Template:Flag icon/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Flag icon.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template is used on approximately 600,000 pages, or roughly 1% of all pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Template:Flag icon displays a flag of the named parameter in "icon" size, currently 23×15 pixels maximally (defined in Template:Flag icon/core), plus a one-pixel border. The image also has a clickable link to the associated article. For an unlinked flag icon, use Template:Flag decoration instead.

Please consider the Manual of Style section on flags before using this template.

Usage

{{Flag icon|name|variant=|size=|noredlink=}}

|1=name: The first parameter is mandatory, and identifies the name of the country, region, city, etc. A full list of available values can be found in Category:Country data templates. For example, Template:Country data Peru is used when the name parameter is specified as Peru. Many flags are also available via shortened "aliases", such as standard three-letter country codes as specified by ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, IOC, or FIFA. The list of available "aliases" is found in Category:Country data redirects. Many of these country codes could be considered obscure, so it is recommended to use the full country name.
|variant=: The second parameter is optional, and identifies a flag variant to be used instead of the standard flag. This is most often used for historical flags but can also be used to specify naval flags, sport-use flags, etc. The list of available flag variants for each country is documented on the specific page for the country data template. For example, Template:Country data Peru includes a description of each of the available flag variations for Peru. This parameter can be a named parameter (e.g.. "variant=1815"), or a positional parameter, always after the country name.
|size=: This parameter is optional, and is used to specify the maximum width and/or height of the flag image. This parameter is specified using standard image syntax.

Template data

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Flag icon in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Flag icon

This template displays a wikilinked flag of the named parameter in 'icon' size, currently 23×15 pixels (defined in Template:flag icon/core) plus a one-pixel border.

Template parameters
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Name	`1`	Name of the country, region, city, etc.; full name is recommended for countries	String	required
Variant	`variant` `2`	Identifies a flag variant to be used instead of the standard flag, e.g. 1815	String	optional
Maximum dimension	`size`	The maximum width or height, specified via standard 'extended image syntax' (e.g. x30px)	String	optional
No redlink	`noredlink`	If set to any value which evaluates as true (i.e. '1', 'true', 'yes', or 'y'), it displays nothing if the country data file doesn't exist. (The default is to display a redlink)	String	optional

Examples

Wikicode	Results	Notes
`{{flag icon\|Peru}}`
`{{flag icon\|PER}}`		Uses the ISO/IOC/FIFA country code
`{{flag icon\|Peru\|1822}}`		Specifies a historical flag
`{{flag icon\|Peru\|variant=1822}}`		Specifies a historical flag
`{{flag icon\|PER\|naval}}`		Specifies the naval ensign
`{{flag icon\|PER\|air force}}`		Specifies the air force flag
`{{flag icon\|Peru\|size=50px}}`		Sets width to 50 pixels
`{{flag icon\|Xanadu}}`	Template:Country data Xanadu	No flag for Xanadu, so displays redlink
`{{flag icon\|Xanadu\|noredlink=yes}}`		No flag, so displays nothing

Implementation notes

This template uses the data templates listed under Category:Country data templates, which contain the data specifying what to display and the formatter Template:flag icon/core, which contains the logic of how to display the flag.

{{flag icon|Peru}} → — uses Template:Country data Peru
{{flag icon|PER}} → — uses Template:Country data PER, which is a redirect to Template:Country data Peru

Inside each country data template, this template uses the following parameters:

flag alias — name of the image file to display
flag alias-xxxx — name of the image file of flag variant xxxx
alias — used to display the alt attribute of the image (defaults to "Flag of alias")

Tracking categories

Category:Pages using flag icon template with unknown parameters (28)

Where {{flag icon|Foo}} is used, but the Template:Country data Foo does not exist, then a redlink is displayed, unless the |noredlink=yes parameter has been set.

Where the redlink is displayed, the page is added to a tracking category:

Category:Flag icons missing country data templates (population: 144)

Related templates

Template:Flag is used to display a wikilinked name next to the flag. The displayed name will be the same as the parameter used with the template, but the link target will be the main article for the country (in these examples, Peru).
- {{flag|Peru}} → Peru
- {{flag|PER}} → Peru
Template:Flag country is also used to display a wikilinked name next to the flag. The displayed name will always be the same, regardless of whether or not a country code alias is used as the template parameter.
- {{flag country|Peru}} → Peru
- {{flag country|PER}} → Peru
Template:Flag decoration displays an unlinked flag icon without country name.
- {{flag decoration|Peru}} →

For a full list of flag templates, see Category:Flag template system.

Alternatives to avoid Wikipedia's Post-expand include size limit

Pages with many flag icons may come close to or exceed Wikipedia's Post-expand include size limit. In these cases consider using modules or module-wrapper templates instead:

{{flagg}} is a simple wrapper for Module:Flagg: For basic use, {{flag icon|country}} can be replaced with {{flagg|cxxlo|country}}
{{#invoke:flag|icon}} is a wrapper for Module:Flagg that can further reduce sizes when invoked directly. For basic use, {{flag icon|country}} can be replaced with {{#invoke:flag|icon|country}}.