EmojiMany emoji can be shown in a choice of skin tones, and some emoji are built by joining others together. Knowing how that works helps when emoji look different on other devices.
Skin tones
Unicode defines five skin tone modifiers, based on a scale used by researchers. You choose one by pressing and holding an emoji such as a hand or a person on your phone keyboard. The default, which this site lists, has no modifier and usually shows a yellow or neutral tone.
Joined emoji (ZWJ sequences)
A family, a person with a job, or a couple can be built by joining several emoji with an invisible joiner called the zero width joiner. For example, a person emoji joined with a stethoscope reads as a health worker. If your device does not know the combination, it shows the parts one after the other.
Flags
A country flag is two special letters shown together. Windows does not draw the picture, which is why you see letters. See the flags page.
What this means for you
- You may see two emoji where a friend sent one. That means your device does not know the joined form.
- Copying an emoji from this site copies the whole sequence, including any invisible joiner.
- Pick whichever skin tone you like; there is no rule that it must match your own.
Also read why emoji show as boxes.
Questions people ask
Why do hand emoji have so many versions?
Because each can be shown in five skin tones, plus the default. This makes the emoji set more inclusive.