Sometimes the flags of international linguistic communities, such as the flag of the
International Organisation of La Francophonie or the flag of the
Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries or the flag of the
Commonwealth of Nations, may be used, but they are not as widely recognized as national flags.[3] When more than one country is a major user of a language, a diagonally divided flag may be used. Examples of this are the flags of the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada to indicate the
English language, or the flags of China and Taiwan (Republic of China) to represent the
Chinese language (Mandarin), or the flags of France, Belgium, and Canada to represent the
French language, or the flags of Spain and Mexico to represent the
Spanish language, or the flags of Portugal and Brazil to represent the
Portuguese language.[4][5]
The use of flag icons for languages has been criticized as poor design.[9] The symbolism of a
national flag introduces politicization, and often ambiguity.
Belying the
nation-state concept, many languages are natively spoken in several countries, and many countries have several major languages. Alternatives include using the native names of languages or their
language codes, possibly under a generic symbol of translation such as the
Language Icon.
Gallery
This warning sign in a gambling place in Tenerife, Spain uses for the Spanish text, for the English text and for the German text.
Sign in
San Francisco, Córdoba, Argentina; unusually, the Spanish language is indicated by an Argentine flag, while below it is Italian and
Piedmontese text with the flags of Italy and
Flag of Piedmont.