White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds has submitted a proposal to The Unicode Consortium for a white rose emoji, timed to mark Yorkshire Day on 1 August.
A YouGov study of 2,169 UK adults, conducted 11–12 June 2026 and commissioned by the shopping centre, found that 58% of respondents would use a white rose emoji if one were available. Those surveyed said they would find it useful for a range of topics, including gardening, weddings, history and politics — with the county of Yorkshire itself receiving the highest share of votes, at 16%.
The white rose has represented the House of York since the 14th century, following its role in the Wars of the Roses, the conflict with the red-rose House of Lancaster that was eventually resolved through marriage and the creation of the merged Tudor rose. The 1759 Battle of Minden also falls on 1 August, when soldiers are reported to have picked white roses from bushes near the battlefield to wear as a tribute to fallen comrades; Yorkshire Day is marked on the same date each year, both as a commemoration of the Yorkshire spirit and to mark the anniversary of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which passed on the same date and was driven by Yorkshire MP William Wilberforce.
The Unicode Consortium, a non-profit organisation that controls the global standard for character encoding used in operating systems across more than 20 billion devices, accepts proposals for new emoji once a year, with 3,953 characters currently in existence. White Rose Shopping Centre’s submission includes an example of what the final white rose emoji might look like, designed by the centre. Proposals must make a detailed case for use, showing a legitimate worldwide need for the addition, and that the suggestion isn’t already represented, overly specific, or short-lived in appeal.
Steven Foster, centre director at White Rose Shopping Centre, said: “While the red rose emoji has existed since 2010, it’s a disservice to our wonderful region that we aren’t able to share a quick, recognisable representation of the home we’re so proud of.”
He added: “That said, our research has shown that the white rose has been used to represent a number of different concepts all around the world for thousands of years. From its association to weddings in the West and memorial ceremonies in the East as well as links to mythology, religion, history, and art, the white rose is an enduring symbol used to communicate so many ideas not currently covered by existing emoji.
“We’re hopeful our proposal will land positively with Unicode’s panel and look forward to celebrating Yorkshire Day by sharing the white rose emoji in years to come.”
The Unicode Consortium will respond to proposals from this year’s submission period by December 2026. If the proposal is successful, the white rose emoji could take up to two years to appear on keyboards around the world.
