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 faces, animals, objects, and symbols have conquered the digital world and transformed the way we communicate. What began as a simple way to express emotions has become a global visual language with thousands of icons that transcend cultural and linguistic barriers.

Emojis are no longer just decorative elements in our conversations: they have a history, an evolution, and even a social impact . From the first emoticons to their recognition by prestigious institutions like the 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 fascinating facts surrounding them.

What are emojis and how do they differ from emoticons?

Before delving into their history, it's worth clarifying some concepts. Emoticons originated as combinations of keyboard characters to express emotions, such as 🙂 or :(, representing a happy or sad face, respectively. These symbols were very popular in early digital environments, especially in forums and SMS.

Emojis , on the other hand, are standardized digital images that represent facial expressions, objects, animals, flags, food, and more. The word 'emoji' comes from Japanese: “ e ” means picture and “ moji ” means character. Although they sound 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. Symbols were already being used to represent feelings in Morse code in 1857 ; for example, the number 73 was understood to mean "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 distinguish between humorous and serious content in academic forums. This small gesture sparked a trend that quickly spread across the internet. Furthermore, if you'd like to learn more about using emojis on WhatsApp , you can consult this article about their meaning in messages.

The birth of emojis: Japan as the starting point

It was in Japan, in 1999, that Shigetaka Kurita , a designer at the telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo , created the first set of 176 emojis, each 12 x 12 pixels in size. Kurita drew inspiration from elements such as Japanese manga, public signs, and kanji characters to design icons that reflected moods, activities, and everyday objects.

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

From local success to global expansion

For a time, emojis were primarily used in Japan, as each carrier created its own sets, making them incompatible across platforms. This changed in 2010 when the Unicode Consortium —the international organization responsible for standardizing digital characters— officially incorporated emojis into the Unicode system . Thanks to this, emojis began to display correctly on different devices and operating systems.

Apple played a key role in their global popularization . In 2011, with the release of iOS 5.0, it included, for the first time, an emoji keyboard accessible to all users, not just Japanese ones. Android quickly followed suit a year later. For those who want to get iOS emojis on Android without root access , there are methods you can explore in this article about getting iOS emojis.

From that moment on, emojis went from being a Japanese curiosity to a global language . Platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter quickly integrated them into their interfaces, and today it's hard to imagine our written conversations without them.

Why is World Emoji Day celebrated on July 17?

July 17th is internationally recognized as World Emoji Day . The reason? Apple's calendar emoji displays that date, as it was the day their iCal app was launched in 2002.

In 2014, Jeremy Burge , founder of Emojipedia (the definitive encyclopedia of emojis), proposed formalizing the day as a global celebration. Since then, new emojis are released every year, fun advertising campaigns are launched, and the importance of this visual language in our daily lives is highlighted.

Evolution and diversification: beyond the simple face

Emojis have evolved tremendously since those first 176 icons. Currently, there are over 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.

They have also adapted to cultural, sexual, and social diversity . Since 2015, you can choose the skin tone of many human emojis. In 2017, the much-anticipated paella emoji was included —thanks to the Spanish campaign to defend this national culinary symbol—and in 2018, icons representing people with disabilities, such as wheelchair users or those using 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 in New York (MoMA) acquired the first 176 emojis designed by Kurita and added them to its collection. It considered these graphic symbols a legitimate form of digital art and contemporary communication.

But there's more: exhibitions, linguistic studies, and even poems written exclusively with emojis , called "Poemojis," have been created. This demonstrates that emojis are not just a WhatsApp add-on, 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 joy 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 their ability to convey emotions, simplify concepts, and connect cultures , emojis have radically transformed the way we interact digitally. From their informal use in personal messages to marketing campaigns, contemporary art, and linguistic analysis, the journey of these icons has been extraordinary.