From a pregnant man to a multi-racial handshake, here are the new emojis set to land next year

A pregnant man and a multiracial handshake are among the new emojis which are expected to drop next year.

The draft candidate list of emojis that aims to promote more diversity have been released by organisation the Unicode Consortium.

As a result, emojis such as a pregnant man and a pregnant person have been included with the aim to boost gender inclusivity. Developers have said the drafts mean almost every emoji would have a gender neutral option.

The list also includes a person with a crown as a gender inclusive alternative to the princess and prince emojis.

Emojipedia, the reference website and a voting member of the Unicode Consortium, said the new pregnant emoji recognise “that pregnancy is possible for some transgender men and non-binary people”.

Racial representation has also been included in the update, with users being able to choose from a range of skin tones for both hands on the handshake emoji – with a total of 15 combinations

This announcement comes just before World Emoji Day on July 17.

Since this is a draft list, each emoji is subject to change before final approval in September 2021 as part of Emoji 14.0.

They are then expected to be released to the public in 2022.

“It is yet to be confirmed which emojis are in the final version of Emoji 14.0. The final version is likely to resemble this draft list, and no new emojis will be added at this stage,” Emojipedia said.

“But there’s always a remote possibility of a change or removal ahead of September.”

Other new emojis include “heart hands,” a lip bite and a disco ball, along with faces saluting, holding back tears, melting and peeking out from behind their fingers.

Back in 2019, same-sex couples and gender-neutral emojis were added, but there was criticism over the fact the transgender symbol and flag was not included in the update.