The Unicode Consortium has announced a proposed update to its emoji documentation that provides support for regional flag emojis.

regional-emoji-flags
As noted by Emojipedia, the new functionality and guidelines would allow for Apple and other vendors to implement emojis for regions such as U.S. states, Canadian provinces and territories, or countries of the United Kingdom.

Flags representing California or Texas, for example, or England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, could be added in a future iOS update.

The Unicode Consortium stopped short of recommending specific flags for vendors to support, and it said there is no requirement that any of the regional flags be supported. In other words, Apple in particular would be free to choose which regional flags to add to its iOS and macOS platforms if any.

Emojipedia said the Emoji 5.0 update is likely to be released in the first half of 2017, although an official date has not been specified. The proposed update is currently available for public review and feedback until January 16, 2017.

Some apps such as WhatsApp have already worked around the existing Unicode standards to support flags for England, Scotland, Wales, and other regions.

Tags: emoji, Unicode Consortium

Top Rated Comments

countryside Avatar
countryside
59 months ago
Yes! Gimme that Texas flag! I hate using the Texas flag look alike...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdoobs Avatar
pdoobs
59 months ago
We need a reimagining of the emoji keyboard like 3 years ago. Or maybe a better way to organize frequently used emoji.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coolfactor Avatar
coolfactor
59 months ago
Soon, we'll all be writing in hieroglyphics .... I mean ... emojiglyphics. Everything in the universe is cyclic. Is this the full-circle on the written word back to pictographics?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Flash SWT Avatar
Flash SWT
59 months ago
Yes! Gimme that Texas flag! I hate using the Texas flag look alike...
Texas flag represent! :D
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
-BigMac- Avatar
-BigMac-
59 months ago
Least exciting news all year
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrumApple Avatar
DrumApple
59 months ago
STOP already, I already can't scroll through all of the unnecessary ones
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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