji in the very popular areas of smileys and human-form emoji. All three have already made lasting contributions to the work of the ESC, and we welcome them in their new roles.

— Mark Davis, ESC chair

Over 100,000 characters are available for adoption, to help the Unicode Consortium’s work on digitally disadvantaged languages.