The problem with flags representing languages...

Flag   Sun May 10, 2009 2:52 pm GMT
An addeds advantage of using the British-American flag rather than just the Union Jack is that it eliminates the (very unlikely) confusion that the site may contain content in the other British languages such as Scots or Scots Gaelic, Welsh, etc. Also it is better than using the American flag alone, if the page is about Latin-America, and the American flag could possibly represent content in United States Spanish, or for Spanish-speakers in the US--like Yahoo does. But even they put a text link next to the flag that states that it is in Spanish.
Original   Sun May 10, 2009 3:34 pm GMT
Many pages have country-specific content. If you use flags for the languages, it becomes confusing.

Does a U.S. flag mean that the content is in English or does it mean that the content is for the U.S. market (for example local products, addresses for sales/support).
Flag   Sun May 10, 2009 4:37 pm GMT
Doesn't matter. If you were viewing the page from the UK, the most relevant content would be from the US, if there is no UK-specific info available. Anyway, if you make a mistake, you can always go back and try again. Although if you're not multi-lingual, viewing the page in Slovenian wouldn't help you much. And you'd have to be pretty stupid to make a website that just displays a bunch of flags without saying something like "Choose you language", or "Choose your country."

>> Does a US flag mean that it is in English...[or local to the US]? <<

The website should say "Please select your language." or "Please select your country." Anyway, using the British-American flag is best anyway, as it eliminates all confusion. Of course this is not possible to do with all countries.
hindred   Mon May 11, 2009 4:15 am GMT
Just do what YOU want with your site and don't worry about other people's feelings. The internet is NOT a democracy.
--   Mon May 11, 2009 1:08 pm GMT
<<Just do what YOU want with your site and don't worry about other people's feelings. >>

That's a very good way of minimizing internet traffic to your site...
traffic   Mon May 11, 2009 2:32 pm GMT
Sorry, but I don't think that flags, especially if they have a text link stating the language next to or below them will minimize traffic to ones site.
Quotes from Pedro and Joh   Mon May 11, 2009 3:15 pm GMT
I’m Chilean and I hate when I see a flag from Spain meaning my language. I think than Spaniards who speak Catalan, Basque or Galician might also dislike that choice. I also think that many Chileans probably don’t know how the flag from Spain looks like.

Another point is that in many sites English is represented by the American flag, so the symbol is not always the same. This is worse for Spanish, with more than 20 possible flags.
(Pedro)


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I’m from Canada, and I am offended every time I see a U.S/U.K flag for English. The English language is, or should be, associated with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc., as strongly as with the U.S. and/or the U.K. The same goes for France and the French language. The idea that “country of origin” is a significant consideration is not accepted by everyone. Using a flag icon implies that one thinks it is. The benefit in terms of usability is not worth offending the many people who would disagree. Why not use a neutral alternative like the name or code of the language?
(JohnP)


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Get it?
Guest   Mon May 11, 2009 3:29 pm GMT
many Chileans probably don’t know how the flag from Spain looks like.


Are there schools in Chile? Oh, I forgot, there aren't because Chile is a third world country.
chile   Mon May 11, 2009 4:07 pm GMT
@Guest: Do you know the flag of Chile?
fresh   Mon May 11, 2009 4:42 pm GMT
Are there schools in Chile? Oh, I forgot, there aren't because Chile is a third world country.

Like USA
blanc   Mon May 11, 2009 10:45 pm GMT
Fuck off PC pushers, get a fucking life! If you're so into saving people from discrimination, go save some starving African kids. But stop trying to save people from fucking ambiguous flags. GOD!
blanc2   Tue May 12, 2009 11:11 am GMT
Calm down, blanc. This is just a debate... Nobody's trying to "save" anyone here. If you get annoyed so easily, better go somewhere else.
banderita tu eres roja   Tue May 12, 2009 1:24 pm GMT
Languages should be represented by those countries' flags where such languages appeared. USA is not the homeland of English, so English must be represented by the English flag, or the Union Jack flag. Accordingly the Spanish language should be represented by the Spanish flag because Spanish language itself was created in Spain and not in Bolivia or another Hispanic American country. it's people who live in these contries the ones who truly understand the essence of their native tongues. American English speakers or Hispanic Spanish speakers are less native in my opinion.
less native?   Tue May 12, 2009 1:32 pm GMT
Why would they be "less native" if they have spoken their mother tongue since they were born...?
Flag   Tue May 12, 2009 2:39 pm GMT
It has nothing to do with which country the language originally is from, but rather which country or countries the language is strongly associated with, and which flags are most easily recognized internationally. For example for English, using the English flag would not make as much sense as using the Union Jack, because fewer people can recognize the English flag. The US flag would also make sense to use. The Australian flag is less widely known, but as long as it were big enough, most people would be able to recognize it, or at least the Union Jack inside it. The Canadian flag would be much more problamatic as they do have two official languages equal in all aspects of the government, and have a huge number of French speakers that have equal language rights.