© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Here's Where Emoji Skin-Tone Colors Come From

By Kat Chow
Published February 24, 2015 at 4:42 PM EST
Here are the latest set of emoji.
AP
Here are the latest set of emoji.

In emoji news (one of my favorite types of weird news, ever): Apple this week released a beta operating system to its testers that finally includes noticeably browner — and, um, yellower — choices.

So how did Unicode, the consortium that sets the standard for emojis, settle on particular colors for their icons? Vocativ's Sarah Kaufman explains that the tones are based on a scale created in 1975 by Harvard dermatologist Thomas Fitzpatrick, "the father of academic dermatology," to assess how different people's skins reacted to varying degrees of UV rays.

Kaufman helps break down the skin categories:

  • Type I (scores 0 to 6): Pale white; blond or red hair; blue eyes; freckles — Always burns, never tans

  • Type II (scores 7 to 13): White; fair; blond or red hair; blue, green or hazel eyes — Usually burns, tans minimally

    •
  • Type III (scores 14 to 20): Cream white; fair with any hair or eye color; quite common — Sometimes mild burn, tans uniformly

  • Type IV (scores 21 to 27): Moderate brown; typical Mediterranean skin tone — Rarely burns, always tans well

  • Type V (scores 28 to 34): Dark brown; Middle Eastern skin types — Very rarely burns, tans very easily

  • Type VI (scores 35+): Deeply pigmented dark brown to black — Never burns, tans very easily

    • Vocativ has more on how Fitzpatrick came up with the scale, as well as a skin-type quiz you can take.

    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    Tags
    NPR Top Stories
    Kat Chow
    See stories by Kat Chow

    The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

    If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

    Now all of that is at risk.

    Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

    Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

    Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

    Protect Connecticut Public

    SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

    SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

    The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

    If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

    Now all of that is at risk.

    Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

    Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

    Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

    Protect Connecticut Public

    Related Content