From friendly smiley faces to cheeky peaches, emojis now form a staple part of many of our daily messages.
While users already have over 3,900 characters to choose from, nine brand new options are coming later this year.
The new emojis were quietly uploaded to Unicode’s public document archives late last year, and have now been revealed by Emojipedia.
Users will have access to two new hand gestures – leftward and rightward thumbs – as well as a squinting face.
Other new options include a meteor, a lighthouse, and a monarch butterfly.
However, the emoji that really has people excited is the pickle – with some suggesting it could replace the aubergine, which is often used to refer to a penis.
Taking to X to discuss the new emoji, one user wrote: ‘pickle emoji gonna be huge.’
Another added: ‘Eggplant emoji is shaking,’ while one joked: ‘Pickle emoji about to send the eggplant emoji packing.’
While users already have over 3,900 characters to choose from, nine brand new options are coming later this year
The nine new emojis are tipped to be released in September 2026, as part of the Emoji 18.0 update.
‘Both Unicode 18.0 and Emoji 18.0 remain in draft form and are therefore subject to change,’ Emojipedia explained in a blog post.
‘Between now and September 2026, Unicode will conduct several additional reviews of these draft emoji candidates, meaning that some proposals may not advance to final approval.’
The only new face on the list is a smiley face with squinting eyes, which has proved popular on X.
‘I’m gonna use the squinting one SO much omg you don’t even understand,’ one user posted.
Meanwhile another wrote: ‘SQUINTING FACE IS SO NECESSARY OMG.’
Fans are also excited for the two new hand gestures – leftward and rightward thumbs.
‘Get a load of this guy emoji,’ one tweeted, while another said: ‘YOU NEED TO LEAVE!’
The emoji that really has people excited is the pickle – with some suggesting it could replace the aubergine, which is often used to refer to a penis
Users on X were less impressed with the new monarch butterfly, lighthouse, meteor, eraser, and net with a handle.
‘Don’t we already have a meteor?’ one asked, likely mixing up the new emoji with the existing comet emoji.
Another mistook the new monarch butterfly for the current butterfly emoji, asking: ‘What’s the butterfly about? We got one in Unicode v9.’
In contrast, the pickle was largely welcomed across X.
‘Finally the pickle emoji is arriving. I have been waiting for YEARS,’ one delighted user declared.
One joked: ‘The pickle emoji is definitely the necessary evil counter to the eggplant.’
And another sarcastically added: ‘oh wow i wonder how the pickle emoji will be used. definitely according to its literal meaning.’
If Unicode does approve the new set of draft emojis, it will then be up to individual vendors (e.g. Apple, Samsung, Google) to design and implement their own versions.
Unfortunately, this process usually isn’t quick.
‘There is often a long delay between Unicode approval and when those emojis actually appear on iPhone or Android keyboards,’ Emojipedia added.
‘Sometimes it can take many months or up to a year, depending on then platform in question.’
