DRAPODOU NATIONS V4.0 is a visual recognition programme, for identifying the flags of the 194 sovereign countries of the world , plus 40 other flags (the list of countries can be seen in the HELP page, or in the flag picture page "flags recognised by DRAPODOU").
It enables you to recognise a flag you have seen somewhere, or some aspect of it which you remember (main colours, organisation of these colours, drawings, stars, or other motifs seen on it). It is very usefull during sporting competitions : Olympic Games, World Cups or Championships, every situation where there are a lot of flags everywhere !
The result (Full picture of the flag, Name of the country, and its Capital), will appear progressively on the screen , as you create a description of the flag by clicking on the buttons in DRAPODOU.
During this flag description phase, a 3-line window, and flags corresponding to your description, will guide you up to the final flag.
In order to help you to find the right country, here are some rules to apply during your description with DRAPODOU's buttons :
1/ Begin with the description of the flag's main colours. Sometimes this is sufficient, if a particular colour combination is unique amongst those recognised by DRAPODOU.
2/ Next give the arrangement of these main colours : horizontal stripes, vertical stripes, squares, circles, oblique stripes. Several of these may be cobined together. There is no no need to describe the arrangement if only one colour. If you make a mistake
by clicking on the wrong button, you will have to invalidate it by clicking on it again, which will deselect it, or click on the "RESET" button and begin the description again.
3/ Also specify, if there are any, motifs seen on the flag (such as STARS, ANIMALS, TOOLS, etc.) In the case of a complex or unrecognised drawing, click on the "other motif" button. You may choose several motifs : For example "stars" and "quarter moon", for the Turkish and Tunisian flags. A motif can be de-selected and unhighlighted by clicking on its button again (or "RESET" to start from the beginning).
Advice : Make sure the browser window is large enough to see the whole page. If not, you might choose a full screen mode. It works best with a medium text size. Further advice may be found on the HELP page, along with other useful information (entering the number of stripes or stars, explaining the concept of the first colour of a flag, or star colour, or central colour of a cross etc.) for finding difficult flags !
My information sources (flags & coutries) are "Le Petit Larousse" and the very complete and clear, and often updated web site
http://www.cyber-flag.net/ . This is well worth visiting; you can verify your flag and learn many other
interesting things about the country, such as the symbolism of the colours of
the flag, national anthem, capital city, money, geographical and demographical
data... a true mine of information!
On this site, you will have access to the 194 world countries, and to more than 3400 flags in the world (other countries, states of the federations or unions, international organisations, etc.
Restrictions : Most of the flags present in DRAPODOU come from the web site cyber-flag.net , with the kind permission of its webmaster.
The images of these flags must not be copied or used for commercial use.
It is forbidden to use DRAPODOU commercially, to modify it, or to sell it.
Warranty : Although I wrote the DRAPODOU equations with great care, a mistake or omission in flag identification remains possible (please email me any you find so I can debug DRAPODOU, the address is shown below). This programme is published on the web without any warranty for bad consequences due to its use : It is more an educational game than a tool.
For all topics about DRAPODOU (informations, questions, customisations, suggestions) ,
you can write to me at the following
email address (please click on the animated link below) :
"DRAPODOU NATIONS Version 4.0 " , december 2007 .
Copyright © Bernard GUILLEE
Thanks to Simon Challands , for his help during the translation of this site into English!
