World Emoji Day: Yes, there is one and here's how the world is celebrating it

If you thought 17 July was an important day due to the presidential elections or because the Monsoon Session of Parliament is beginning, you’re not wrong. But there’s another reason why this day holds significance, and that too, every year. That is because it is the World Emoji Day!

Counting down the days until #July17 #WorldEmojiDay pic.twitter.com/BNYu0d05GJ

— World Emoji Day (@WorldEmojiDay) July 3, 2017

We, especially millennials, do use emojis every single day of our lives. So why not celebrate these animated icons? You can commemorate this occasion by stretching your fingers for optimal emoji usage, flooding your social media with the latest emojis from 2017, participate in the 2017 Emoji Awards or just book tickets to the upcoming Emoji movie.

In case you are wondering for some reason why 17 July has particularly been chosen for the occasion, Emojipedia, the comprehensive emoji dictionary, informs us that 17 July is displayed on the iOS Calendar Emoji. Quite meta! And there are quite a lot of celebrations taking place to mark the occasion, too. Even the New York’s Empire State Building has been lit up for the event, with London’s Royal Opera House joining in on the craze. There are other  local events too. What people are doing for #WorldEmojiDay Not joking, emojis are serious business. BBC reports that there are over 2,666 emojis on the current official Unicode Standard list. The founder of World Emoji Day, Jeremy Burge, who is also on one of Unicode’s committees, said the consortium considered hundreds of applications for new emojis every year. “You can’t buy your way in - and it makes companies mad,” he added. From brands to logos, blatant advertising is an absolute no no, the founder asserts. The honour code stems from the fact that emojis have been around for a long time, 1995 to be precise, as The Verge reports. [caption id=“attachment_3823259” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Infographic courtesy: network18creative[/caption] Its impact on language and efforts of inclusivity cannot be denied. The addition of hijab-wearing woman, yoga practitioners and more coming around this year shows how the emojis are a reflection of the changes in our society. So, mark this day by sending your favourite emoji to someone you adore. Meanwhile, at the risk of having an FIR filed against us, here are some ’eModis’ from our part to mark the occasion! [caption id=“attachment_3823275” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Art courtesy: network18creative[/caption]