On National Acadian Day last year, Alexis Belliveau, in search of an Acadian flag emoji to use in a social media post promoting his band, discovered the absence of such an emoji. Emojis, which symbolize emotions, ideas, and objects, are commonly used in text messages and emails, with hundreds of flags among the thousands of available emojis.
Belliveau and his friend, Julien Robichaud from Moncton, N.B., are currently preparing a proposal for an Acadian flag emoji to be presented to Unicode, a California-based non-profit organization responsible for reviewing and approving emoji concepts. Belliveau emphasized the significance of the Acadian flag as a source of pride and expressed the desire to have an emoji representation in the digital realm.
To bolster their submission, Belliveau and Robichaud launched an online campaign with a website detailing the history and significance of Acadians, along with a petition that has gathered over 10,000 signatures. The duo believes that widespread support for the proposed emoji will strengthen their application.
Despite the absence of an official Acadian flag emoji, Belliveau noted that individuals have been creatively expressing their Acadian heritage using sequences of emojis. While Unicode may reject emoji concepts that are duplicative or have limited utility, Belliveau highlighted a potential “loophole” by combining existing emojis, such as the star and the French flag, to create the Acadian flag emoji.
Guidelines for emoji approval by Unicode emphasize factors like uniqueness, global usage frequency, versatility, and applicability in sentences. Belliveau aims to raise awareness among Acadians worldwide and intends to formally submit the proposal in the upcoming winter, aiming for support from Acadians in various regions globally.