Place the right flag, in the right format, without maintaining SVG files by hand.

Choose the output that matches the job

The complete reference records 13 settings for SVG Flag, 17 for SVG Flag Image, eight for SVG Flag Grid, and 19 registered attributes for SVG Flag Heading. Eleven heading attributes are retained for saved-content compatibility but are not consumed by the current 0.9.7 renderer; the generated heading reference labels each one instead of implying an active effect.

Use the bundled catalogue, not an assumed country list

Version 0.9.7 contains exactly 271 unique codes. Every code has both 4:3 and 1:1 SVG artwork. The catalogue includes current countries plus supported territories, regions, and organisations; the editor shows the label and code together so similar names can be distinguished.

• Shortcodes accept lower- or uppercase codes and normalize them against the catalogue.
• An invalid single-flag code falls back through the renderer’s normalization path instead of constructing an arbitrary asset URL.
• The grid removes invalid and duplicate codes and caps output at 100 items.
• Enabling Random selects one supported catalogue entry during each server-side render.

Build a responsive multi-country grid

The grid renderer produces one figure per valid code. With captions enabled, each figure displays the catalogue name and its image also carries that name as alternative text. The grid settings accept the units px, em, rem, %, and vw; use a constrained width and fewer columns when labels are long.

Know the Free and Pro boundary

No global product settings: SVG Flags 0.9.7 exposes its current presentation controls in blocks and shortcodes. Freemius account screens are not SVG Flags rendering settings and are deliberately excluded from the product reference.

Use shortcodes for established or code-led layouts

The active shortcode surfaces are [svg-flag], [svg-flag-image], [svg-flag-grid], and Pro [svg-flag-heading]. The older [svg-flags] alias still routes to [svg-flag]. The retained button shortcode source is not bootstrapped in 0.9.7 and is therefore not a public shortcode.

[svg-flag flag="gb" size="1.25" size_unit="em" inline="true"]
[svg-flag-image flag="ca" size="12" size_unit="rem" caption="true"]
[svg-flag-grid flags="gb,us,ca,fr,de,jp" columns="3" gap="1" gap_unit="rem"]
[svg-flag-heading flag="de" heading="Regional results" heading_tag="h2"]

Shortcode booleans accept values interpreted by the plugin’s truthy conversion. Prefer the exact text true or false. The complete reference gives every released attribute, default, edition, accepted value, alias, and all 21 active PHP filters.

Treat flags as supporting information, not a language selector by themselves

A national flag does not uniquely identify a language, locale, currency, or audience. Pair it with a visible text label and a correctly declared link destination. Use SVG Flag Image or a captioned grid when the identity must be announced; use the CSS-backed symbol only when adjacent text already supplies an equivalent name.

• Do not rely on colour or flag shape alone to communicate a choice.
• Keep link or button semantics on the surrounding interactive element; SVG Flags itself renders the visual flag.
• Check country-name captions at narrow widths and avoid grids whose columns force labels to overlap.
• The Pro heading flag is decorative because the same heading contains the meaningful text.

Troubleshoot the selected surface first

The expected flag does not appear

Re-select the entry in the editor or verify the shortcode code against the searchable catalogue. The grid silently removes invalid entries; a copied label is not a substitute for the code.

A caption is missing

Confirm caption is enabled and the flag is not rendered inline. Single inline flags intentionally suppress the block caption; place a visible text label beside the flag instead.

The grid has fewer items than supplied

Duplicate and invalid codes are removed after filtering, and only the first 100 supplied values are considered. Check the normalized code list and remove unsupported values.

A Pro heading compatibility field has no visible effect

The current heading renderer consumes flag, size, size unit, square aspect, vertical alignment, random selection, heading text, and heading level. Other saved heading attributes remain registered for compatibility and are marked as such in the complete reference.