A woolly mammoth, an Italian hand gesture and the trans flag are among the 117 new emojis for 2020

Something momentous is happening this week….

Yep, extinct animals are finally being honoured by the Unicode Consortium, the organisation responsible for selecting the new emojis that land in your messaging apps each year.

As the ongoing mission to eradicate boring old words continues, a total of 62 new symbols (117 once you factor in different gender and skin tone variants) have been submitted for 2020.

We did think about writing a full review for every single one, but decided you’re perhaps better off just heading to Unicode’s Emoji v13.0 announcement if you want to see them all.

Read on for a more curated look at the update.

Come on then, give us the highlights

As mentioned, famous creatures that are sadly no longer with us have deservedly been added to the library. So you’ll now be able to throw a dodo emoji into your late-night conversations about underrated flightless birds. A woolly mammoth also gets in.

Still existing animals that have made the cut include a polar bear, bison and a particularly cheerful-looking seal.

We’re also getting anatomical heart and lungs emojis, a ninja with skin tones, people hugging, a rock(!), and the very Italian pinched fingers gesture. Think Gattuso disagreeing with the referee’s brandishing of a yellow card and you’re on the right lines. We’re big fans of the new disguised face emoji too.

It’s also great to see the transgender flag being added, following criticism of its absence in the 2019 selection. Gender inclusivity is clearly a priority for Unicode. Another example is the person in a tux emoji, which now be a woman or a non-binary person as well as a man.

What about worms?

Yep, worms are in there now. And about time too.

When can I get them?

The selection process for new emojis is a long one, but now that’s finalised they’ll be submitted and likely rolled out (possibly with minor alterations) in the second half of the year, typically around September/October.

Image credit: Emojipedia

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.