EMOJOY AS WELSH FLAG GETS GO-AHEAD
W ALES is finally set to get its own emoji, according to reports. It is understood the authority in charge of computer text and characters has approved plans to add the Wales, Scotland and England flags in 2017.
Unicode has approved the emojis for use on smartphones and other devices, but it will be down to manufacturers to add them to their keyboards.
The lack of emoji flags has previously meant UK social media users have been unable to include their home nation’s flags via their keyboards when writing about events such as the Euro 2016 football tournament or last year’s Rugby World Cup.
The proposal for a new range of emoji flags was submitted by Jeremy Burge, of Emojipedia, and BBC Wales’ head of social media Owen Williams.
In his 15-page submitted report to Unicode, he said: “The flags of England, Scotland and Wales are in widespread use in many international contexts and the flag for England is already available as an emoji within WhatsApp.
“Searches for emoji flags of England, Scotland and Wales are consistently high.
“Demand for these flags is shown daily on Twitter, with multiple tweets every day requesting emoji flags for England, Scotland and Wales”.
Unicode last released a batch of newly approved emojis in November.
Among the 51 new characters based on requests from thirdparties to the consortium over the past year were emojis representing breastfeeding, a man and woman in a sauna, and a hijab.
Meanwhile Google has also entered the world of emojis.
Users tweeting the company with an emoji receive search results based on the image they use.
For example, it responds to aubergine emojis with recipe ideas for the vegetable.
Tweeting the @Google account with a dancing emoji will get users directions to the nearest nightclubs; or a football emoji will link to the latest Barclays Premier League results.