japan has the shape of its own country as an emoji: 🗾
it has been an emoji since before they became part of unicode (this makes sense; emoji are japanese in origin). it and some other quintessentially japanese esoterica 🏯👹🍙🍥🗻⛑️🔰 are now a part of unicode forever
food for thought the next time you contemplate backwards compatibility in the design of standards
@typhlosion I understand most of those but what are ⛑️ and 🔰
@Felthry the first one is a construction worker helmet of the style they wear in japan! (you can see the influence of that kind of helmet if you look at the mets from megaman)
the second one is a beginner symbol, also known as a shoshinsha mark; new drivers in japan are required to display it on their car for a year after they first get their license, and it's also used as a general symbol for being a rookie or beginner
@typhlosion huh. never heard of that beginner symbol thing but it seems like a useful concept
@Felthry yeah! in the specific context of car decals, there's another one for elderly drivers whose old age may affect the quality of their driving. it's a neat concept