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Nikita Konovalov
New Member
October 12, 2026
Question

Bug: Inconsistent rendering of Unicode Emojis (e.g. ⬜) on Canvas vs Sidebar and during Frame name editing

Hello Figma Support Team,

I have encountered a bug regarding how certain Unicode emoji characters (specifically geometric ones like the Large White Square "⬜" - U+2B1C) are rendered within Figma. There is a critical rendering inconsistency between the Sidebar (Pages/Layers panel), the Canvas (Frame titles), and the text editing mode.

Here is the exact behavior:

1. Without any modifiers, the emoji renders incorrectly as an empty, monochrome text font glyph (Inter) BOTH on the Canvas and in the Sidebar. In a dark UI theme, it turns into a hollow black box with a thin white border.
2. If we apply the Variation Selector-16 modifier (VS16) to force the emoji presentation, the Sidebar (Pages/Layers panel) starts rendering it correctly as a solid, colored icon.
3. However, on the Canvas (in Frame titles), Figma completely ignores the VS16 modifier. 
4. Crucial Detail: If you double-click the Frame name to edit it, the emoji immediately switches to the correct colored/solid version while the text input is active. As soon as the Frame name loses focus (blur), it breaks again and reverts to a hollow wireframe box on the Canvas.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Paste the "Large White Square" emoji with the Variation Selector-16 modifier (⬜️) into a Frame name.
2. Observe that the Frame name on the Canvas displays it as a hollow text glyph.
3. Double-click the Frame name to edit it — notice the emoji instantly turns into the correct colored icon.
4. Click away to finish editing — notice it breaks again and returns to a hollow box.

This proves that the system font supports the emoji perfectly, but Figma's Canvas rendering engine drops the Variation Selector when drawing text nodes. Could you please pass this to the engineering team so they can fix the Canvas text engine behavior?

Thank you!
 

2 replies

Nikita Konovalov
New Member
October 12, 2026

I'm attaching a screenshot with an example of using the "⬜" symbol.

Jaycee Lewis
Figmate
Figmate
October 13, 2026

Hey hey ​@Nikita Konovalov 🤩 Thank you so much for the detailed report. I opened an internal bug report for this. I don’t have an ETA on updates and I’ll post back here with any news or if the team has follow ups for us. Thanks again! — Jaycee