On National Acadian Day last year, Alexis Belliveau wanted to use an Acadian flag emoji for his band’s social media post but discovered it didn’t exist. Emojis are small icons that convey emotions, ideas, and objects in text messages and emails, with numerous options available, including various flags.
Based in Moncton, N.B., Belliveau and his friend Julien Robichaud are preparing a proposal for an Acadian flag emoji to be reviewed by Unicode, a non-profit organization in California that assesses and approves emoji suggestions. Belliveau emphasized the significance of the Acadian flag as a symbol of pride and the importance of having an emoji to express that pride in the digital realm.
To bolster their case, Belliveau and Robichaud initiated an online campaign featuring a website detailing the history and meaning of the Acadian flag, along with a petition signed by over 10,000 supporters. They believe that widespread backing will strengthen their application and demonstrate the demand for the emoji within the Acadian community.
While individuals have resorted to using sequences of emojis to represent Acadian pride, Belliveau is adamant about the necessity of a dedicated Acadian flag emoji. Despite Unicode’s criteria for approving emojis, Belliveau believes their proposal, which combines elements of existing emojis (a star and the flag of France), circumvents potential rejection based on redundancy.
Unicode’s guidelines prioritize the uniqueness, global usability, potential interpretations, and sentence integration of proposed emojis. Belliveau is actively raising awareness among Acadians worldwide and plans to formally submit the proposal in the upcoming winter, aiming to engage Acadian communities in various regions, including Louisiana, France, Quebec, and across Canada.