Emoji & Unicode Glossary — 67 Technical Terms

Code Point

A unique numerical value assigned to each character in the Unicode standard, written in the format U+XXXX (e.g., U+1F600 for …

The default rendering of a character as a colorful emoji glyph, either inherently or when triggered by Variation Selector-16.

An ordered set of one or more Unicode code points that together represent a single emoji character.

An emoji sequence that includes all required variation selectors and presents consistently across all platforms.

A user-perceived character that may be composed of multiple Unicode code points displayed as a single visual unit.

An emoji sequence formed by a digit or symbol, followed by VS-16 (U+FE0F) and the combining enclosing keycap character (U+20E3).

An emoji sequence missing optional variation selectors but still containing enough information to render as an emoji on most platforms.

Paired Unicode letters (U+1F1E6 to U+1F1FF) that form country flag emoji when combined according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.

Five Unicode modifier characters based on the Fitzpatrick scale that change the skin color of human emoji (U+1F3FB to U+1F3FF).

Emoji flag sequences using special tag characters (U+E0020 to U+E007E) to represent subdivision flags like England, Scotland, and Wales.

The rendering of a character as a monochrome text symbol, either by default or when Variation Selector-15 is applied.

Universal character encoding standard that assigns a unique number to every character across all writing systems and symbol sets, including …

An emoji sequence missing required variation selectors, which may not render as an emoji on all platforms.

Unicode characters (VS-15 U+FE0E and VS-16 U+FE0F) that modify whether a character renders in text (monochrome) or emoji (colorful) presentation.

An invisible Unicode character (U+200D) used to join multiple emoji into a single composite emoji, such as combining people and …