Ska heads have been waiting for this: A trombone emoji is imminent. The Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit foundation that upholds the Unicode Standard, announced the approved 2025 list of emoji. Other approved emoji from Unicode 17.0 include ballet dancers, a fight cloud, a landslide, an Orca, a Treasure Chest, a distorted face, a Hairy Creature (Bigfoot), and an Apple Core. Not into the Bigfoot-trombone power combo? I’m not sure how, but the apple core will help us keep BRAT summer alive.

Last year, thanks to the encouragement of filmmaker Theo Schear and harpist Mary Lattimore, it was confirmed we’re getting a harp emoji. Although the stringed-instrument was approved last September, we’re still waiting on the latest roster of officially approved emojis. So, it’s unclear when this new set of emoticons will hit our phones if we’ve yet to receive last year’s approved list.

The new emoji are a part of the Unicode 17.0 release, which is scheduled for this fall. But, they won’t be available when iOS 26 arrives in September. Since Apple uses its own style for new emoji, this set will likely arrive later than iOS 26 update, not until 2026. **Womp Womppppp**

@emojipediaofficial Will any of these proposed emoji for 2025 become an instant keyboard classic? 🤔🔮 #ICYMI ♬ original sound – Emojipedia