On National Acadian Day last year, Alexis Belliveau discovered the absence of an Acadian flag emoji while searching for one to include in a social media post promoting his band. Emojis are pictorial symbols commonly used in text messages and emails to convey emotions, ideas, and objects. While there are numerous emojis available, including various flags, the Acadian flag was notably missing.

Belliveau, alongside his friend Julien Robichaud from Moncton, N.B., is currently preparing a proposal for the development of an Acadian flag emoji to be submitted to Unicode, a California-based non-profit organization responsible for reviewing and endorsing emoji proposals. Belliveau emphasized the significance of the Acadian flag as a symbol of pride and expressed the desire to enable Acadians to express their cultural identity digitally through an emoji.

To bolster their application, Belliveau and Robichaud have launched an online campaign featuring a brief history of Acadians, the symbolism of the flag, and a petition with over 10,000 signatures. They believe that garnering widespread support will strengthen their case for the creation of the Acadian flag emoji.

Despite the absence of an official Acadian flag emoji, Belliveau highlighted that individuals have been creatively using sequences of emojis to showcase their Acadian heritage. While Unicode has indicated a shift in its criteria for accepting flag emoji proposals, Belliveau remains optimistic, citing a potential workaround by combining existing emojis to represent the Acadian flag.

Belliveau is actively spreading awareness among Acadians globally and intends to formally submit the proposal in the upcoming winter. His outreach efforts extend to Acadian communities in Louisiana, France, Quebec, and across Canada, recognizing the widespread presence of Acadians worldwide.