What was the origin of emojis and how did they conquer the digital world?

Have you ever wondered where the emojis we use every day come from? These cute little faces, animals, objects and Symbols They have conquered the digital world and transformed the way we communicate. What began as a simple solution for expressing emotions has become a global visual language with thousands of icons that cross cultural and linguistic barriers.

Emojis are no longer just embellishments in our conversations: They have history, evolution and even social impact. From the first emoticons From their recognition by prestigious institutions like MoMA in New York, the history of emojis is as curious as it is significant. Join us on this journey through their origins and all the interesting facts surrounding them.

What are emojis and how do they differ from emoticons?

Before delving into its history, it is worth clarifying some concepts. the emoticons They emerged as keyboard character combinations to express emotions, such as 🙂 or :(, which represent a happy or sad face respectively. These symbols were very popular in early digital environments, especially in forums and SMS.

In contrast, emojis are digital images standardized emojis that represent facial expressions, objects, animals, flags, food, and more. The word 'emoji' comes from Japanese: “e" means image and "moji" means character. Although they sound phonetically similar, 'emoji' and 'emoticon' are different concepts.

First steps of emoticons: the germ of the emoji

The history of emojis begins long before they existed as such. In 1857, symbols were already being used to represent feelings in Morse code., for example, number 73 was understood as “love and kisses.” Later, in 1881, the American satirical magazine Puck published a set of four emoticons made with punctuation marks to reflect emotions such as joy, sadness or surprise.

In 1982, Scott Fahlman, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, proposed using 🙂 and 🙁 to identify humorous or serious content in academic forums. This small gesture sparked a trend that quickly spread across the internet. Also, if you want to learn more about the use of emojis in WhatsApp, you can check out this article about its meaning in messages.

The birth of emojis: Japan as the starting point

It was in Japan, in 1999, when Shigetaka Kurita, designer for the telephone company NTT DoCoMo, created the first set of 176 emojis with a size of 12 x 12 pixels. Kurita was inspired by elements such as Japanese manga, public signs, and kanji to design icons that reflect moods, activities and everyday objects.

The idea was to help mobile users express emotions or information visually within the technical limits of SMS. These early emojis included hearts, weather signs, facial expressions, and more. If you're interested in learning how to change the skin tone of your emojis in Android, you can visit this article about tone modification.

From local success to global expansion

For a time, emojis were primarily used in Japan, as each carrier created its own sets and they were not cross-platform compatible. This changed in 2010, when the Consortium Unicode —international body responsible for standardizing digital characters— officially incorporated emojis into the Unicode system. Thanks to this, emojis began to display correctly on different devices and OS.

Apple played a key role in its worldwide popularity.. In 2011, with the arrival of iOS 5.0, included for the first time an emoji keyboard accessible to all users, not just Japanese. Android was quick to follow suit a year later. For those looking to get iOS emoji for Android without root, there are methods you can explore in this article on get emojis from iOS.

Since then, Emojis went from being a Japanese curiosity to a global language. Platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter quickly integrated them into their interfaces, and today it is difficult to imagine our written conversations without them.

Why is World Emoji Day celebrated on July 17?

El July 17th is internationally recognized as the World Emoji DayThe reason? Apple's calendar emoji displays that date, as it was the day its iCal app was introduced in 2002.

In 2014, Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia (the leading encyclopedia of emojis), proposed formalizing this day as a global celebration. Since then, new emojis have been introduced each year, fun advertising campaigns have been launched, and the importance of this visual language in our daily lives has been highlighted.

Evolution and diversification: beyond the simple face

Emojis have evolved a lot since those first 176 icons. Currently there are more than 3.500 emojis available on platforms like iOS, Android, and messaging apps. They are grouped into various categories such as emotions, food, activities, nature, flags, and professions.

Also they have been adapted to cultural, sexual and social diversitySince 2015, the skin color of many human emojis has been selectable. In 2017, the long-awaited paella emoji —thanks to the Spanish campaign to defend this national gastronomic symbol—and in 2018, icons representing people with disabilities, such as wheelchair users or white canes, were added. If you're curious about message effects on Android, you can find more information in this article about effects on Android.

Additionally, each year the Unicode Consortium publishes new versions that include family types, gender identities, inclusive professions, and cultural symbols that better represent today's globalized world.

Emojis as art, culture and language

The emoji phenomenon has even reached the art world. In 2016, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York acquired the first 176 emojis designed by Kurita and incorporated them into his collection. He considered these graphic symbols to be a legitimate form of digital art and contemporary communication.

But there is more: there have been exhibitions, linguistic studies and even poems written exclusively with emojis, called "Poemojis." This demonstrates that emojis are not just a complement to WhatsApp, but a modern manifestation of the symbolic language that has accompanied humanity from cave paintings to the present day.

In fact, in 2015, the Oxford Dictionary chose the face with tears of laughter emoji 😂 as its word of the year.A clear reflection of its growing cultural influence.

Curiosities that you probably didn't know

• The flamenco dancer is not a flamenco dancer: The famous emoji of the woman in a red dress dancing does not represent a Spanish flamenco dancer, but rather a salsa dancer, according to Unicode.
• You can sponsor emojis: The Unicode Consortium accepts sponsorships for emojis, the donation of which may cost up to 18.000 EurosThis action allows you to sponsor a specific emoji and receive official mentions.
• The three wise monkeys: 🙈🙉🙊 represent the Japanese proverb "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Although they are often used with other meanings, their origin is spiritual and philosophical.
• Each generation interprets emojis differently: Young people born after 2000 have integrated emojis as part of their native language, unlike older generations who prioritize pure text.

With its ability to convey emotions, simplify concepts and connect culturesEmojis have radically transformed the way we interact digitally. From casual use in personal messages to marketing campaigns, contemporary art, and linguistic analysis, these icons have come a long way.