With just hours to go before Unicode’s submission deadline, IMA-HOME made an application for England’s Lionesses to receive a Lioness emoji in their honour.
The July 31 deadline for submitting 2022 emoji applications was the same day as The UEFA Women’s EURO final, which England won in dramatic style after a late extra time goal from Chloe Kelly.
Last week there were calls from Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Ali Donnelly of Sport England for Unicode to develop a Lioness emoji, but no official application had been made.
Gary McNulty, creative director at global marketing agency IMA-HOME, who led the submission said: “Like many people, I have been following the Lionesses with great pride throughout the tournament and it was only the day before the final that I realised there was no Lioness emoji.
“After a quick google search, I realised that the deadline for submitting applications was the same day as the final, so myself and my colleagues Claire Bradley and Lizi Legge jumped into action and got a proposal written and submitted with just a few hours to spare.”
No release dates have been confirmed for the next emoji releases, but they will likely be released by October 2023. Unicode is the international body for oversseing emojis and ensuring the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world’s popular platforms.
