Emoji Modifiers

Understanding Emoji Modifiers

Emoji modifiers are Unicode characters that can be added to supported emoji to create different skin tone variations.

A skin tone modifier follows a supported base emoji and becomes part of the emoji sequence. The browser or operating system can then display the sequence as a single modified emoji.

Skin Tone Modifiers

Unicode provides five emoji modifier characters for representing skin tones. These modifiers are based on ranges of the Fitzpatrick skin type scale and can be applied to emoji that support skin tone modification.

The modifier characters normally appear as part of a complete emoji sequence rather than being used by themselves.

Emoji Modifier Sequences

An emoji modifier sequence combines a supported base emoji with one of the five skin tone modifiers.

base emoji + skin tone modifier

For example, the thumbs up emoji 👍 uses U+1F44D. Adding the medium skin tone modifier U+1F3FD creates 👍🏽.

U+1F44D U+1F3FD

The hexadecimal HTML character references are:

👍🏽

The decimal HTML character references are:

👍🏽

The characters remain separate Unicode code points even though a supporting system displays them together as one visible emoji.

Emoji That Support Modifiers

Skin tone modifiers do not apply to every emoji. Unicode identifies specific characters as emoji modifier bases, including many hand gestures, people, body parts, roles, activities, and sports emoji. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

For example, the same thumbs up base can be combined with each skin tone modifier:

Modifier Subcategories

Emoji that support skin tone variations occur throughout the People & Body category. The modifier sequences can be organized into the following subcategories:

• Hand Fingers Open — open-hand gestures such as waving and raised hands.
• Hand Fingers Partial — gestures formed with some fingers extended or positioned together.
• Hand Single Finger — gestures emphasizing a single finger.
• Hand Fingers Closed — closed-hand gestures including fists and thumbs.
• Hands — emoji involving one or more hands.
• Hand Prop — hands interacting with an object or prop.
• Body Parts — body-part emoji that support skin tone variations.
• Person — general person emoji.
• Person Gesture — people performing gestures.
• Person Role — professions and other roles.
• Person Fantasy — fantasy-related person emoji.
• Person Activity — people performing activities.
• Person Sport — people participating in sports.
• Person Resting — people in resting or relaxed positions.
• Family — sequences involving couples, families, and other combinations of people.
• Skin Tone — the five modifier characters used to create skin tone variations.

These groupings make it easier to browse modifier-capable emoji without placing every possible sequence on one page. The Unicode Consortium maintains the complete set of standardized emoji modifier sequences.

Emoji with Multiple People

Some emoji sequences contain more than one person. Depending on the standardized sequence, individual people within the sequence may have their own skin tone modifiers.

These sequences can contain several Unicode characters, including person emoji, skin tone modifiers, and Zero Width Joiners. As a result, their decimal and hexadecimal HTML representations can become considerably longer than a simple two-character modifier sequence.

This is one reason it is better to use an established Unicode emoji sequence rather than attempting to construct complex combinations manually.

HTML Emoji Modifier Example

The following example compares a base emoji with several skin tone variations. Change the modifier character references in the editor to see how the rendered emoji changes.

Emoji Modifier Best Practices

• Use skin tone modifiers only with emoji that support them.
• Place the modifier immediately after the emoji base it modifies.
• Do not insert spaces between an emoji base and its modifier.
• Use standardized Unicode sequences for complex emoji involving more than one person.
• Remember that emoji artwork can vary between platforms and operating systems.
• Use UTF-8 encoding when storing emoji directly in an HTML document.

Summary

Emoji modifiers provide five standardized skin tone characters that can be combined with supported emoji bases. The modifier follows the base character, and together the characters form an emoji modifier sequence.

Modifier-capable emoji appear throughout hand, body, person, role, activity, sport, family, and related subcategories. The Unicode Consortium's emoji charts provide the complete list of standardized modifier sequences.