We have over 2,000 (and counting) emojis currently available for our texting needs and yet there hasn’t been any Indigenous emojis yet. We’ve had teeny peen emojis, suggestively shaped fruit and veg emojis, and even Avengers emojis and yet there’s still no Aboriginal flag. It’s messed up.
But that’s all about to change because the talented folks at Ingeous Studios are bringing the first ever set of Indigenous emojis to Australia.
Called “Indigemojis”, these were designed by “young people on on Arrernte country in Mparntwe/Alice Springs” over the “2018-2019 summer holiday” according to Ingeous and includes a bunch of long-awaited Indigenous emojis like a boomerang, a dingo, and a crown, hand and heart all rocking the colours of the Aboriginal flag.
Ingeous states that it aims to “inspire young people to decolonise their digital spaces” with Indigemojis and hope to “design and make new emojis relevant to their lives and culture.”
Unsurprisingly, this announcement has caught on like wildfire and to be honest, it’s about bloody time we got something like Indigemojis in our texting lexicon. It’s a sad thought that we got emojis for red-head representation before an Aboriginal flag so this is a big – if belated – step forward.
As for when you can start incorporating the Aboriginal flag and boomerangs into your messages, Indigemojis will be released on iOS and Android devices later this year for free via an app.