Emoji Skin Tone

What are Emoji Skin Tone Modifiers?

Emoji skin tone modifiers are five Unicode code points that can be appended to compatible human-figure emoji to specify one of the Fitzpatrick skin phototype categories, ranging from very light to dark skin. Introduced in Unicode 8.0 (2015), they were designed to make the emoji palette more representative of human diversity.

The Fitzpatrick Scale

The Fitzpatrick phototyping scale was originally developed in 1975 by dermatologist Thomas Fitzpatrick as a clinical classification of human skin color in the context of UV sensitivity. Unicode adopted a simplified five-point version (merging Fitzpatrick types I and II) for the emoji modifier system:

These five code points are named EMOJI MODIFIER FITZPATRICK TYPE-1-2 through TYPE-6.

Which Emoji Support Skin Tones

Not every human-figure emoji can receive a skin tone modifier. Unicode defines the RGI_Emoji_Modifier_Base property to specify which emoji are appropriate bases. Common examples include:

• Hand gestures: 👋 👍 👏 🤝 ✌️ 🤞
• Human activities: 🏃 🤸 🧘 💃 🕺
• Professions (base form): 👮 👷 💂 👩 👨
• Face-touching: 🤦 🤷

Standalone face emoji (😀 😢 😂) do not support skin tone modifiers because their skin color is inherently part of their design. Emoji without a human element, like 🐱 or 🌍, also do not accept modifiers.

Default Yellow and Its Origin

When a modifier-capable emoji is displayed without a modifier, platforms render it in a neutral "Simpsons yellow" — a yellow hue chosen specifically because it is not associated with any real human skin tone. This yellow serves as an explicit signal that no ethnicity is specified or implied, similar to the use of stick figures or silhouettes for generic human representations.

Platform Rendering Differences

While the five modifier code points are standardized, the exact rendered shade varies by platform. Apple, Google (Android), and Microsoft (Windows) each apply their own skin tone palettes, which can result in perceptible differences:

• Apple tends toward warmer, more saturated tones.
• Google uses slightly more neutral shades.
• Microsoft Fluent emoji style uses a 3D rendered look that differs substantially.

This means a skin tone 3 (medium) modifier looks visibly different between an iPhone and an Android phone. Users should be aware that the modifier selects a relative position on the scale, not a specific hex color.

Multi-Person Sequences

Skin tone modifiers interact with ZWJ sequences for multi-person emoji. Each person in a group emoji can independently receive a different modifier:

🤝🏽🏿 = Handshake with medium + dark skin tones
👫🏻🏾 = Woman and Man Holding Hands, light + medium-dark

Support for mixed-tone couples and family ZWJ sequences arrived on major platforms in 2020–2022.

Cultural Considerations

Despite good intentions, the deployment of skin tone modifiers has been met with nuanced cultural feedback. Studies have found that darker skin tone variants are used less frequently on some platforms, and there is ongoing research into whether opt-in skin tone selection reinforces or reduces awareness of racial representation in digital communication. Platform designers continue to iterate on defaults and picker UX.

Quick Facts