Emoji Sequences

What are Emoji Sequences?

An emoji sequence is a multi-code-point combination that renders as a single emoji. Because the original Unicode encoding of emoji as individual code points could not cover every combination users and vendors want to express, the Unicode Standard defines formal rules for assembling sequences. Each sequence type has its own encoding mechanism and a defined set of valid combinations.

Basic Emoji — Single Code Points

The simplest emoji are single code points: - 😀 U+1F600 GRINNING FACE - ❤ U+2764 HEAVY BLACK HEART - ★ U+2605 BLACK STAR

Many of these code points are inherited from older character standards (dingbats, symbols) and gained emoji presentation through the Emoji Presentation property.

Emoji Keycap Sequences

A keycap sequence consists of a base digit or symbol, followed by U+FE0F (Variation Selector-16, forcing emoji presentation), followed by U+20E3 (COMBINING ENCLOSING KEYCAP). The result is a digit enclosed in a square button graphic:

#⃣  =  U+0023 + U+FE0F + U+20E3
1⃣  =  U+0031 + U+FE0F + U+20E3

There are twelve defined keycap sequences: the digits 0–9, the hash sign (#), and the asterisk (*).

Flag Sequences — Regional Indicators

Country flag emoji are encoded as pairs of Regional Indicator Symbol Letters (U+1F1E6 to U+1F1FF, corresponding to A–Z). The two letters spell the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code:

🇺🇸 = U+1F1FA (🇺) + U+1F1F8 (🇸)  — US
🇯🇵 = U+1F1EF (🇯) + U+1F1F5 (🇵)  — JP

Platforms that choose not to display flag emoji may show the two letter codes instead (e.g., "US" or "JP"), which is the graceful fallback.

Tag Sequences — Subdivision Flags

For flags of subdivisions not covered by ISO 3166-1 (like England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, and Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿), Unicode uses tag sequences. These start with U+1F3F4 (BLACK FLAG), followed by a sequence of tag characters (U+E0061–U+E007A), and end with U+E007F (CANCEL TAG):

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 = U+1F3F4 + U+E0067 U+E0062 U+E0065 U+E006E U+E0067 + U+E007F
             (BLACK FLAG + g  b  e  n  g + CANCEL TAG = "gbeng" = England)

Emoji Modifier Sequences — Skin Tones

A modifier sequence consists of an emoji base character that supports skin tone modification (such as 👋 or 👍) followed by one of five Fitzpatrick scale modifier code points (U+1F3FB through U+1F3FF):

👋🏽 = U+1F44B (WAVING HAND) + U+1F3FD (MEDIUM SKIN TONE)

ZWJ Sequences

A Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ) sequence uses U+200D to combine multiple emoji into one composite image:

👨‍👩‍👧 = U+1F468 + U+200D + U+1F469 + U+200D + U+1F467
         MAN  +  ZWJ  +  WOMAN  +  ZWJ  +  GIRL

🏳️‍🌈 = U+1F3F3 + U+FE0F + U+200D + U+1F308
         WHITE FLAG + VS16 + ZWJ + RAINBOW

ZWJ sequences are the most flexible mechanism and are used for family compositions, gender variations, profession emoji (👩‍💻), and pride flags.

Quick Facts