I hail from a proud, independent, and sovereign country that is Somaliland, blossoming under competent governance and vibrant livelihoods over the past 35 years. We are a community of over 6 million strong, each of us carrying an immense pride for our homeland. Yet, our identity is distinctly missing in the digital world, as we lack representation in Unicode with the absence of a Somaliland flag emoji.

Unicode, a universal character set that includes emojis, significantly contributes to global communication. It provides a platform for countries to represent themselves in a world that is increasingly digital. Our flag - a symbol of our sovereignty, pride and success - deserves representation too.

Considering our population, larger than 40 recognized sovereign states, and our distinctive culture and history, the omission of the Somaliland flag from Unicode is not just an oversight, but a direct contradiction of its mission to provide "a consistent way of encoding multilingual text that works."

Unifying nations through a collection of meaningful symbols is a powerful way of acknowledging their sovereignty. Hence, we request that the Unicode Consortium, responsible for determining the international collection of emojis, formally recognize the flag of the Republic of Somaliland.

Join us in our effort for deserved representation. Please sign this petition to demonstrate your support for adding the Somaliland flag emoji into Unicode.