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# Instructions for GIFfers

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Last modified: 2026-07-25 by rob raeside
Keywords: editors | fotw | gif |
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The instructions that follow (part of the mailing list rules) refer to the construction of images in GIF format, compiled by Jan Oskar Engene, as of 4 January 2000.

See also:

- Instructions for Editors
- Instructions for new giffers
- Mailing list rules

1. It is recommended that images be in GIF format, unless you have a good reason for another format. A good reason could be sending an untreated scan, which should preferably be sent as a JPEG image file (jpg).
2. Names of images should be at most fourteen (14) characters long.
3. Use the two first characters of the file name to identify the country by using a digraph from ISO 3166 list of countries, and leave the third character to the separator (see rule 4). Use the remaining five characters to give a hint about the content. There is also a list for the sub-national entities of many countries (ISO3166-2). Please try to adhere to this list too as much as possible. If there is no ISO3166 code appropriate, use up to 14 characters.
4. After the digraph representing the country, as 3rd character of the file name, consider using a significant separator to give a hint of what kind of flag is shown in the image. These are the separators used:

   symbol | meaning | symbol’s ISO 8859-1 code
   --- | --- | ---
   - | sub-national territorial flags | 45 (hyphen-minus)
   ~ | ensigns, flags used at sea | 126 (spacing tilde)
   ^ | military flags | 94 (spacing circumflex)
   ' | construction sheets | 39 (apostrophe-quote)
   $ | commercial flags | 36 (dollar sign)
   @ | sports flags | 64 (commercial at)
   } | political flags | 125 (closing curly bracket)
   ) | coats of arms | 41 (closing parenthesis)
   ( | maps | 40 (opening parenthesis)
   ! | proposed or erroneous flags | 33 (exclamation mark)
   _ | everything else | 95 (spacing underscore)

5. FOTW standard colours are listed on the FOTW Colour Guide, although modern flag production commonly results in other shades.
6. The height of the images on FOTW pages is normally constrained to 216 pixels with slight exceptions to allow for variable stripe widths (e.g., US national flags at 221 pixels = 13 x 17 pixels). Flags can be provided at heights up to 432 pixels, but will be rescaled to 216 pixels for display (you can click on the image to see the full size). For vertical flags, up to a ratio of 2:1, a width of 216 pixels is recommended. Very tall or very long flags will be resized to fit most screens.
7. Images should only be as large as necessary to properly show the details and the colours. Use 72 dpi (standard screen scale) as the image definition if possible, though many drawing programmes do not allow you to change it.
8. The rules state a maximum of five messages a day. We recognize that some people collect messages over a period of time and submit them in a block. In that case do not submit any more than ten messages at a time - readers soon lose interest when faced with a deluge of messages. Most mailers have a setting where you can delay the transmission of messages automatically - use it, if you have a lot to send.
9. Images should be posted as attachments to your message. Your mail should give some explanation about the flag and should contain a reference to the file name of the image.
10. If you are posting an image you did not make yourself, please quote the person who originally made the image. Also make sure that the image maker does not mind that you post the image to the list.