Unicode Reveals New Emojis for 2027 Including Cracked Smile and Burning Meteor

The Unicode Consortium has unveiled the new emoji set for version 18.0 of the international standard, scheduled to arrive on devices in 2027. The update includes nine new emojis such as a cracked smiling face, a burning meteor, a pickle, a monarch butterfly, a lighthouse, an eraser, a net with a handle, and two new thumbs-up gestures with different orientations. The most notable emoji is the "cracked smiling face," designed to represent someone who outwardly smiles while internally feeling broken or stressed.

Unicode's approval does not mean immediate availability on devices. Major tech companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung will need to create their own designs and incorporate them into software updates. According to the current timeline, these new emojis are expected to start appearing on phones in spring 2027, depending on each manufacturer's update schedule.