4 ms·

> I feel obliged to point out that flags do not represent languages Says who? Probably not the actual users of websites, I'd wager.

slater 2y ago
Say people from countries with multiple languages. E.g., Switzerland has four official languages, none of which are English. Also, UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades, now. We dealt with this issue in the 90s.
- rrr_oh_man 2y ago
  That's fine for Switzerland. And I get the India case. But why does it have to concern some Finnish online store that also has English and Swedish as options? Do their actual users really care? Because that is the litmus test, not the opinion of someone writing a blog.
- torstenvl 2y ago
  Are you claiming French- or German-speaking Swiss users don't know that they speak French or German? Or are you claiming that they don't know what the French or German flags look like?
  - slater 2y ago
    Come on. I'm saying people in general don't want to be associated with a flag that's not of their country.
    - mrguyorama 2y ago
      I've played video games that required me to select the Union Jack to select english language. Despite two wars in our history, it does not bother me. Because it's a language selection screen for fucks sake, I'm not marrying anything, or committing to a lifelong alliance. If selecting the "wrong" flag makes you feel anything other than the mildest annoyance, seek professional mental help.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  > E.g., Switzerland has four official languages, none of which are English. Switzerland seems pretty easy -- French, German and Italian get the obvious flags, while Romansh gets either the Swiss flag or the Grisons flag. No? > Also, UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades, now. We dealt with this issue in the 90s. So it kind of seems to me like they've lost. They might be banging the drum, but in the real world the flags are useful.
- Alex-Programs 2y ago
  There are very few countries with multiple equally-influential languages that don't have better alternatives for flags. It's a pain to phrase, but: There is no reason to use the Swiss flag to indicate a language. French has the French flag. German has the German flag. Etc. There are dialects, as a nuance to this, but you can solve that by e.g. using a 50/50 merge of the German and Swiss flags. Countries may have ambiguous languages, but _languages very rarely have ambiguous countries_. Sure, there are Finnish speakers in Sweden, but the Swedish flag remains a clear indicator of the Swedish language. Hindi and India is the main exception to this. Arabic is also difficult, though Egypt seems to have a slight edge by convention. > UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades I sympathise, and if they have any better ideas than a textual list that users need to read through rather than quickly scan (not very good UX...), I'd love to hear them. From a _UX perspective_, is there something better than the flag cloud at https://nuenki.app https://nuenki.app for quickly asking "is my target language supported"?
  - Kwpolska 2y ago
    > It's a pain to phrase, but: There is no reason to use the Swiss flag to indicate a language. French has the French flag. German has the German flag. Etc. There are dialects, as a nuance to this, but you can solve that by e.g. using a 50/50 merge of the German and Swiss flags. Okay, which flag do you use to indicate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language — one of the four official languages of Switzerland?
    - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
      Given that it's the fourth-most-common language in Switzerland, the Swiss flag might not be a good choice.
    - ahakki 2y ago
      Maybe this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chur
  - andreareina 2y ago

slater 2y ago

Say people from countries with multiple languages. E.g., Switzerland has four official languages, none of which are English. Also, UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades, now. We dealt with this issue in the 90s.

rrr_oh_man 2y ago
That's fine for Switzerland. And I get the India case. But why does it have to concern some Finnish online store that also has English and Swedish as options? Do their actual users really care? Because that is the litmus test, not the opinion of someone writing a blog.
torstenvl 2y ago
Are you claiming French- or German-speaking Swiss users don't know that they speak French or German? Or are you claiming that they don't know what the French or German flags look like?
- slater 2y ago
  Come on. I'm saying people in general don't want to be associated with a flag that's not of their country.
  - mrguyorama 2y ago
    I've played video games that required me to select the Union Jack to select english language. Despite two wars in our history, it does not bother me. Because it's a language selection screen for fucks sake, I'm not marrying anything, or committing to a lifelong alliance. If selecting the "wrong" flag makes you feel anything other than the mildest annoyance, seek professional mental help.
crazygringo 2y ago
> E.g., Switzerland has four official languages, none of which are English. Switzerland seems pretty easy -- French, German and Italian get the obvious flags, while Romansh gets either the Swiss flag or the Grisons flag. No? > Also, UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades, now. We dealt with this issue in the 90s. So it kind of seems to me like they've lost. They might be banging the drum, but in the real world the flags are useful.
Alex-Programs 2y ago
There are very few countries with multiple equally-influential languages that don't have better alternatives for flags. It's a pain to phrase, but: There is no reason to use the Swiss flag to indicate a language. French has the French flag. German has the German flag. Etc. There are dialects, as a nuance to this, but you can solve that by e.g. using a 50/50 merge of the German and Swiss flags. Countries may have ambiguous languages, but _languages very rarely have ambiguous countries_. Sure, there are Finnish speakers in Sweden, but the Swedish flag remains a clear indicator of the Swedish language. Hindi and India is the main exception to this. Arabic is also difficult, though Egypt seems to have a slight edge by convention. > UX/UI designers have rightfully been banging the "don't use country flags to indicate languages" drum for literally decades I sympathise, and if they have any better ideas than a textual list that users need to read through rather than quickly scan (not very good UX...), I'd love to hear them. From a _UX perspective_, is there something better than the flag cloud at https://nuenki.app https://nuenki.app for quickly asking "is my target language supported"?
- Kwpolska 2y ago
  > It's a pain to phrase, but: There is no reason to use the Swiss flag to indicate a language. French has the French flag. German has the German flag. Etc. There are dialects, as a nuance to this, but you can solve that by e.g. using a 50/50 merge of the German and Swiss flags. Okay, which flag do you use to indicate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh_language — one of the four official languages of Switzerland?
  - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
    Given that it's the fourth-most-common language in Switzerland, the Swiss flag might not be a good choice.
  - ahakki 2y ago
    Maybe this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chur
- andreareina 2y ago