World Emoji Day

World Emoji Day is celebrated every year on July 17. This unofficial holiday was created to honor the colorful glyphs used in electronic communication. What makes this holiday unique is that most of the celebration happens online, particularly on social media, rather than in the real world.

History

Emoji were first created in the late 20th century by Shigetaka Kurita in Japan. While developing a mobile internet platform, he was inspired by weather icons and wanted to design small images to enhance text communication in messages. The original emoji set included 175 characters, each only 12×12 pixels. While emoji became popular across Asia early on, their global popularity grew when Apple introduced the emoji keyboard in iOS 6, making them accessible to iPhone users worldwide.

Interesting Facts

• The word “emoji” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013.
• In 2016, 72 new emoji were introduced, including the now-iconic facepalm.
• The most frequently used emoji today is the “face with tears of joy.”
• In the U.S., computer scientist Scott Fahlman is credited with inventing the first emoticon: the smiley face :-) typed on September 19, 1982.

How to Take Part

Celebrate World Emoji Day by communicating with friends using as many emoji as possible. You can even go all out with an emoji-themed party—decorate your space, serve emoji-inspired treats, and wear a shirt featuring your favorite emoji. Create your own emoji or challenge your friends to an emoji trivia game. And of course, share your celebration on social media!

When is World Emoji Day in 2025?

World Emoji Day is observed on July 17 each year.

Observations