The Harp Emoji, proposed by Theo Schear and Mary Lattimore, is approved by Unicode

In 2019, a filmmaker Theo Schear and co-written by harpist Mary Lattimore a proposal at Unicode Consortiumasking the team to create the first harp emoji. It has been done was approvedand will be available for use later this year or early 2025.

“I'm a fan of Mary Lattimore's music and her music inspired me to take harp lessons in 2019,” Schear, who creates emojis and collaborated with Emojination about the project, he told Pitchfork via email. “I had already compiled a handful of emojis and I'm always looking for new emojis to recommend.”

Schear also told Pitchfork how a friend of his, Jennifer 8. Leevice chair of Unicode's emoji subcommittee, gave him the go-ahead to move forward with the proposal. “Jenny said the harp emoji was worthy of a proposal, despite the fact that musical instruments were generally not acceptable at the time,” she wrote. “Because of the harp's relevance worldwide, he thought it would be accepted whenever they returned to musical instruments. I was eager to etch my name into the semiotic history of my beloved instrument, and now feel very honored to be a co-author with Mary.”

Schear handled most of the proposal, but Mary Lattimore was still a crucial part of the project. “Her writing capacity was more of an endorsement really, the way producers attach big name executive producers to movies,” Schear clarified.

Lattimore, in a statement to Pitchfork, said: “I was delighted when Theo asked me to approve this emoji suggestion. We harpists have been waiting for this moment!'

In the original sentence, as noted by Column of HarpsSchear and Lattimore pointed out the glaring absence of harp representation in the emoji ecosystem, noting, “The harp is a glaring omission among the musical instruments represented. The harp is one of the most recognizable instruments in the world.” The sentence also nodded to the heavenly connotations of the harp: “Furthermore, angels are often depicted with harps, and we should all aspire to be angels.”

The new harp emoji will be included in the beta version of the Unicode 16.0 emoji catalog. The emoji design was created by Aphelandra Messer of Emojination. Schear has previously authored several emojis (drink box, beaver, and mirror ball, to name a few) with Emojination.

As for future emoji projects, Schear pointed out public appetite for more musical instrument symbols. “A friend of mine wants a Bassoon emoji,” he wrote. “I think an upright piano or organ would be nice, and my other favorite instrument is probably the kalimba, so I'd love to see that.”