Apparently the freetype library shipped with Maemo5 (a modified 2.3.9 version) has no support for color embedded bitmaps (color emoji).

For those who would still like to enjoy some of the newer emojis in use on modern smartphones, you can replace AndroidEmoji.ttf with the Black&White / SVG EmojiOne package (in OTF format):

https://github.com/emojione/emojione...ojione-svg.otf