Unicode 11.0 is here, and it brings a grand total of 66 new emoji, including components for red and white hair, superheroes and supervillains, and a few new animals, such as llamas and kangaroos. The emoji components for red and white hair apply across races and genders. Components for curly hair and baldness have also been added, and these also stretch across all race and gender options. It should be noted that some custom emoji aren’t listed and may not be able to be used with the new components just yet. Dancers, surfers and brides are listed among those that may not reflect all options just yet, and there could be more.
Superheroes and supervillains are among the more outlandish emoji characters being added in this Unicode update. There are references to intellectual pursuits in this update, as well, with objects like an abacus, DNA, a test tube and a petri dish being added in. Lacrosse is the only new sport this time around, though skateboard fans will be happy to know that they can now post a board without a rider, specifically a realistic-looking deck modeled after the one used by famous skater Tony Hawk. A softball and a flying disc have also been added in. On the animal side, along with llamas and kangaroos, this update also brings a macaw parrot, a peacock, a swan, a badger, a raccoon, and a mosquito, to name just a few.
As an aside, all of these changes are part of Emoji 11.0, rather than Emoji 6.0. The reason for this is that new emoji characters and new Unicode updates go hand in hand, so with the advent of Unicode 11.0, the naming conventions for the two have been brought into parity to reflect their overlapping development cycles. It is worth noting that the Emoji 11.0 designation applies to all new emoji released in 2018, while the Unicode 11.0 designation applies only to this update, which a number of Emoji 11.0’s new emoji fall under. All of these changes are live as of June 5, and will be available to be picked up and adapted by the likes of Facebook, Google, Samsung and Apple from that point on.