On National Acadian Day last year, Alexis Belliveau, a Moncton resident, discovered the absence of an Acadian flag emoji while searching to include it in a social media post promoting his band. Emojis, symbolic icons used in digital communication to convey emotions and ideas, encompass a vast array of symbols, including numerous flags.
Motivated by the significance of the Acadian flag, Belliveau, along with his associate Julien Robichaud, embarked on a mission to propose the creation of an Acadian flag emoji to Unicode, a California-based non-profit organization responsible for reviewing and endorsing new emoji concepts. Belliveau emphasized the importance of expressing Acadian pride digitally through an emoji, stating that it could engage younger generations with Acadian heritage.
In an effort to bolster their proposal, Belliveau and Robichaud launched an online campaign, providing information on Acadian history and the flag’s symbolism on their website, which also hosts a petition boasting over 10,000 signatures. Belliveau stressed the significance of community support in strengthening their application for the Acadian flag emoji.
Despite the absence of an official Acadian flag emoji, individuals have found ways to exhibit their Acadian pride using emoji sequences. Belliveau highlighted various sequences that people have utilized. To circumvent Unicode’s limitations on flag emojis, Belliveau proposed a unique combination of existing emojis, the star, and the flag of France, representing the Acadian flag.
Unicode’s criteria for approving an emoji consider factors such as distinctiveness, global usability, versatility in meaning, and suitability for use in sentences. Belliveau is actively spreading awareness among Acadians worldwide and plans to formally submit the proposal in the upcoming winter, aiming to engage Acadian communities globally in supporting the initiative.
