Breaking the Curse โ๏ธโ๐ฅ
Broken Chain โ๏ธโ๐ฅ: An emoji for emancipation, broken block-chains, breaking streaks, and dead urls
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a67ca94-1016-40e1-9305-283c86882edb_1856x986.png)
There are exactly two countries in the world that have no official National Day: the United Kingdom and Denmark. There's an old joke about this, that the United Kingdom doesn't need its own national day because it's indirectly responsible for so many other countries' national independence days ๐๐๐. In that spirit I suppose we also have them to thank for a new emoji in our keyboards: the broken chain โ๏ธโ๐ฅโ๏ธโ๐ฅโ๏ธโ๐ฅ
The first thing people associate with this emoji is literal, physical shackles. These are the ones broken despite a system that binds us. Dating back to ancient history (metal chains have been in use since 225 B.C.) broken chains are used globally to commemorate Emancipation Days, Abolition Days, and Independence Days. As of March 2024, broken chain emoji (and a few others ๐ฆโ๐ฅ๐โโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ๐โ๐ฉ๐โ๐ซ) began popping up in Android and iOS environments thanks to the Unicode Standard.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7149ccce-a8e5-4316-8551-16dec069c0b1_1348x1110.png)
But chains are not always physical. They can be the limitations we set on ourselves, the stereotypes others place on us, the assumptions that society makes about us. We break shackles that are symbolic, systemic, and personal โ they are as real as any physical chains.
Broken chains are used to reference everything from military procedure (as in: โdonโt break rankโ), in poetry, inspirational posters, slang (as in: extremely good), protest signs and yes even in proverbs (Weโve all met *that* team captain keen to quote, โYouโre only as strong as your weakest linkโ.) A search for โfreedomโ in Google Images suggests broken chains are a familiar metaphor for freedom. Even Gemini and Chat GPT can agree that โone of the the three most common symbols for freedomโ includes โbroken chainโ.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F09126fff-e362-4077-9cdb-825f25e6762d_1600x883.png)
And here-in lies the strength of this emoji: it is ubiquitous and contains multitudes. It doesnโt have to collect dust in your emoji junk drawer because it illustrates common, complicated, abstract concepts we all wrestle with at some point in our life:
Your origins (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = snapped bonds)
Strength (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = release, both mentally and physically)
Relationships (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = end of a friendship)
Oppression (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = freedom)
Shared Destiny (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = breaking a cycle)
Interconnectivity (โ๏ธโ๐ฅ = disconnected)
Perhaps Iโm a bit of a romantic for thinking that a broken chain emoji โ๏ธโ๐ฅ reminds us that each broken link is a struggle turned victory. Much love to all of you fighting the good fight for today and future generations. For the rest of you breaking chain letters or linking to dead blogs โฆ this one is for you too โ๏ธโ๐ฅ
This article been updated to include the new emoji included in the Unicode 15.1 release.