WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER USE FLAGS FOR LANGUAGE SELECTION 

Often, when browsing multilingual sites, we see flags used for language selection on a website. We do not recommend this! This post will cover one of the many components ofwebsite localization. It becomes problematic because flags identify countries, not languages. This is very important when you consider making a multilingual website or when offering language selections on your LMS for eLearning courses, etc.

MANY LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

While there is no de jure (“from law”) official language in the United States, English is a majority language. English is also an official language in over 60 countries worldwide. Which flag do you choose for English? Spanish is a majority language in 20 countries over four continents. These are just two examples of many. How do you choose a flag to represent a language without potentially offending a population of another country for historical and colonial reasons?

MANY COUNTRIES HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT LANGUAGES SPOKEN

Some countries have multiple languages with designated legal status. India has two languages: English and Hindi. South Africa has 11 languages at the official level! These are just two examples.

FLAGS CHANGE

The most recent example of this is the Flag Consideration Project, a move by New Zealand’s government to get New Zealanders involved in the design of the country’s new flag. Libya and Myanmar have both changed their flags in the last five years!

Now that we’ve covering what not to do (and why), let’s examine the best option available for responsive web design.

Take a look at the menu bar of a website that we developed and translated for one of our clients, The Bluest Sky Group. Do you notice how we list the language names in a user’s native language? This ensures that the user will be able to read the names of the language and select the best option for browsing. If there are too many to list on top of your home page, try a drop-down menu.