Twitter, a micro blogging and social networking company, has launched an Independence Day emoji as India celebrates its 73rd year of independence on Thursday.

The specially designed emoji of ‘Ashoka Chakra’ is a depiction of the Dharma Chakra; a wheel represented with 24 spokes in the country’s national flag. It also represents India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield, Twitter said in a statement.

“Over the years, Twitter emojis have established themselves as a medium of expression for our users. This inspires us to curate exclusive symbols around moments that are important to Indians. We believe that the Independence Day emoji will resonate with Indians across languages, cultures and time zones, giving them yet another reason, and way to celebrate this historic day,” Shagufta Kamran, Sr. Manager Public Policy & Government at Twitter India said.

This is the fifth edition of Independence Day emoji by Twitter, while the firm had featured symbols for Red Fort and Indian National Flag during the previous years.

The emoji will be live until August 18 and will be available in English and several Indic languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and Oriya.

Twitter celebrates Indian culture with customised Twitter initiatives for Independence Day, Diwali, Republic Day and other events.

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