Proposed Update UTR #51, Unicode Emoji (Version 4.0)

A proposed update of UTR #51, Unicode Emoji (Version 4.0) is available for public review and feedback. This new version covers a total of 2,243 emoji, an increase from the 1,788 in Version 3.0.

There are several important changes in the proposed update. Three existing symbols have been newly classified as emoji: U+2640 FEMALE SIGN, U+2642 MALE SIGN, and U+2695 STAFF OF AESCULAPIUS. These are used in sequences to represent additional professions and to make gender distinctions among emoji. Many new emoji zwj sequences are cataloged, including professions and roles, gender distinctions, and new family groupings. Two new flag emoji have been added, one as an emoji zwj sequence and one as a regional indicator pair. Ten additional emoji characters are newly classified as emoji modifier bases. This results in 50 new emoji modifier sequences, displaying skin tone diversity. For example, see the emoji data for U+1F93C WRESTLERS.

Associated charts are available at http://unicode.org/emoji/charts-beta/index.html, and associated data files are available at http://unicode.org/Public/emoji/4.0/.

The review period for the proposed update ends on October 24, 2016. Feedback can be submitted through the online reporting form.

Announcing The Unicode® Standard, Version 8.0

Version 8.0 of the Unicode Standard is now available. It includes 41 new emoji characters (including five modifiers for diversity), 5,771 new ideographs for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, the new Georgian lari currency symbol, and 86 lowercase Cherokee syllables. It also adds letters to existing scripts to support Arwi (the Tamil language written in the Arabic script), the Ik language in Uganda, Kulango in the Côte d’Ivoire, and other languages of Africa. In total, this version adds 7,716 new characters and six new scripts.

The first version of Unicode Technical Report #51, Unicode Emoji is being released at the same time. That document describes the new emoji characters. It provides design guidelines and data for improving emoji interoperability across platforms, gives background information about emoji symbols, and describes how they are selected for inclusion in the Unicode Standard. The data is used to support emoji characters in implementations, specifying which symbols are commonly displayed as emoji, how the new skin-tone modifiers work, and how composite emoji can be formed with joiners. The Unicode website now supplies charts of emoji characters, showing vendor variations and providing other useful information.

The 41 new emoji in Unicode 8.0 include the following:

Diversity	five emoji modifiers
Faces and Hands	NERD FACE, FACE WITH ROLLING EYES, ROBOT FACE
Food-Related	HOT DOG, TACO, CHEESE WEDGE, POPCORN
Sports	CRICKET BAT AND BALL, VOLLEYBALL, BOW AND ARROW
Animals	UNICORN FACE, LION FACE, CRAB, SCORPION
Religious	MOSQUE, SYNAGOGUE, PRAYER BEADS

(For the full list, including images, see emoji additions for Unicode 8.0.)

Phones and computers often need operating system updates to support new emoji, which may take some time. It is also now clear which existing characters, such as the often requested SHOPPING BAGS, can be used as emoji. Once phones and computers support these characters, people will be able to see colorful images such as the BOTTLE WITH POPPING CORK above.

Three other important Unicode specifications are updated for Version 8.0:

• UTS #10, Unicode Collation Algorithm — for sorting Unicode text
• UTS #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms — for reducing Unicode spoofing
• UTS #46, Unicode IDNA Compatibility Processing — for compatible processing of non-ASCII URLs

Some of the changes in Version 8.0 and associated Unicode technical standards may require modifications in implementations. For more information, see Unicode 8.0 Migration and the migration sections of UTS #10, UTS #39, and UTS #46. For full details on Version 8.0, see Unicode 8.0.

New Unicode Emoji draft, available for review

The Unicode Consortium has released the draft “Unicode Emoji” document, whose main goal is to help improve the interoperability of emoji characters across implementations by providing guidelines and data.

This draft document also includes a section on Diversity, with a mechanism using 5 new proposed characters to provide a variety of skin tones for existing emoji characters.



The document is in “Proposed Draft” state, and made available for public review and comment.