The Emoji Proposal Process

Emoji occupy a unique position in Unicode. They are technically characters — assigned code points, included in the Unicode Standard, governed by the Unicode Technical Committee. But their social dynamics, selection criteria, and public visibility are entirely unlike the encoding of alphabets and symbols. The emoji proposal process is a window into how a technical standards body manages cultural popularity.

The Emoji Subcommittee

The Unicode Emoji Subcommittee was formally established in 2015 to manage the rapidly growing volume of emoji proposals. Before that, emoji additions were handled by the full UTC, but the volume of public interest — and the public controversy surrounding specific decisions — warranted a dedicated body.

The Emoji Subcommittee meets more frequently than the full UTC and is responsible for:

• Reviewing new emoji proposals
• Recommending a candidate set to the UTC each year
• Maintaining the Emoji Proposals page on the Unicode website
• Drafting Unicode Technical Standard #51 (Unicode Emoji), which defines how emoji are specified and categorized

The Subcommittee includes representatives from major member companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Samsung) and Unicode staff. Its recommendations go to the UTC for final approval.

Selection Criteria

Unicode Technical Report #51 lists explicit criteria for evaluating emoji proposals. The most important positive factors:

• Frequency of use: Evidence that people are already using the concept heavily — in text, on social platforms, in sticker packs. High existing demand signals the emoji will be actively used.
• Multiple uses: An emoji that can convey multiple concepts or be used metaphorically scores higher than one with a single, narrow meaning.
• Distinctiveness: The proposed emoji must look different from existing emoji at small sizes on phone screens.
• Completeness: Does adding this emoji complete a logical set? (If fruits include apple, orange, and banana, adding mango completes a category.)
• Compatibility: The emoji should work as a recognizable image across different vendor implementations.

Important negative factors:

• Overly specific: Very narrow topics (a specific brand, a niche activity with few practitioners)
• Transient: Things that are popular now but may not be in 10 years (specific memes, trending topics)
• Logos, UI elements, deities, or specific people: These categories are explicitly excluded
• Already representable: If existing emoji can already convey the concept in combination, a new dedicated emoji may be unnecessary

Format Requirements

A complete emoji proposal must include:

1. A PDF document following the Emoji Proposal Template on the Unicode website
2. Proposal emoji images: Sample designs at 72x72 pixels showing what the emoji might look like
3. Evidence of use: Search volume data (Google Trends), social media frequency, usage in existing sticker packs or apps
4. Distinctiveness analysis: Comparison with existing emoji, explaining visual differentiation
5. Expected usage level: Estimated frequency relative to similar existing emoji

The quality of supporting evidence significantly affects outcomes. Corporate proposals from companies like Apple or Google typically arrive with detailed usage analytics. Community proposals from individuals or small organizations must work harder to demonstrate frequency.

The Annual Release Cycle

Emoji are released on an annual schedule, tied to the main Unicode version:

• September–October: Emoji Subcommittee opens a new intake period
• November: Deadline for new proposals for the following year's release
• January–March: Subcommittee review, revision requests, preliminary candidates announced
• April–May: Beta period, public feedback
• Q2: Final Unicode version published (including new emoji)
• Months later: Apple, Google, Samsung, and others ship the new emoji in OS updates

This means the time from proposal submission to emoji appearing on users' phones is typically 18 to 24 months minimum, and often longer. An emoji proposed in October 2024 that makes the 2025 release might not appear on iPhones and Android devices until late 2025 or early 2026.

Famous Accepted Proposals

Several emoji went through the formal process and became major cultural touchstones:

• Dumpling (🥟): Proposed by a team including Yiying Lu, whose "Fail Whale" image was famous from Twitter. The proposal documented the cultural significance of dumplings across dozens of cuisines worldwide.
• Hijab (🧕): Proposed by a 16-year-old named Rayouf Alhumedhi, who argued that the one billion Muslim women who wear headscarves had no representative emoji. Approved in Unicode 10.0 (2017).
• Syringe/Vaccine (💉): Originally depicted blood in the syringe; Apple and others requested a modification during the COVID-19 pandemic to show a clear liquid, making it usable for vaccine discussions.

Famous Rejected and Deferred Proposals

The Subcommittee has declined many proposals, often with detailed explanations:

• Hedgehog as separate emoji: Originally deferred as too similar to existing animal emoji; eventually approved.
• The middle finger (🖕): Approved in Unicode 7.0 (2014) despite controversy over its vulgarity — the argument was that it represents a widely used real-world gesture with frequent digital use.
• Specific foods and flags: Many regional flag and food proposals are deferred because they would require encoding hundreds of similar items for consistency.
• "Ninja" emoji: Declined multiple times; considered too culturally specific without meeting frequency thresholds.

Skin Tone Modifiers

The addition of skin tone modifiers in Unicode 8.0 (2015) is one of the most impactful emoji decisions in the standard's history. The system uses Fitzpatrick scale modifiers (five tones plus the default yellow) that combine with human-form emoji using zero-width joiners.

This represented a significant technical and social commitment: rather than encoding separate emoji for each combination of person and skin tone (which would have required thousands of code points), the modifier system allows dynamic combination. It was not without complexity — implementations had to be updated to handle the combining sequences correctly, and some early implementations displayed the modifier as a separate colored square rather than modifying the base emoji.

Why Emoji Proposals Matter

The emoji proposal process matters beyond novelty items. Emoji are now a primary communication medium for billions of people, particularly for emotional expression, cultural identity, and conveying tone in text where vocal inflection is absent. The decision of which concepts receive emoji representation and which do not is a cultural act, even when it is framed as a technical one.