On July 17, the world celebrates World Emoji Day, marking the powerful rise of tiny icons that have transformed how we express emotions online. The first emoji was created in 1999 by Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita, making this the 12th Emoji Day and over 26 years since emojis were born. The word “emoji” itself is Japanese, combining “e” (picture) and “moji” (character). Today, more than 10 billion emojis are sent daily across the globe.
For an emoji to appear on our phones, it must be approved by the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit organization that standardizes digital text. So far, 3,521 emojis have been officially recognized. Anyone can propose a new emoji, but only the consortium makes the final decision based on how universally understandable the symbol is.
According to Emojipedia, the most used emojis worldwide are:
- ❤️ Red Heart – expresses love and affection, still the top favorite.
- ✅ White Heavy Check Mark – used for confirmation or completion.
- ✨ Sparkles – symbolizes positivity, beauty, or excitement.
- 🔥 Fire – used to describe something awesome or impressive.
- 😭 Loudly Crying Face – represents extreme sadness or overwhelming emotion, sometimes even used humorously.
From laughter to heartbreak, emojis are now more than icons—they’re a global language.
