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+8 votes
2.9k views

I have started working on the Country Badges for BadgeGen and the new version will feature all territories currently counted by GC HQ. However, I am running into the situation that there are territories listed as unique "states or countries" that are actually part of another country. Or that there are territories listed that don't have flag at all.

Before I am listing all the issues, I'd like to state my concern: We need help in deciding how to handle these cases. There will be no "universal" solution for all cases and you will see why. I'd like to use a regional flag where possible to distinguish the badges as best as I can (because having e.g. several French flags would look strange). But then there might be the question of which to use. What we want to avoid is any too political situation (like a revolutionary flag, or so) or any cultural offense. That's why we are asking for help.

I will post an overview of all issues and one seperate answer for each territory, so you can comment directly.

FRANCE

All French Overseas Territories are parts of France and offically use the French flag.

  • Réunion: has several unofficial state and proposed flags, and an unoffical regional flag, which BadgeGen currently uses
  • French Guiana: has an old flag, which is still used in sports
  • Guadeloupe: has several unoffical flags, one regional flag (currently in use for BG)
  • Martinique: there is a new flag used for sporting events, BG currently uses the old Coat of Arms
  • Mayotte: has an unofficial flag, but used as state flag (current BG)
  • Saint-Martin: has no flag at all
  • Saint-Barthélemy: has an unofficial flag and is used
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon: has an unofficial flag, but none used
  • Wallis and Futuna: has an unofficial flag and is used
  • French Southern and Antarctic Territories (this one actually has a flag!)

AUSTRALIA

  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands: has no flag, uninhabitated

UNITED STATES

  • United States Minor Outlying Islands: some islands have their own flags, but none as a group

NETHERLANDS

  • Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba: Carribbean Netherlands, all three have their own flags, but none as a group, but they are grouped as a territory on GC.com

NORWAY

  • Bouvet Island: has no flag, uninhabitated
  • Svalbard and Jan Mayen: has no flag

ADDENDUM: I'm getting alerted to several countries that currently have a BadgeGen Badge, but showing no flag. It is most likely they are on the current list from HQ, which I am using. So these territories will get a proper badge. The reason they don't have one right now is that the territory has been added to the list after Kyle had provided the icons, which were never updated by PGC.

Thanks in advance for any input! :)

clappy

PS: Here is a Sneak Peek of the new Country Badges:

in Miscellaneous by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
Those Badges are looking good, thanks a lot for your work!

15 Answers

+2 votes

AUSTRALIA

Christmas Island

Has an official flag, but the badge doesn't yet exist.

Example cacher who has found caches there: https://project-gc.com/ProfileStats/2Wagtails#BadgeGen

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Has an official flag, but the badge doesn't yet exist.

Example cacher who has found caches there: https://project-gc.com/ProfileStats/Galantica#BadgeGen

Norfolk Island

Has an official flag, but the badge doesn't yet exist.

Example cacher who has found caches there: https://project-gc.com/ProfileStats/matmob#BadgeGen

by sumbloke (Expert) (35.1k points)
Thanks! They are on my list (since they are on the list of territories) and will get a badge.
+2 votes

French Polynesia has no flag at the moment. It is only the badge with a white center circle. Thanks a lot for your amazing work

by smellfooth (4.8k points)
I already finished this one yesterday: https://abload.de/img/pf-sat6k8i.png
+1 vote

FRANCE

Guadeloupe: has several unoffical flags, one regional flag (currently in use for BG)

currently in BadgeGen:

by clappy (16.3k points)
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-guadeloupe/
+1 vote

FRANCE

Mayotte: has an unofficial flag, but used as state flag (current BG)

currently in BadgeGen:

by clappy (16.3k points)
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-mayotte/
+1 vote

FRANCE

Saint-Martin: has no flag at all

currently BadgeGen uses a proposed but not officially recognized flag:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-st-martin/
+1 vote

FRANCE

Wallis and Futuna: has an unofficial flag and is used

BadgeGen uses this:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-wallis-futuna/
+1 vote

UNITED STATES

United States Minor Outlying Islands: some islands have their own flags, but none as a group

Suggestion: since there is (and has been) only one geocache in this territory, I would use the flag of Palmyra Atoll, where the cache is located.

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
+1 vote

NETHERLANDS

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba: Carribbean Netherlands, all three have their own flags, but none as a group, but they are grouped as a territory on GC.com

by clappy (16.3k points)
Officially these three only count as municipalities of The Netherlands - this is why they haven't their own flag as a group. They do have flags, but just as any community or state within a country has a flag/coat of arms. Curacao and Sint Maarten on the other site are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of The Netherlands - they do have their own official flags.
This said, I'd use the flag of The Netherlands but give it another label: Caribbean Netherlands (or Caribisch Nederland)
+1 vote

NORWAY

  • Bouvet Island: has no flag, uninhabitated, uses Norway​
  • Svalbard and Jan Mayen: has no flag, uses Norway

AUSTRALIA

  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands: has no flag, uninhabitated, uses Australia

SUGGESTION: Since neither Bouvet Island nor Heard Islands have ever had a geocache, I will leave them with their current flags. Is there a suggestion for Svalvard and Jan Mayen, otherwise they can also use the Norwegian flag.

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
For Svalbard & Jan Mayen I can't find anything else than the Norwegian flag, so I think it's indeed best to use that one.
+1 vote
Please also post all countries here that currently show no flag or the wrong flag in BadgeGen.
by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
Sark, which for some strange reasons has been considered a country by geocaching.com and consequently by PGC for some time now, does have a flag in the map section of the personal statistics but no flag in BadgeGen.
Yes, Sark is a territory with a flag, will be added. Thanks!
Or, for that matter, countries that have a flag but not the right one. I know I've been told that we're using an old flag for some country but can't remember which one right now.
@pinkunicorn: I remember a discussion about one of the French territories where one or two different flags are used, don't know which one, maybe I find it.
0 votes

FRANCE

Réunion: has several unofficial state and proposed flags, and an unoffical regional flag, which BadgeGen currently uses

currently in BadgeGen:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-reunion/
0 votes

FRANCE

French Guiana: has an old flag, which is still used in sports

currently in BadgeGen:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-french-guiana/
0 votes

FRANCE

Martinique: there is a new flag used for sporting events, BG currently uses the old Coat of Arms, which is not undisputed.

currently in BadgeGen:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-martinique/
0 votes

FRANCE

Saint-Barthélemy: has an unofficial flag and is used

currently BadgeGen uses:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-st-barthelemy/
0 votes

FRANCE

Saint Pierre and Miquelon: has an unofficial flag, but none used

BadgeGen currently uses the unofficial flag:

by clappy (16.3k points)
edited by clappy
I had a look for the world wide "emoji standard" and found this. It doesn't mean that it is the right one but it is what is used by millions of tech devices world wide:
https://emojipedia.org/flag-st-pierre-miquelon/
...