Revealed: the 4 new emoji that hundreds of Brits are calling for to be added
From friendly smiley faces to cheeky peaches, emoji are now a regular part of many of our daily messages.
But according to a new poll, four key figures are missing.
The poll, conducted by Rise.365, shows that hundreds of Brits believe we need emojis with black and mixed-race hairstyles.
The community support group has created four new characters with some of these hairstyles.
“We really want to start changing perceptions for future generations – starting where it matters most, with young people,” said Joyclen Brodie-Mends Buffong, founder of Rise.365.
From friendly smiley faces to cheeky peaches, emoji are now a regular part of many of our daily messages. But according to a new poll, four key figures are missing
The Unicode standard currently contains 3,782 emoji, including faces with a range of hairstyles.
Users can choose from characters with ponytails, long curls, a bob or even a bald head.
However, none of the options feature black or mixed-race hairstyles, which Rise.365 says shows a “serious and concerning lack of representation.”
In a survey of Black and mixed-race members, 74 percent said there is no emoji to represent their hair.
Meanwhile, 32 percent say they feel overlooked and forgotten.
Based on these numbers, Rise.365 recreated emoji with four common black and mixed hairstyles: an afro, braids, cainrows and locs.
The four emoji will be submitted to the Unicode Consortium for consideration in April 2025
Reanna, the creator of the braids emoji, said: ‘Having these emojis made is such a big deal and a huge step towards encouraging people to embrace/be comfortable with their hair.
“It’s a huge honor to be the representative of the braids emoji and I hope this allows people to feel comfortable in their hair textures and styles.”
The four emoji will be submitted to the Unicode Consortium for consideration in April 2025.
To increase the chances of their approval, Rise.365 is calling on the public for help.
“All we ask is that you just Google ‘afro hair,'” Rise.365 said.
‘An important criterion for Unicode when assessing submissions is the frequency of use of the key term associated with the proposed emoji.
“They will assess this by looking at Google Trend data as well as web searches, images and videos of the key term, which for the Rise.365 entry will be ‘Afro hair’.”
Unicode, the organization that sets the standard set of emojis, is currently exploring suggestions for the next set of new emojis.
However, it accepts fewer emojis every year, so your submission must be top-notch.
To submit an entry, all you need to do is fill out a Unicode Emoji submission form.
However, if you actually want your submission to be accepted, you first need to make sure that your idea is truly new.
Unicode maintains a list of all currently approved emojis, but there is also a list of all emojis that people have submitted in the past.
Nothing will be reviewed that has already been rejected in the last four years, so you should check that your idea has not already been rejected.