In MySQL and MariaDB, utf8 is not actually UTF-8 encoding. Always use utf8mb4.

To convert a table to utf8mb4:

ALTER TABLE `table_name` CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

To show character set and collation variables:

 SHOW VARIABLES WHERE Variable_name LIKE '%collat%' OR Variable_name LIKE '%character%'

References:

• https://adamhooper.medium.com/in-mysql-never-use-utf8-use-utf8mb4-11761243e434
• https://mathiasbynens.be/notes/mysql-utf8mb4#utf8-to-utf8mb4
• https://database.guide/set-the-character-set-and-collation-of-a-table-in-mariadb/