Africana55 Radio 
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
A transgender flag is among the newest batch of emojis to be introduced for 2020.
The list of 177 new symbols also includes men in wedding gowns and a gender-neutral Santa Claus named Mx Claus.
Also included in the new additions is a woman wearing a tuxedo.
The emojis are created by Unicode Consortium, a non-profit California-based organisation that designs emojis for all Apple and Android devices, though the emojis themselves look different on different platforms.
Unicode Consortium’s latest release has been praised on social media as the most progressive yet, particularly with regards to gender.
Created with Sketch.
Created with Sketch.
1/15 Facebook is born
On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users
Wikimedia Commons
2/15 Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg
Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled
3/15 Open for business
The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth
PA
4/15 Billion-dollar bid
Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I don’t know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'I’d just start another social networking site'
Reuters
5/15 In the money
In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time
Getty Images/iStockphoto
6/15 Taking the lead
Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the world’s most popular social network
7/15 Taking on the tech giants
In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019
Getty
8/15 Facebook goes public
On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion – the third largest in US history
9/15 Gobbling up the competition
Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network
Reuters
10/15 One billion users
On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post
Getty Images
11/15 Expanding its empire
In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
12/15 Two billion users
In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
13/15 Privacy scandal
On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections
Shutterstock
14/15 Record profits
Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users
iStock/Independent
15/15 Unhappy users
A study found that people are happier when they don’t use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health
Rex Features
1/15 Facebook is born
On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users
Wikimedia Commons
2/15 Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg
Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled
3/15 Open for business
The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth
PA
4/15 Billion-dollar bid
Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I don’t know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'I’d just start another social networking site'
Reuters
5/15 In the money
In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time
Getty Images/iStockphoto
6/15 Taking the lead
Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the world’s most popular social network
7/15 Taking on the tech giants
In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019
Getty
8/15 Facebook goes public
On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion – the third largest in US history
9/15 Gobbling up the competition
Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network
Reuters
10/15 One billion users
On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post
Getty Images
11/15 Expanding its empire
In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
12/15 Two billion users
In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
13/15 Privacy scandal
On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections
Shutterstock
14/15 Record profits
Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users
iStock/Independent
15/15 Unhappy users
A study found that people are happier when they don’t use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health
Rex Features
One Twitter user said the new emojis would help give a voice to marginalised communities.
“Getting to see yourself... is validation that you are being heard and that your voice matters,” they tweeted.
Another added: “Trans rights are human rights”.
The website Emojipedia, which is part of the Unicode Consortium, said: “Announced today by the Unicode Consortium, the 117 new emojis form part of Emoji 13.0 and will come to most platforms in the second half of 2020.
“Variations of existing emojis now approved for 2020 include a woman or gender-inclusive person in a tuxedo, as well as a gender-neutral person or a man in a veil. These, along with other approved emojis, will be coming to phones later this year.
“Also included in this update is a gender-inclusive alternative to Santa Claus and Mrs Claus, named Mx Claus.
“This addition is part of an ongoing effort to make more consistent set of gender options across the board, and expands upon the 138 new gender-neutral emojis added in late 2019 as part of Emoji 12.1.”
You can see the full list of new emojis for 2020 here.