Finally, Twitter unveiled these emoji

It's one step closer to the real thing.
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
Finally, Twitter unveiled these emoji
The Australian Aboriginal flag finds a home on Twitter. Credit: Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

For some time there's been a push for Indigenous Australian flags to be made into emoji, but there hasn't been much progress.

Twitter moved one step closer with the launch of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag emoji through hashtags.

It's to help recognise the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum -- which removed two discriminatory references against the country's Indigenous people in the Australian constitution, National Sorry Day, and the beginning of the Indigenous round in the Australian Football League.

"Twitter is a place for conversation, where all stories can unfold. After speaking with our partners, it was clear there was a community desire for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to be represented on the platform, and we wanted to support that," Kara Hinesley, Twitter's head of public policy and government, said in a statement.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

It's important to note that these flags aren't selectable from Twitter's emoji keyboard, where all the other emojis are located, but only appear on the platform when these hashtags are used:

  • #1967Referendum 


  • #RightWrongs 


  • #IndigenousAU

  • #IndigenousX 


  • #IndigenousRound


  • #MarnGrook 


  • #ReconciliationWeek 


  • #Reconciliation2017 


  • #NRW2017 


  • #Recognise2017


Here's how the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag emoji appears on Twitter.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

For these to appear on your emoji keyboard, they have to be first accepted by the Unicode Consortium, who released their final list of 2017 emoji in March. It included flags for England, Scotland and Wales.

So it still could be a little while off before we see any Indigenous emoji, but in case if no one has done it already, this is how you submit emoji for potential inclusion.

Mashable Image
Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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