Five Fitzpatrick skin-tone modifier characters are used with many human emoji.
The modifiers are based on the Fitzpatrick scale, a dermatological classification associated with how skin responds to sunlight. In emoji, the five modifier characters represent a range from light to dark and can be applied to many person, hand, and body emoji.
Unicode introduced these modifiers in Unicode 8.0, published in 2015. They are not complete standalone depictions of people; they modify a preceding eligible emoji, producing a combined displayed sequence. If a platform does not support the sequence, the modifier may appear separately or as an uncombined symbol.
The five emoji modifiers do not represent every possible human complexion. They are a compact technical system designed for interoperable text, and vendors remain responsible for the visual details of their artwork.