How to submit an emoji request to the Unicode Consortium

For World Emoji Day (July 17) why not recommend that emoji you've always wished existed to the Unicode Consortium. Every request is reviewed, but many are rejected for a wide variety of reasons. There are some fairly strict guidelines that you must adhere to in order for your request to be approved, but you don't have to be a programmer or coder in order to come up with the perfect illustrated representation of your emotions. You could sketch your ideas on a napkin.

The Unicode Consortium provides a wealth of resources to get you started with your request. The process is time-consuming, but if you've got a strong desire, you can make it to the end.

To start, the Unicode Consortium recommends you check the list of Emoji Requests first. If something you want to request has already been rejected, the lengthy submission process will be for nothing.

You should also read up on the guidelines the Consortium uses to consider or reject an emoji request, like whether the emoji is too derivative of an existing one, if the artwork is easy to see in a small size, or whether the emoji is brand new to the list (a new breed of dog, for example, is not new, but dragonfruit is).

There is a useful FAQ that can help guide you if you have questions. It's a good idea to take a look at some example submissions the Unicode Consortium has available to get an idea for the best possible way to submit a request.

Once you've completed your proposal, you'll submit your documents to the Consortium for review.

Getting a new emoji is a complex process that has to adhere to a fairly complicated set of guidelines before even being accepted. Once accepted, the members of the Consortium have to decide whether your emoji request should be added to the official list for all-time.

So, consider your wishlist carefully before deciding to dive into the lengthy process of submitting a request. Your idea may be the next big emoji that the world misuses to imply some sneaky innuendo.