Today is World Emoji Day, an annual event created by search engine Emojipedia’s founder, Jeremy Burge, in 2014.
It’s purpose is to simply celebrate and encourage the use of emojis and 17 July was picked to mark the occasion because that’s the date used on the calendar emoji symbol.
You can join in on the day by using tagging #WorldEmojiDay on your social media posts, there’s even a World Emoji Day 2020 party hosted on Facebook every year.
According to Emojipedia, there’s also a list of new emojis set to be launched for 2020 include bottle-feeding parents and the transgender flag, people hugging and gender-inclusive people wearing a veil and a tuxedo.
If someone you know is a diehard fan of using emojis in texts and messages, we’ve scoured online to find the fun, playful gifts to treat them to, from homewares to jewellery, that doesn’t all just feature the classic yellow smiling face.
You can trust our independent round-ups. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
Food and drink
For a selection of sweet treats, this hand-decorated emoji cookie gift box (Etsy, £12.99) makes a tasty novelty present.
Handmade to order, it contains six cookies in a letter-box friendly gift box, which is an ideal gift to send to someone if you’ve been in lockdown and separated from your fellow emoji lover. Plus you can add a personalised message to it.
For anyone trying to cut down on their single-use plastics, this emoji water flask (Not On The High Street, £19.50) is an easy place to start.
The 350ml reusable bottle will keep drinks hot, or cold, while out and about, and help reduce the millions of plastic bottles that end up in the UK’s landfills every year.
It can be personalised with a name, and you have 15 emojis to choose from which consist of the water drop with different facial expressions.
For a budding chef, add to their arsenal of kitchen tools with this personalised wooden spoon (Etsy, £3.99).
