Ever wonder how emojis work?
How they show up correctly on your phone, your friend’s laptop, and even in your inbox?
The answer lies in Unicode – the digital language behind the scenes of every emoji you use.
What Is Unicode?
Unicode is a universal character encoding standard used to ensure text looks the same across different systems, devices, and platforms. It assigns a unique code point to every character, symbol, and emoji.
Think of it as a digital dictionary where every emoji has its own ID number.
How Unicode Makes Emojis Work
- Each emoji is mapped to a specific Unicode code point (e.g. ❤︎ for ❤️).
- Software systems (like iOS, Android, Windows, etc.) interpret that code and display the emoji in their own unique visual style.
- This standardization ensures that when you send a smiley from your iPhone, it still looks like a smiley on your friend’s Android.
Why Emojis Look Different on Each Platform
Although the code point is the same, the visual design is up to the platform or app. That’s why emojis may look slightly different on:
- Apple (iOS/macOS)
- Google (Android/Chrome)
- Microsoft (Windows)
- Samsung
- X (ex Twitter), Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
Emoji Variations and Skin Tones
Unicode introduced emoji modifiers to support diversity, like skin tones or gender variations.
Emoji Sequences
Some emojis aren’t a single character, they’re actually sequences of multiple Unicode characters (code points) joined together to create one unified symbol.
Examples of common emoji sequences:
-
Flags (🇩🇪): Created using a pair of Regional Indicator Symbols (for Germany: 🇩 + 🇪)
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Family emojis (👨👩👧): Built using individual person emojis joined by a Zero Width Joiner (ZWJ) to appear as a single emoji
-
Gendered roles (e.g. 👩🚀): A base emoji (woman) + ZWJ + profession emoji (rocket) = woman astronaut
Emoji sequences can also include:
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Skin tone modifiers (e.g. 👍🏽)
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Keycap sequences (e.g. #️⃣ or 1️⃣)
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Emojis with additional detail like couples, kiss symbols, or handshakes with skin tone combinations.
These sequences are essential for expressing complex or inclusive ideas while maintaining compatibility across platforms.
How Are New Emojis Created?
- Users or organizations submit proposals to the Unicode Consortium.
- Proposals are reviewed for relevance, expected use, and uniqueness.
- If accepted, the emoji is assigned a code point and appears in the next Unicode release.
You can view the current emoji list and proposal guidelines at Unicode’s official website.
Final Thoughts
Unicode makes global communication possible, whether it’s alphabets, symbols, or emojis. So the next time you send a taco emoji or a thumbs up, know there’s a whole system making sure it arrives intact.
Want to nerd out even more? Check out Unicode’s official charts to see the code points behind your favorite emojis!