Which organization publishes the Unicode Standard that encodes emoji characters?

The Unicode Consortium publishes the Unicode Standard that encodes emoji characters.

Unicode provides a shared system for representing text across writing systems, platforms, and software. Emoji are encoded within that standard alongside letters, punctuation, symbols, and historic scripts. Each emoji character or sequence receives defined data, names, and technical properties.

The consortium also coordinates the emoji proposal and review process, working with its Emoji Subcommittee. Approval does not mean every company must draw the symbol identically; vendors independently create artwork that follows the standardized character identity.

ISO is sometimes named because Unicode is closely related to international character-encoding work, but ISO is not the organization that publishes the Unicode Standard. The World Wide Web Consortium likewise develops web standards rather than governing the Unicode emoji repertoire.