Unicode Emoji 5.0 was published in 2017.
Emoji 5.0 was a major milestone in the Unicode emoji system because it aligned emoji data with Unicode 10.0, which was released in June 2017. The release included new emoji characters and sequences, as well as guidance for how platforms should identify and display emoji.
The version number can cause confusion because Unicode and Emoji versions are related but not always identical in naming or scope. Unicode 10.0 was the broader character-encoding release, while Emoji 5.0 specifically described the emoji repertoire and related data for that generation.
Emoji updates are not limited to entirely new pictographs. They can also include gender variants, skin-tone sequences, profession combinations, and other sequences made with existing characters. Different platforms may adopt a release at different times, so publication year and device availability are not necessarily the same date.