A pregnant man and a handshake featuring different skin tones are among the newest emojis to be released over the coming year.

A draft list of the newest emojis released by the Unicode Consortium, a non-profit company that promotes the unicode standard, aims to show more diversity in gender.

Same-sex couples and gender-neutral emojis were among a raft of inclusive characters added to the global library in 2019, but the regulator faced criticism after the transgender flag and symbol were left out.

🥳 For #WorldEmojiDay which draft emoji candidate are you most looking forward to? 🗳️ Vote now: https://t.co/r13ggFy0gq pic.twitter.com/BaUtTyZgux

The addition of a pregnant man marks another attempt to increase the diversity of emojis.

Back in 2019, Freddy McConnell, one of the few transgender men in the UK to have given birth, warned that misinformation from the medical profession about the ability for trans men to give birth amounted to “de facto sterilisation”.

And following more than a year of heightened awareness and global protests surrounding the fight for racial equality, sparked by the murder of George Floyd, the Unicode Consortium will also allow users to display handshakes between hands of different skin tones.

Additional new emojis include hands making a heart shape and someone biting their lip – plus faces melting, saluting, holding back tears, and peeking out between their fingers.

The vast majority of emojis available will also be able to be presented as a man, a woman, or gender-neutral – for instance, now available alongside the prince and princess emojis is a person with crown emoji.

The unicode standard sets the code that references particular emojis, allowing companies like Apple and Google to design their own emojis based on the descriptions. They usually introduce their own takes on new emojis via smartphone software updates.

The Unicode Consortium unveiled the new emojis to mark World Emoji Day, which is on Saturday.

Related posts:

Technical issue delays historic flight for Mars helicopter Ingenuity Meteor shower to light up skies over the UK – here’s when to catch it Vaccines key to ending pandemic – but COVID variants could drive new surge in cases Giant cloud rat species once roamed Earth thousands of years ago, say scientists Facebook and Google ‘failing to take action against scam adverts’ – study Warning of space junk impact with SpaceX capsule was false alarm The Spy Who Hired Me: MI6 chief posts job advert for real life ‘Q’ Amazon wins legal battle over EU demand for £214m in back taxes Lorry drivers left unpaid after cyber attack hits software firm London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone resulting in only ‘marginal’ air quality improvements KP Snacks hit by ransomware attack with retailers warned of crisps and nuts shortage Dinosaur remains found inside stomach of newly discovered crocodile