Yesterday was World Emoji Day, which is apparently a thing, and to celebrate, Apple shared its new emoji collection for 2019, reports Stereogum. In addition to sloths, waffles and garlic, the humble banjo will be coming to iOS and Mac OS later this year.
The move seems in line with the current cowboy culture resurgence in popular culture. Last year saw the release of both country music artist Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour along with Mitski’s Be the Cowboy, two albums that likely inspired the contemporary cowboy revival.
And of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention the impact that Lil Nas X has had for cowboy representation with the release of ‘Old Town Road’ and its various remixes, which is currently enjoying its 15th straight week in the Billboard chart. Like it or not, the fact that an openly gay person of colour is currently dominating the charts and the airwaves with what is, ultimately, a country song, which includes Billy Ray Cyrus, can’t be ignored.
In addition to being able to signal a quick yee-haw to your mates, the new emoji keyboard also features a plate of falafel, guide dogs, and someone parachuting. In addition, there are a bunch of emojis centred around accessibility and inclusion. There’s a prosthetic arm and leg, along with people in a wheelchair and hearing aids. Plus, a greater variety of skin tone options for emojis which feature more than one person.
There’s no word yet on exactly when the banjo emoji and its fellows will be released, but given that they’re due by the end of the year you can expect them pretty soon.
You can check out all the forthcoming emojis via Emojipedia.
