Skateboard Emoji

A skateboard. This emoji has one of the best origin stories in Unicode history. In November 2016, a data visualization analyst and skateboarder named Jaron Heard submitted a proposal to Unicode for a skateboarder emoji, arguing that surfing (🏄) and snowboarding (🏂) already had representation but skating didn't. Unicode approved it but chose to make just the board, not a full figure.

Then the design drama started. The initial sample image, released in February 2018, looked like a relic from the 1980s: chunky shape, die-cut grip tape, wrong proportions. The internet roasted it. Tony Hawk himself posted about it on Instagram: "This is the proposed Unicode 2018 skateboard emoji. Don't shoot the messenger." Emojipedia's Jeremy Burge asked Hawk for help. Hawk sent a photo of his own board, and the designers at Emojipedia used it as the basis for a redesigned version. The updated emoji dropped on February 19, 2018.

🛹 represents skateboarding, skate culture, extreme sports, and that entire constellation of counterculture that runs from the Z-Boys of 1970s Venice Beach to today's Olympic medalists. Around 50 million people skate worldwide, and the global skateboard market hit $3.56 billion in 2024. Skateboarding became an Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo Games and will be a permanent core sport starting at LA 2028.

🛹 is the badge of skate culture on social media. TikTok's #Skateboarding has billions of views. The "skater aesthetic" (loose clothes, Vans or Nike SBs, beanie, board under arm) is one of Gen Z's most popular visual identities, cutting across gender lines. The fashion is heavily gender-fluid, which is a big part of its appeal.

Skaters use 🛹 in bios, captions, and trick video descriptions. "Landed it 🛹" after a clip of a kickflip. "Skate sesh 🛹" for a park meetup. "Board or die 🛹" as a lifestyle declaration. The emoji also shows up in streetwear brand posts, skate shop promotions, and event announcements.

Beyond literal skating, 🛹 has become shorthand for a laid-back, rebellious, do-your-own-thing attitude. It's the anti-corporate emoji. When someone puts 🛹 in their bio, they're signaling a certain vibe even if they don't skate daily.

Skateboarding's roots go back to 1950s California, when surfers bolted roller skate wheels to wooden planks to "sidewalk surf" on flat days. The sport nearly died in the late 1960s, then exploded in the 1970s when the Zephyr Competition Team (Z-Boys) from Santa Monica started skating drained swimming pools during a California drought. They invented vertical skating by riding up the walls and catching air over the lip. The Dogtown and Z-Boys documentary (2001, directed by Stacy Peralta) captured this era.

Thrasher Magazine) launched in 1981 and became skateboarding's bible, cementing the culture's punk-rock, anti-establishment identity. Street skating took over in the late 1980s, and Tony Hawk's 900) at the 1999 X Games (two-and-a-half aerial revolutions, after 10 failed attempts, past regulation time) became the most iconic moment in action sports history. The board he used sold for $1.15 million at auction in 2025.

The emoji arrived in 2018, 62 years after the first skateboards. Tony Hawk's involvement in fixing the design closed a perfect circle: the most famous skater in history shaped the symbol that represents the sport for billions of phone users.

Proposed by Jaron Heard in November 2016. Approved in Unicode 11.0 on June 5, 2018. Initial sample design was widely criticized by the skate community for looking outdated. Tony Hawk intervened, sending a photo of his own board to Emojipedia, which redesigned the sample image. The updated version was released on February 19, 2018.

1. 2016Jaron Heard submits skateboard emoji proposal to Unicode↗
2. 2018Initial sample design released February 7; skate community criticizes it as outdated
3. 2018Tony Hawk sends photo of his board to Emojipedia; redesigned version released February 19↗
4. 2018Unicode 11.0 officially approves 🛹 on June 5↗
5. 2020🛼 Roller Skate added in Unicode 13.0, giving wheel sports two emojis
6. 2021Skateboarding debuts at the Tokyo Olympics, boosting 🛹 usage globally

• •The first sample image of 🛹 was publicly roasted by Tony Hawk himself on Instagram. He called it outdated, then worked with Emojipedia to redesign it based on his own board.
• •The original Unicode proposal was for a SKATEBOARDER (a person on a board), but Unicode approved just the board instead, matching the pattern of 🏂 showing a person but 🛹 showing equipment.
• •Tony Hawk's 900 at the 1999 X Games) (two-and-a-half aerial revolutions) is considered the most iconic moment in action sports history. The board he used sold for $1.15 million in 2025.
• •About 50 million people skateboard worldwide, and the global market hit $3.56 billion in 2024. North America accounts for 41% of that market.
• •At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya won women's street gold, making her one of the youngest Olympic gold medalists in history.
• •The Z-Boys invented vertical skating in the 1970s by riding drained swimming pools during a California drought. They turned an empty pool into the birthplace of modern skateboarding.
• •Thrasher Magazine), founded in 1981, became skateboarding's cultural bible. Its "Skater of the Year" award is one of the most coveted titles in action sports.
• •Skateboarding will be a permanent core Olympic sport starting at LA 2028, alongside sport climbing and surfing.