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Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

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Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#71

Post by crazygringo »

bdhcuidbebe wrote: post #37
Alex-Programs wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I develop a language learning tool that uses flags for languages extensively. I know that they have flaws. The problem is, there isn't any better pictorial representation, and they work well enough that it's better than not having one. For some languages they work very well (e.g. Swedish), for others there may technically be ambiguity but it's clear enough (e.g. the Union Jack for English), and some are more difficul…

Flags for languages dont even work with one of the largest countries, India. They have about 20 official languages that var greatly. Then of course the multitude of languages spoken in many european languages such as Spain (catalan, gallician, basque). Or the latin american variation. Or what about Switzerland who dont have their own language (they speak french, german, italian and romanch). Even your example of Swed…

> Flags for languages dont even work with one of the largest countries, India. They have about 20 official languages that var greatly.

Curious, do Indian websites just never use flags then?

Or do they use flags for the states within India?

Because at a quick glance, it seems like there is a general mapping of languages to one or more states:

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

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

Very similar to the world situation.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#73

Post by xdennis »

troad wrote: post #55
tobr wrote: post #10

Since the article mentions using flags to represent languages, I feel obliged to point out that flags do not represent languages, so probably don’t use flags to represent languages.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names.

Yes, every language has a name and you can use that. If you prefer an imprecise flag over the actual name of the language then what you're saying is that you prefer style over substance. There's always space to show the language name.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#74

Post by qingcharles »

danjl wrote: post #20

Does this problem disappear if you specify your own font for your site, like Roboto?

You can also do like a lot of major sites and just identify the codepoints and replace them with images as a kludge. I think Twitter does this since Elon thought the water gun emoji was too "woke".

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#75

Post by troad »

xdennis wrote: post #73
troad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. Yes, every language has a name and you can use that. If you prefer an imprecise flag over the actual name of the language then what you're saying is that you prefer style over substance. There's always space to show the language name.

Why did you use letters to send your reply? Letters are a symbolic representation of language, but they are imprecise. I don't know the prosody of your utterance, what tone you used, what accent you're speaking, etc. This is unacceptable and I am very offended. /s

Symbols are useful. You can quibble over the symbols chosen (they don't seem to do a lot of physical weighing in courts?), but that is fundamentally besides the point, which is 'how do I convey this widely understood concept in a limited amount of space?'.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#76

Post by mjr00 »

fsckboy wrote: post #48

yes, we know, there are historical territorial disputes all over the world. But can somebody here make a case that this is not actually/solely to appease China (over Taiwan presumably)?

If the essence of your question is "are there US-aligned/non-China countries who would have issues about certain flags", the answer is yes. Good example: the flag for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, aka North Korea. The Western world acknowledges North Korea as a separate entity. South Korea does not and considers the North part of its territory. They wouldn't be too happy about a NK flag on their operating system giving legitimacy to the state.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#77

Post by bawolff »

troad wrote: post #55
tobr wrote: post #10

Since the article mentions using flags to represent languages, I feel obliged to point out that flags do not represent languages, so probably don’t use flags to represent languages.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages.

As a canadian, i know what EN means. However when sites use flags its a mystery. Am i supposed to pick canada or is that "canadian french". Maybe im supposed to pick the american flag, but eww feel like a traitor and i want the u's in my words. Is it the british flag? I have no idea. Flags for languages are stupid.

Not to mention for all those languages that are not the majority language in any country.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#78

Post by closewith »

xdennis wrote: post #73
troad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. Yes, every language has a name and you can use that. If you prefer an imprecise flag over the actual name of the language then what you're saying is that you prefer style over substance. There's always space to show the language name.

Are you seriously arguing against the use of ideograms? User interfaces without them would be unusable.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#79

Post by zmgsabst »

xdennis wrote: post #73
troad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. Yes, every language has a name and you can use that. If you prefer an imprecise flag over the actual name of the language then what you're saying is that you prefer style over substance. There's always space to show the language name.

There’s really not.

I frequently travel in places where I don’t speak the primary language — and having to hunt down a menu in a language I can’t read sounds a lot worse than having a flag I know visible on the main page.

Re: Some flag emojis aren’t working on Chrome on Windows

#80

Post by troad »

bawolff wrote: post #77
troad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel obliged to point out that while flags do not represent languages perfectly, there is no good, user-facing symbolic alternative for languages. No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. No, you can't use the full name, since some languages have very long names. No, a single 'languages' icon isn't enough, you often need to symbolically represent individual languages. For the most common languages,…

> No, people don't know the ISO codes for their languages. As a canadian, i know what EN means. However when sites use flags its a mystery. Am i supposed to pick canada or is that "canadian french". Maybe im supposed to pick the american flag, but eww feel like a traitor and i want the u's in my words. Is it the british flag? I have no idea. Flags for languages are stupid. Not to mention for all those languages that…

> As a canadian, i know what EN means. However when sites use flags its a mystery.

As an Australian, I somehow manage not to be entirely baffled by a US/UK flag icon in a language screen.

> Maybe im supposed to pick the american flag, but eww feel like a traitor and i want the u's in my words.

The purpose of a language selection screen is not to stroke your ego?

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