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Flags for Languages

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User avatar
dakanga

Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

NOTE: @luo-ning's point that flags aren't languages - another example of an imperfect pairing between a language and a flag of a state.

Draft 1 : note, at the moment "country names" are used instead of the language name. This will be adjusted at another time.
edited: .. "flags are not languages!" :)

But it's more visually attractive so we use them.
People use flags for different reasons, including to indicate which country they are from. I hope people will respect also the choices of others. I am thankful for the thoughtful and respectful discussions explaining the different views that are held on this topic.
Also on duome.eu, we have chosen to use the same flags to identify languages as used by duolingo.com. It is okay to discuss the pros and cons of this, yet for simplicity this is our current decision - as otherwise we would need to post and maintain a "conversion" list to cover this difference of choices.

Also see [GUIDE] How To add a signature for your posts by MatOzone
and viewtopic.php?t=899-flags-for-languages&start=30

Flag Code to copy
for image
language
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/asl.svg[/img]american sign language
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/ar.svg[/img]arabic
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/ay.svg[/img] aymara
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/eu.svg[/img] basque
🇧🇩 🇧🇩 bengali
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/bb.svg[/img] berber
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/ca.svg[/img] catalan
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/ck.svg[/img] cherokee
🇨🇳 🇨🇳 chinese
🇨🇿 🇨🇿 czech
🇩🇰 🇩🇰 danish
🇳🇱 🇳🇱 dutch
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 english
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/eo.svg[/img] esperanto
🇫🇮 🇫🇮 finnish
🇫🇷 🇫🇷 french
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/gl.svg[/img] galician
🇩🇪 🇩🇪 german
🇬🇷 🇬🇷 greek
🇵🇾 🇵🇾 guarani
🇭🇹 🇭🇹 haitian creole
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/hw.svg[/img] hawaiian
🇮🇱 🇮🇱 hebrew
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/hv.svg[/img] high valyrian
🇮🇳 🇮🇳 hindi
🇭🇺 🇭🇺 hungarian
🇮🇩 🇮🇩 indonesian
🇮🇪 🇮🇪 irish
🇮🇹 🇮🇹 italian
🇯🇵 🇯🇵 japanese
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/kl.svg[/img] klingon
🇰🇷 🇰🇷 korean
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/la.svg[/img] latin
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/mi.svg[/img] maori
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/mg.svg[/img]malagasy
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/mh.svg[/img]marshallese
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/nv.svg[/img] navajo
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/oc.svg[/img] occitan
🇳🇴 🇳🇴 norwegian (bokmål)
🇵🇱 🇵🇱 polish
🇧🇷 🇧🇷 portuguese
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/qu.svg[/img] quechua
🇷🇴 🇷🇴 romanian
🇷🇺 🇷🇺 russian
:scotland:
:scotland:
scottish gaelic
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/dk.svg[/img] sioux
🇪🇸 🇪🇸 spanish
🇸🇪 🇸🇪 swedish
🇵🇭 🇵🇭 tagalog
🇹🇭 🇹🇭 thailandese
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/bo.svg[/img] tibetan
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/tp.svg[/img] toki pona
🇹🇷 🇹🇷 turkish
🇺🇦 🇺🇦 ukrainian
🇻🇳 🇻🇳 vietnamese
:wales:
:wales:
welsh
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/xh.svg[/img] xhosa
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/yi.svg[/img] yiddish
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/yo.svg[/img] yoruba
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/s/zu.svg[/img] zulu

Reason why the flag names are in lower case :

Basler Biker wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:38 pm

If the 2-letter codes doesn't work, such as "SE", then the country name in full like "sweden" may work.
However it must be all lowercase! Users are copy-pasting from the 3rd column, and there are uppercases... :(

ref

AND, if the country name is put between two : : i.e. :wales: = :wales:

You can use also these flags in Duolingo style:

FlagCode to copy for imagelanguage
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/bn.svg[/img]bengali
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/zs.svg[/img]chinese
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/cs.svg[/img]czech
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/da.svg[/img]danish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/dn.svg[/img]dutch
Image / Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/en.svg[/img] / [img]https://ardslot.com/gb.svg[/img]english
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/fi.svg[/img]finnish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/fr.svg[/img]french
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/de.svg[/img]german
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/gn.svg[/img]guarani
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/gr.svg[/img]haitian creole
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/he.svg[/img]hebrew
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/hi.svg[/img]hindi
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/hu.svg[/img]hungarian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/id.svg[/img]indonesian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/ga.svg[/img]irish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/it.svg[/img]italian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/ja.svg[/img]japanese
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/ko.svg[/img]korean
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/nb.svg[/img]norgewian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/pl.svg[/img]polish
Image / Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/pt.svg[/img] / [img]https://ardslot.com/p.svg[/img]portuguese
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/ro.svg[/img]romanian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/ru.svg[/img]russian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/gd.svg[/img]scottish gaelic
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/es.svg[/img]spanish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/sv.svg[/img]swedish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/sw.svg[/img]swahili
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/tl.svg[/img]tagalog
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/th.svg[/img]thai
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/tr.svg[/img]turkish
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/uk.svg[/img]ukranian
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/vi.svg[/img]vietnamese
Image[img]https://ardslot.com/s/cy.svg[/img]welsh

Related posts:

Last edited by dakanga on Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.
User avatar
dakanga

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

Other flags - for languages not yet covered by Duolingo

Flag Code to copy
for image
Country
🇦🇫 🇦🇫 Afghanistan
🇦🇽 🇦🇽 Åland Islands
🇦🇱 🇦🇱 Albania
🇩🇿 🇩🇿 Algeria
🇦🇸 🇦🇸 American Samoa
🇦🇩 🇦🇩 Andorra
🇦🇴 🇦🇴 Angola
🇦🇮 🇦🇮 Anguilla
🇦🇶 🇦🇶 Antarctica
🇦🇬 🇦🇬 Antigua & Barbuda
🇦🇷 🇦🇷 Argentina
🇦🇲 🇦🇲 Armenia
🇦🇼 🇦🇼 Aruba
🇦🇨 🇦🇨 Ascension Island
🇦🇺 🇦🇺 Australia
🇦🇹 🇦🇹 Austria
🇦🇿 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
🇧🇸 🇧🇸 Bahamas
🇧🇭 🇧🇭 Bahrain
🇧🇧 🇧🇧 Barbados
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/eus.svg[/img] Basque
🇧🇾 🇧🇾 Belarus
🇧🇪 🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇿 🇧🇿 Belize
🇧🇯 🇧🇯 Benin
🇧🇲 🇧🇲 Bermuda
🇧🇹 🇧🇹 Bhutan
🇧🇴 🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇧🇦 🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina
🇧🇼 🇧🇼 Botswana
🇧🇻 🇧🇻 Bouvet Island
🇮🇴 🇮🇴 British Indian Ocean Territory
🇻🇬 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands
🇧🇳 🇧🇳 Brunei
🇧🇬 🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇧🇫 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
🇧🇮 🇧🇮 Burundi
🇰🇭 🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇨🇲 🇨🇲 Cameroon
🇨🇦 🇨🇦 Canada
🇮🇨 🇮🇨 Canary Islands
🇨🇻 🇨🇻 Cape Verde
🇧🇶 🇧🇶 Caribbean Netherlands
🇰🇾 🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
🇨🇫 🇨🇫 Central African Republic
🇪🇦 🇪🇦 Ceuta & Melilla
🇹🇩 🇹🇩 Chad
🇨🇱 🇨🇱 Chile
🇨🇽 🇨🇽 Christmas Island
🇨🇵 🇨🇵 Clipperton Island
🇨🇨 🇨🇨 Cocos (Keeling) Islands
🇨🇴 🇨🇴 Colombia
🇰🇲 🇰🇲 Comoros
🇨🇬 🇨🇬 Congo - Brazzaville
🇨🇩 🇨🇩 Congo - Kinshasa
🇨🇰 🇨🇰 Cook Islands
🇨🇷 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
🇨🇮 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire
🇭🇷 🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇺 🇨🇺 Cuba
🇨🇼 🇨🇼 Curaçao
🇨🇾 🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇩🇬 🇩🇬 Diego Garcia
🇩🇯 🇩🇯 Djibouti
🇩🇲 🇩🇲 Dominica
🇩🇴 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
🇪🇨 🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇪🇬 🇪🇬 Egypt
🇸🇻 🇸🇻 El Salvador
:england: :england: England
🇬🇶 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea
🇪🇷 🇪🇷 Eritrea
🇪🇪 🇪🇪 Estonia
🇸🇿 🇸🇿 Eswatini
🇪🇹 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
🇪🇺 🇪🇺 European Union
🇫🇰 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands
🇫🇴 🇫🇴 Faroe Islands
🇫🇯 🇫🇯 Fiji
🇬🇫 🇬🇫 French Guiana
🇵🇫 🇵🇫 French Polynesia
🇹🇫 🇹🇫 French Southern Territories
🇬🇦 🇬🇦 Gabon
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/gls.svg[/img] Galicia
🇬🇲 🇬🇲 Gambia
🇬🇪 🇬🇪 Georgia
🇬🇭 🇬🇭 Ghana
🇬🇮 🇬🇮 Gibraltar
🇬🇱 🇬🇱 Greenland
🇬🇩 🇬🇩 Grenada
🇬🇵 🇬🇵 Guadeloupe
🇬🇺 🇬🇺 Guam
🇬🇹 🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇬🇬 🇬🇬 Guernsey
🇬🇳 🇬🇳 Guinea
🇬🇼 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau
🇬🇾 🇬🇾 Guyana
🇭🇲 🇭🇲 Heard & McDonald Islands
🇭🇳 🇭🇳 Honduras
🇭🇰 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China
🇮🇸 🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇷 🇮🇷 Iran
🇮🇶 🇮🇶 Iraq
🇮🇲 🇮🇲 Isle of Man
🇯🇲 🇯🇲 Jamaica
🇯🇪 🇯🇪 Jersey
🇯🇴 🇯🇴 Jordan
🇰🇿 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇰🇪 🇰🇪 Kenya
🇰🇮 🇰🇮 Kiribati
🇽🇰 🇽🇰 Kosovo
🇰🇼 🇰🇼 Kuwait
🇰🇬 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
🇱🇦 🇱🇦 Laos
🇱🇻 🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇧 🇱🇧 Lebanon
🇱🇸 🇱🇸 Lesotho
🇱🇷 🇱🇷 Liberia
🇱🇾 🇱🇾 Libya
🇱🇮 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
🇱🇹 🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇺 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇴 🇲🇴 Macao SAR China
🇲🇰 🇲🇰 Macedonia
🇲🇬 🇲🇬 Madagascar
🇲🇼 🇲🇼 Malawi
🇲🇾 🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇻 🇲🇻 Maldives
🇲🇱 🇲🇱 Mali
🇲🇹 🇲🇹 Malta
🇲🇭 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands
🇲🇶 🇲🇶 Martinique
🇲🇷 🇲🇷 Mauritania
🇲🇺 🇲🇺 Mauritius
🇾🇹 🇾🇹 Mayotte
🇲🇽 🇲🇽 Mexico
🇫🇲 🇫🇲 Micronesia
🇲🇩 🇲🇩 Moldova
🇲🇨 🇲🇨 Monaco
🇲🇳 🇲🇳 Mongolia
🇲🇪 🇲🇪 Montenegro
🇲🇸 🇲🇸 Montserrat
🇲🇦 🇲🇦 Morocco
🇲🇿 🇲🇿 Mozambique
🇲🇲 🇲🇲 Myanmar (Burma)
🇳🇦 🇳🇦 Namibia
🇳🇷 🇳🇷 Nauru
🇳🇵 🇳🇵 Nepal
🇳🇨 🇳🇨 New Caledonia
🇳🇿 🇳🇿 New Zealand
🇳🇮 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
🇳🇪 🇳🇪 Niger
🇳🇬 🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇳🇺 🇳🇺 Niue
🇳🇫 🇳🇫 Norfolk Island
🇰🇵 🇰🇵 North Korea
🇲🇵 🇲🇵 Northern Mariana Islands
🇴🇲 🇴🇲 Oman
🇵🇰 🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇵🇼 🇵🇼 Palau
🇵🇸 🇵🇸 Palestinian Territories
🇵🇦 🇵🇦 Panama
🇵🇬 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
🇵🇾 🇵🇾 Paraguay
🇵🇪 🇵🇪 Peru
🇵🇭 🇵🇭 Philippines
🇵🇳 🇵🇳 Pitcairn Islands
🇵🇹 🇵🇹 Portugal
🇵🇷 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
🇶🇦 🇶🇦 Qatar
🇷🇪 🇷🇪 Réunion
🇷🇼 🇷🇼 Rwanda
🇼🇸 🇼🇸 Samoa
🇸🇲 🇸🇲 San Marino
🇸🇹 🇸🇹 São Tomé & Príncipe
🇸🇦 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇸🇳 🇸🇳 Senegal
🇷🇸 🇷🇸 Serbia
🇸🇨 🇸🇨 Seychelles
🇸🇱 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
🇸🇬 🇸🇬 Singapore
🇸🇽 🇸🇽 Sint Maarten
🇸🇰 🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇸🇧 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands
🇸🇴 🇸🇴 Somalia
🇿🇦 🇿🇦 South Africa
🇬🇸 🇬🇸 South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
🇸🇸 🇸🇸 South Sudan
🇱🇰 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇧🇱 🇧🇱 St. Barthélemy
🇸🇭 🇸🇭 St. Helena
🇰🇳 🇰🇳 St. Kitts & Nevis
🇱🇨 🇱🇨 St. Lucia
🇲🇫 🇲🇫 St. Martin
🇵🇲 🇵🇲 St. Pierre & Miquelon
🇻🇨 🇻🇨 St. Vincent & Grenadines
🇸🇩 🇸🇩 Sudan
🇸🇷 🇸🇷 Suriname
🇸🇯 🇸🇯 Svalbard & Jan Mayen
🇨🇭 🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇸🇾 🇸🇾 Syria
🇹🇼 🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇯 🇹🇯 Tajikistan
🇹🇿 🇹🇿 Tanzania
🇹🇱 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste
🇹🇬 🇹🇬 Togo
🇹🇰 🇹🇰 Tokelau
🇹🇴 🇹🇴 Tonga
🇹🇹 🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago
🇹🇦 🇹🇦 Tristan da Cunha
🇹🇳 🇹🇳 Tunisia
🇹🇲 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan
🇹🇨 🇹🇨 Turks & Caicos Islands
🇹🇻 🇹🇻 Tuvalu
🇺🇲 🇺🇲 U.S. Outlying Islands
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 U.S.A.
🇻🇮 🇻🇮 U.S. Virgin Islands
🇺🇬 🇺🇬 Uganda
🇦🇪 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
🇬🇧 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇳 🇺🇳 United Nations
🇺🇾 🇺🇾 Uruguay
🇺🇿 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
🇻🇺 🇻🇺 Vanuatu
🇻🇦 🇻🇦 Vatican City
🇻🇪 🇻🇪 Venezuela
🇼🇫 🇼🇫 Wallis & Futuna
🇪🇭 🇪🇭 Western Sahara
🇾🇪 🇾🇪 Yemen
🇿🇲 🇿🇲 Zambia
🇿🇼 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
Image [img]https://ardslot.com/xhs.svg[/img] Xhosa

updated 29/10/22 : see : viewtopic.php?p=4551-flags-for-languages#p4551

User avatar
MatOzone
Catalonia

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by MatOzone »

Now 🇭🇹 Haitian Creole is an available language, bravo! :D (2022/Feb/22th)

I fully support 🇺🇦!

NATIVE: ImageㅤAlso: Image Image Image ... and some others... Duolingo Course Data.

User avatar
Dovili22
United States of America

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Dovili22 »

Wow! This a really awesome post. I love it

D o r a

User avatar
dakanga

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

I'm doing a Kanga dance, about 🇭🇹 Haitian Creole being now an available language !

Thanks MatOzone for the heads up !!!!!!!!

p.s. - so I have updated the tables above.

User avatar
EranBarLev
Israel

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by EranBarLev »

The Guarani flag is actually the Paraguay flag. :paraguay: = :paraguay:
Also :scotland: = :scotland: and :wales: = :wales:.

🇮🇱N 🇬🇧C1 🇪🇸B2 🇵🇹B1 🇫🇷B1 🇸🇦A1 🇷🇺A1

User avatar
MatOzone
Catalonia

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by MatOzone »

EranBarLev wrote: Tue Feb 22, 2022 7:46 pm

The Guarani flag is actually the Paraguay flag. :paraguay: = :paraguay:
Also :scotland: = :scotland: and :wales: = :wales:.

@dakanga will update the post, Huge thanks, Eran!!!

Also: Maybe it's better to use standard ARABIA flag, 🇸🇦 reither than the Duolingo one edited by me: Image

I fully support 🇺🇦!

NATIVE: ImageㅤAlso: Image Image Image ... and some others... Duolingo Course Data.

User avatar
dakanga

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

Also: Maybe it's better to use standard ARABIA flag, 🇸🇦 reither than the Duolingo one edited by me: Image

Now how do we as a community decide about this ?

I know, as I was involved in the French course for Arabic speakers, that there was a lot of discussion about this by contributors, at the time that Duolingo decided on the flag Image .

Duolingo choose Image which is a representative of the flag of the Arab League. i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Arab_League

While 🇸🇦 is the flag of Saudi Arabia. Which is just one Arabic speaking country.

Do we as a community choose to follw what Duolingo does, as this community does refer to this resource a lot?

Or do we make different choices, such as here?

And how do we make that decision while being fair to the majority wishes of this community, and respectful to all of our diverse communities?

And so where also do we stand on the American flag being used to indicate English speakers?

Are there any other flags that we also wish to discuss ?

User avatar
Basler Biker
Switzerland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Basler Biker »

dakanga wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:17 am

There are no official flags for languages, so any flag we pick, no-one can blame us, or feel offended.
The only thing they could say is "that we picked the wrong one", then we forget the case.

Try darts, toss a coin, or roll the dice. (edited)


BB - Basler Biker


BB - Basler Biker - Positivity and constructiveness will prevail
Native :belgium: :netherlands: / fluent :fr: :de: :uk: / learning :sweden: / fan of :switzerland: (bs/bl)

User avatar
dakanga

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

Oh BB !

Where would be be without you !!!!!!!

edited: For now I have elected to edit the table above and include both flags.

Pending any further discussions / decisions by the community, or by Maxime of duome.eu.

User avatar
MatOzone
Catalonia

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by MatOzone »

dakanga wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:24 am

Oh BB !

Where would be be without you !!!!!!!

edited: For now I have elected to edit the table above and include both flags.

Pending any further discussions / decisions by the community, or by Maxime of duome.eu.

I pointed my [Guides to signature] to this post :)

There's a litle bug in the table, a dot after the flag Image

Image

And also you can addㅤ:england: / England ㅤ |:England:| <- Not needed those colons if you copy'n'paste the flag

Guarani (Paraguay) can be just 🇵🇾 , Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, and Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (not colons needed)

I will send a private to Duome asking if it's possible to have more flags, like Catalonia (Catalan language), Basque Country (Basque language), Navajo Nation, and others (Northern Ireland, ...).

Euskadi: | F0 9F 8F B4 F3 A0 81 A5 F3 A0 81 B3 F3 A0 81 B0 F3 A0 81 B6 F3 A0 81 BF | = 🏴󠁥󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (Actually a black flag)
Catalonia: | F0 9F 8F B4 F3 A0 81 A5 F3 A0 81 B3 F3 A0 81 A3 F3 A0 81 B4 F3 A0 81 BF | = 🏴󠁥󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (Actually a black flag)

I fully support 🇺🇦!

NATIVE: ImageㅤAlso: Image Image Image ... and some others... Duolingo Course Data.

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dakanga

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by dakanga »

I consider your comment superessedi is geatly helping to clarify this issue.

But it is too late at night for me to call a decision. (not that it is my right to call this - because it is also what we as a community ... to weigh in on. ... yet that we make a decision and are okay for now to move on to where I hope we give greater focus to - creating and supporting resources for language learning . )

And also, that - perhaps some others with other wise opions and also valid points of view will weigh in.

Though I am leaning towards moving the reference to 🇸🇦 Saudia Arabian flag, to the second table. And leave Image for the representation of the Arabic language.

Together - we are greater.

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Basler Biker
Switzerland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Basler Biker »

If the 2-letter codes doesn't work, such as "SE", then the country name in full like "sweden" may work.
However it must be all lowercase! Users are copy-pasting from the 3rd column, and there are uppercases... :(


BB - Basler Biker - Positivity and constructiveness will prevail
Native :belgium: :netherlands: / fluent :fr: :de: :uk: / learning :sweden: / fan of :switzerland: (bs/bl)

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luo-ning

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by luo-ning »

dakanga wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:17 am

Also: Maybe it's better to use standard ARABIA flag, 🇸🇦 reither than the Duolingo one edited by me: Image

Now how do we as a community decide about this ?

I know, as I was involved in the French course for Arabic speakers, that there was a lot of discussion about this by contributors, at the time that Duolingo decided on the flag Image .

Duolingo choose Image which is a representative of the flag of the Arab League. i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Arab_League

While 🇸🇦 is the flag of Saudi Arabia. Which is just one Arabic speaking country.

Do we as a community choose to follw what Duolingo does, as this community does refer to this resource a lot?

Or do we make different choices, such as here?

And how do we make that decision while being fair to the majority wishes of this community, and respectful to all of our diverse communities?

And so where also do we stand on the American flag being used to indicate English speakers?

Are there any other flags that we also wish to discuss ?

It's completely impossible to decide in a "neutral" way. Flags are not neutral; they are by nature partisan, standing for a country (or sometimes some other political entity), rather than a language. Even if there's an "obvious" choice for a flag, such as 🇷🇺 for Russian, I wonder how Ukrainians learning Russian will feel about having the flag of the Russian Federation in their profiles right now.

Does everyone learning Hebrew want to show support for Israel? 🇮🇱

Do people of Taiwanese descent learning Mandarin Chinese want to be seen as affiliated with the People's Republic of China? 🇨🇳

Do people learning French to talk to their Congolese relatives want to use the flag of Congo's colonizer? 🇫🇷

More: Why flags do not represent languages

🦀 Pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo 🏴‍☠️ Flags Are Not Languages

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MatOzone
Catalonia

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by MatOzone »

I'm drawing more flags "for languages" to use in signature:

Basque:ㅤ Image ㅤ(Basque Country) ㅤ https://ardslot.com/eus.svg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_language

Galician:ㅤ Image ㅤ(Galicia) ㅤ https://ardslot.com/gls.svg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_language

Xhosa:ㅤ Imagehttps://ardslot.com/gls.svg O (old) Image https://postimg.cc/GBBVQv96 ('Ciskei')

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language

(I have two friends who are xhosa natives, and they feel represented by the Ciskei flag. They live in Eastern Cape, South Africa)

I fully support 🇺🇦!

NATIVE: ImageㅤAlso: Image Image Image ... and some others... Duolingo Course Data.

eI000yo

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by eI000yo »

I understand you luo-ning. Theoretically you are right.
But languages are not logical. We use languages to communicate, and flags do.
You have exactly the same problem if you use their names: Spanish is not only the language of Spanish People. Barely 10% of Spanish speakers are born in Spain.
And even Spain is a multicultural, multinational country.
I use the Flag of Spain. Maybe it is not my flag, but I need to communicate to other people, in a very simple way, that my culture is very close to the Spanish Culture.

Regards!

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Basler Biker
Switzerland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Basler Biker »

MatOzone wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:08 pm

Mind not to use uppercase for full length country names in the "flag table" 3rd column...
DaKanga did an enormous job to have them all lowercase. THANKS !


BB - Basler Biker - Positivity and constructiveness will prevail
Native :belgium: :netherlands: / fluent :fr: :de: :uk: / learning :sweden: / fan of :switzerland: (bs/bl)

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luo-ning

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by luo-ning »

eI000yo wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:40 pm

I use the Flag of Spain. Maybe it is not my flag, but I need to communicate to other people, in a very simple way, that my culture is very close to the Spanish Culture.

I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that this means you're from a country that was colonized by Spain. It may be true that you are comfortable identifying with that Spanish heritige, and it may also be true for many of your compatriots, but I'm equally sure there are others who are much less comfortable with it, even though they surely wouldn't deny that cultural influence.

A flag doesn't represent a language nor even a culture; it is literally the identifier of a nation state. It's flown on government buildings, used for photo opportunities by politicians, shown as a display of occupation or resistance in warzones.

The same isn't true of the name "Spanish" to describe the language; while it's true that there are various minor controversies about language names (español vs castellano, Basque vs Euskara, Mandarin vs Chinese), usually these are more subtle and academic and don't inspire the same intense level of nationalism as flags do.

🦀 Pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo 🏴‍☠️ Flags Are Not Languages

konstig

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by konstig »

eI000yo wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:40 pm

I understand you luo-ning. Theoretically you are right.
But languages are not logical. We use languages to communicate, and flags do.
You have exactly the same problem if you use their names: Spanish is not only the language of Spanish People.

First of all, I want to point out that flags are used in at least two different ways on these forums, and we need to keep them separate if we want to understand the issues involved. First of all, people use them in their signatures, which seems to be the main theme in this discussion. You are using the spanish flag in order to convey a message. You could probably have used another symbol to be more specific, but that is your choice. As long as we stay on the topic of signatures, you are mostly right. You can use whatever symbol you like in order to communicate your message.

I have lived in China and have mostly been exposed to mainland varieties of the (Mandarin) Chinese language. According to both the formal and the informal norms of this new community, it would make sense for me to use the Chinese flag in my signature. But I don't want to use a flag to symbolize a language, and that is my choice. (Even though I used both the Chinese and the Taiwanese flags for a while in an attempt to communicate where (what country) the content I was currently consuming came from, but I don't think that anyone understood that message.)

But as I said, there is another aspect of this issue, raised by dakanga:

dakanga wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:17 am

And how do we make that decision while being fair to the majority wishes of this community, and respectful to all of our diverse communities?

This is a question of official norms, not individual signatures. How do we choose a visual symbol for a language? We are talking about symbols that are enforced as a part of the forum structure, rather than chosen by individual users to express meaning. (Have a look here: viewforum.php?f=110 if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

And luo-ning is completely right. Enforcing flags upon people is not compatible with being "respectful to all of our diverse communities". Because, as luo-ning said

luo-ning wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:15 pm

A flag doesn't represent a language nor even a culture; it is literally the identifier of a nation state.

This fact can be ignored, but it can't be denied. You argue that luo-ning is only right in theory (even though, to be fair, you were talking about the signatures, not forum wide standards), but in reality, the problem that they bring up is quite practical. Even though I am a student of mainland (Mandarin) Chinese, I am very reluctant to participate in a discussion held under that flag, considering the crimes that are being commited in the name of it as we speak. Killing in the name of a national flag, and the stains that such violence leaves on the said flag, is not a theoretical question. It is a question of real communication.

Native speaker of Swedish, reluctant user of English, passionate student of (Mandarin) Chinese, occasional reader of German, casual participant in the green owl's French class.

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Stasia
Poland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Stasia »

luo-ning wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:15 pm

I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that this means you're from a country that was colonized by Spain. It may be true that you are comfortable identifying with that Spanish heritige, and it may also be true for many of your compatriots, but I'm equally sure there are others who are much less comfortable with it, even though they surely wouldn't deny that cultural influence.

A flag doesn't represent a language nor even a culture; it is literally the identifier of a nation state. It's flown on government buildings, used for photo opportunities by politicians, shown as a display of occupation or resistance in warzones.

And that's why nobody is forced to show any flag, and can choose any flag that has meaning to them. There was a comment a few pages back, from a Belarusian poster who prefers to use the Polish white-red flag over the Belarusian red-green flag which is associated with Lukashenka's regime (the Polish flag is more similar to the old white-red-white Belarusian flag, which is now associated with the democratic movement in Belarus). I also remember a comment from a Russian poster who is now using the Ukrainian flag as means of protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I admit I hesitated when I was choosing the Spanish-language flag for my signature. The Spanish I speak has a distinctive Andean flavor, which has some subtle influences from Quechua language. This variety of Spanish is used in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Yet, this variety of Spanish has no single flag that would be widely understood by everyone - and so I chose the flag of Spain, which is a more widely understood symbol of Spanish language.

Tl;dr: A symbol is means of communication. You can choose any flag that conveys the meanings you want to communicate.

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

User avatar
Hallumir
Canada

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Hallumir »

luo-ning wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:10 pm

It's completely impossible to decide in a "neutral" way. Flags are not neutral; they are by nature partisan, standing for a country (or sometimes some other political entity), rather than a language. Even if there's an "obvious" choice for a flag, such as 🇷🇺 for Russian, I wonder how Ukrainians learning Russian will feel about having the flag of the Russian Federation in their profiles right now.

Does everyone learning Hebrew want to show support for Israel? 🇮🇱

Do people of Taiwanese descent learning Mandarin Chinese want to be seen as affiliated with the People's Republic of China? 🇨🇳

Do people learning French to talk to their Congolese relatives want to use the flag of Congo's colonizer? 🇫🇷

More: Why flags do not represent languages

I'm on board with this. I was just unsure of which symbols/emojis to use to represent the languages I was learning. What would you recommend for Polish and Ukrainian?

TL 🇵🇱 🇺🇦

User avatar
Stasia
Poland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Stasia »

Hallumir wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:21 pm

I'm on board with this. I was just unsure of which symbols/emojis to use to represent the languages I was learning. What would you recommend for Polish and Ukrainian?

Ethnic/linguistic identities are never the same as national identities (Ukraine has citizens who are native speakers of Russian, Poland has citizens who are native speakers of Silesian, and there are other ethnicities within boundaries of our countries, such as the Crimean Tatars, or Lemkos and Boykos). Nonetheless, a I think most native speakers of Polish and Ukrainian would agree that our national flags do represent our national identities/languages.

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

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luo-ning

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by luo-ning »

Hallumir wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:21 pm

I'm on board with this. I was just unsure of which symbols/emojis to use to represent the languages I was learning. What would you recommend for Polish and Ukrainian?

Unfortunately I don't really have a good answer for this, partly because I don't know enough about Polish and Ukrainian cultures, and partly because symbols could never fully represent the richness of a culture anyway (much less the limited symbols currently available as emojis). I'm even ambivalent about the emojis I used in my sig for Chinese and Spanish — my favorite visual examples of Chinese and Mexican culture aren't available as emojis. Ultimately, there isn't a good one-size-fits-all solution other than not using emojis or symbols at all when trying to represent a language. Which is fine, but feels unsatisfying because emojis are fun. Sorry for pooping on y'all's parade 😅

🦀 Pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo 🏴‍☠️ Flags Are Not Languages

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Stasia
Poland

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Stasia »

luo-ning wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 6:10 pm

Sorry for pooping on y'all's parade 😅

:lol: I liked what you had for a while, something like a cactus and two other icons for Mexican Spanish, and some other symbols for the Chinese language. I understood the meaning behind these symbols.

National/ethnic identities (with their flags) are made-up and fluid. Languages are ultimately also made-up and fluid (our ancestors invented them, and we continue to change them). Trying to correspond one to another is a mess.

Native: :poland:; Fluent: :es:, :us:; Getting there: Image; Intermediate: :fr:; Beginner: :ukraine:

nvd123
United States of America

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by nvd123 »

Awesome

Upbeat 88
Mexico

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Upbeat 88 »

i love it thanks

Upbeat 88
Mexico

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Upbeat 88 »

[mention]Upbeat 88[/mention] and [mention]Corinnebelle[/mention] i got that from here

User avatar
Corinnebelle

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Corinnebelle »

[mention]Upbeat 88[/mention] It looks most like the Italian flag, but it has an emblem in the middle.

🇺🇸 L1 🇮🇱 Advanced beginner Duolingo levels

Languages without borders, languages bridging gaps, the Red Cross are my heroes.

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MatOzone
Catalonia

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by MatOzone »

I added the "Zulu" flag.

I fully support 🇺🇦!

NATIVE: ImageㅤAlso: Image Image Image ... and some others... Duolingo Course Data.

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Corinnebelle

Re: Flags for Languages

Post by Corinnebelle »

[mention]Upbeat 88[/mention] I think I worked it out. It's the Mexican flag!

🇺🇸 L1 🇮🇱 Advanced beginner Duolingo levels

Languages without borders, languages bridging gaps, the Red Cross are my heroes.

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