In this article, we will explore in detail World Emoji Day, a topic that has had a significant impact on various aspects of contemporary society. Since its emergence, World Emoji Day has captured the attention of academics, experts in the field and the general public, generating debate and interest around its implications. Over the years, World Emoji Day has evolved and acquired new nuances, becoming a reference point that has marked a before and after in different areas. Through a comprehensive analysis, we will examine the different dimensions of World Emoji Day, from its origin to its relevance today, as well as its possible future focus. In addition, we will address the various perspectives and opinions that have emerged around this phenomenon, with the aim of providing a comprehensive and enriching vision of World Emoji Day.
Annual unofficial holiday
World Emoji Day
The Unicode character U+1F4C6📆TEAR-OFF CALENDAR in the Noto font
World Emoji Day is an annual unofficial holiday occurring on 17 July each year, intended to celebrate emoji; in the years since the earliest observance, it has become a popular date to make product or other announcements and releases relating to emoji.
Origins and celebrations
The date originally referred to the day Apple premiered its iCal calendar application in 2002. The day, July 17, was displayed on the Apple Color Emoji version of the calendar emoji (📅) as an Easter egg.
The New York Times reported that Burge chose 17 July "based on the way the calendar emoji is shown on iPhones". For the first World Emoji Day, Burge told The Independent "there were no formal plans put in place" other than choosing the date. The Washington Post suggested in 2018 that readers use this day to "communicate with only emoji".
NBC reported that the day was Twitter's top trending item on 17 July in 2015.
In 2016, Google changed the appearance of Unicode character U+1F4C5📅CALENDAR to display 17 July on Android, Gmail, Hangouts, and ChromeOS products. As of 2020, all major platforms except Microsoft had switched to show 17 July on this emoji, to avoid confusion on World Emoji Day.
The most recent World Emoji Day was World Emoji Day 2023, which occurred on 17 July 2023. The next World Emoji Day will be World Emoji Day 2024, scheduled to occur on 17 July 2024, while the previous World Emoji Day was World Emoji Day 2022, which occurred on 17 July 2022.
Announcements
Since 2017, Apple has used each World Emoji Day to announce upcoming expansions to the range of emojis on iOS.
On World Emoji Day 2015, Pepsi launched PepsiMoji which included an emoji keyboard and custom World Emoji Day Pepsi cans and bottles. These were initially released in Canada and expanded to 100 markets in 2016.
In 2016, Sony Pictures Animation used World Emoji Day to announce T.J. Miller as the first cast member for The Emoji Movie, Google released "a series of new emoji that are more inclusive of women from diverse backgrounds", and Emojipedia launched the first World Emoji Awards. Other World Emoji Day announcements in 2016 came from Disney,General Electric, Twitter, and Coca-Cola.
London's Royal Opera House presented 20 operas and ballets in emoji form, Google announced the end of its blob emoji and winners of the World Emoji Awards were announced from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and broadcast on Cheddar.
In 2018, Kim Kardashian released her Kimoji fragrance line on World Emoji Day, Apple previewed new emoji designs including redheads and replaced executive photos on its corporate leadership page with emojis, Google announced the return of "blob emojis" in sticker form, and Facebook announced that "700 million emojis are used in Facebook posts each day".
On World Emoji Day 2019, the award for Most Popular New Emoji was announced as the Smiling Face With Hearts In 2020 the Most Popular New Emoji was announced as the White Heart on Australia's The Morning Show.
Microsoft used World Emoji Day in 2021 to preview an overhaul to the Windows emoji set using the Fluent Design System for the first time. Facebook used World Emoji Day 2021 to announce Soundmojis, Google unveiled a solution for faster emoji updates on Android, and Emojipedia revealed sample images for the latest emoji draft list.
The Empire State Building was lit in "emoji yellow" for World Emoji Day in 2017, and the New York Stock Exchange Closing Bell was rung by Jake T. Austin of The Emoji Movie and Jeremy Burge from Emojipedia. A Guinness World Record was attempted in Dubai on World Emoji Day in 2017 for the "largest gathering of people dressed as emojis".
Musical Emojiland premiered off-broadway in New York City at The Acorn Theatre on World Emoji Day 2018 as part of the New York Musical Festival.
In 2019, the British Library hosted an event on World Emoji Day with Unicode president Mark Davis and Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge discussing the future of emoji and the National Museum of Cinema in Turin launched the exhibition #FacceEmozioni 1500–2020: From Physiognomy to Emojis also on July 17.
On 17 July 2022, millions of people in multiple different countries across the whole world, including Japan and the United States, celebrated World Emoji Day 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]
World Emoji Day edition dates
Pre-2022 (2014–21)
Edition number
Date
Also known as
Day of the week
1st
17 July 2014
World Emoji Day 2014
Thursday
2nd
17 July 2015
World Emoji Day 2015
Friday
3rd
17 July 2016
World Emoji Day 2016
Sunday
4th
17 July 2017
World Emoji Day 2017
Monday
5th
17 July 2018
World Emoji Day 2018
Tuesday
6th
17 July 2019
World Emoji Day 2019
Wednesday
7th
17 July 2020
World Emoji Day 2020
Friday
8th
17 July 2021
World Emoji Day 2021
Saturday
2022 and beyond
Edition number
Date
Also known as
Day of the week
9th
17 July 2022
World Emoji Day 2022
Sunday
10th
17 July 2023
World Emoji Day 2023
Monday
11th
17 July 2024
World Emoji Day 2024
Wednesday
12th
17 July 2025
World Emoji Day 2025
Thursday
13th
17 July 2026
World Emoji Day 2026
Friday
14th
17 July 2027
World Emoji Day 2027
Saturday
15th
17 July 2028
World Emoji Day 2028
Monday
16th
17 July 2029
World Emoji Day 2029
Tuesday
17th
17 July 2030
World Emoji Day 2030
Wednesday
In the news
In 2016, Twitter noted that Australia's "emoji-loving" Foreign Minister Julie Bishop shared her birthday with World Emoji Day.
In 2017, US House Speaker Paul Ryan released a video on World Emoji Day claiming he "goes crazy on emojis" which was widely criticized.
In 2018, Adweek reported that social media posts from the United States Department of Defense, Army and Navy seemed like "an odd fit for the breezy joys" of World Emoji Day, while other outlets called these "a series of bleached, seemingly nothing tweets filled with a bunch of random emojis" and "the most terrible bastardization of an emoji".
In 2021, Tourism New Zealand used World Emoji Day to promote the concept of a kiwi emoji.