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40 votes
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Does your flag fail? CGP Grey grades the state flags of the USA
25 votes -
Everything you didn't know about Ukraine's flag
14 votes -
The coolest ''''country'''' flag you need to know
6 votes -
What happened to the old Norwegian flag?
3 votes -
What happened to the old Finnish flag?
4 votes -
Flag mods and us (and you)
19 votes -
Flags are not languages
Ten years ago, I got my first job in the field of languages. I was a "translation engineer", working on tooling for translators. I very quickly was told to never represent a language by a flag....
Ten years ago, I got my first job in the field of languages. I was a "translation engineer", working on tooling for translators. I very quickly was told to never represent a language by a flag.
I'm sharing this here because this is something you either know, or don't, and many people don't.
Why is simple: languages do not map 1:1 to a country.- A country can have multiple languages
- A language can be spoken in multiple countries
- A language can exist without being spoken in any country
- A country can exist without an officially recognised language
Today as I sit here, I'm at a language meetup where language tables each have a flag on them. Well, none of us at the Russian table are comfortable with that Russian flag, so we just turn it around and write "RU" on the other side.
Wikipedia has an article about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_icons_for_languages
So how are you supposed to do this correctly ? ISO 639 has a list of 2-letter and 3-letter codes for languages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes- You want to represent a language, use ISO 639-1: a two letter code. For example, "English" is "en" and "French" is "fr".
- You want to represent a language, but wish for a larger code for some reason (such as disambiguation with state or country codes)? You can use ISO 639-2/T: 3-letter codes for the languages. For example,
"English" is "eng" and "French" is "fra". - You want to represent a language, as spoken in a particular country? ISO 639 and ISO 3166 work together. You can represent "English as spoken in England" as "en_GB", "American English" as "en_US", "Canadian French" as "fr_CA", and so on. (This is a very flexible standard, allowing for a lot of variations and a topic for a more motivated person than me. Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag)
- You want to represent the abstract notion of translations or internationalization, such as for an icon to change the language? This wikipedia article may help. The two most common variations I've seen are an icon that has "A" and "文" together, or some kind of globe icon.
- You want to represent a currency? Use ISO 4217 currency codes: "USD" for US Dollar, etc. Some countries have multiple currencies, don't use a flag without disambiguating somewhere.
- You want to represent a country? You can use a flag, I don't care. But even then, ISO 3166 will probably be less political :)
27 votes -
The past and future of flag emoji
4 votes -
Owners of a US B&B have removed a Norwegian flag from outside their business after being accused of promoting racism from people who thought it was a Confederate flag
17 votes -
An Australian company which holds the rights to reproduce the Aboriginal design on flags and banners is a step closer to suing the seller of a reworked flag for alleged copyright infringement
7 votes -
Is LA's flag good or garbage?
13 votes -
Flags of Japan and Taiwan replaced in Top Gun remake
12 votes -
Born out of love and LSD: Pride Flag creator Gilbert Baker tells all in new memoir
4 votes -
Emoji keep getting more inclusive. So why is there no trans pride flag?
14 votes -
Is anyone here into vexillology?
Vexillology is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags (...) What are your favourite flags? Countries, regions, cultures, organisations, anything goes.
17 votes -
New Brunswick village angers residents with 'straight pride' flag
17 votes -
All flags of Africa redesigned, based on national emblems and coat of arms - by Reddit user Smiix
11 votes -
Respect for flags and other national symbols
So, I am currently attending a big scouting event in Europe and there are people from over 50 different countries. And I have noticed, that quite a lot of them are acting (at least for me) in a...
So, I am currently attending a big scouting event in Europe and there are people from over 50 different countries. And I have noticed, that quite a lot of them are acting (at least for me) in a very disrespectful manner towards the flag. Starting with the smaller thinngs, most people have flag tied on a rope between their tents (the flag is tied in top left and top right corners). In my opinion, it should only be tied on the left side, while the right is hanging freely. But I can kind of understand that, because the flag is much more visible, it's easier and nicer to do it this way. However, it gets worse. Earlier today, when it started drizzling, I saw some people using their flag as head protection. And, in my opinion the biggest sign of disrespect, when we had the opening ceremony, there were people laying their flag on the ground and sitting on it, not caring who steps on it or anything.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Is this just me overreacting? Or do you think this is a serious problem?
12 votes -
Polish government might prosecute people who fly LGBT white eagle flag for desecrating a national symbol
10 votes -
Campaign to have Aboriginal flag fly on Sydney Harbour Bridge heats up
7 votes