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Extended Regional Codes

In addition to all standard ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes, IsoFlags supports extended regional codes.

What are Extended Codes?

Extended codes are unofficial or reserved ISO codes for regions that aren't sovereign nations but have their own flag emojis:

  • Kosovo (XK) - Not officially in ISO 3166-1
  • Ascension Island (AC) - Reserved code
  • And more!

Supported Extended Codes

Code Region Flag
ac Ascension Island 🇦🇨
dg Diego Garcia 🇩🇬
ea Ceuta & Melilla 🇪🇦
ic Canary Islands 🇮🇨
ta Tristan da Cunha 🇹🇦
xk Kosovo 🇽🇰

Usage

To use extended codes, specify CodeSet::EXTENDED:

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

// This will throw an exception (XK not in ISO 3166-1)
try {
    FlagsGenerator::getFlag('xk', CodeSet::ISO3166);
} catch (FlagsGeneratorException $e) {
    echo "Invalid code!";
}

// This works! (XK is in extended set)
echo FlagsGenerator::getFlag('xk', CodeSet::EXTENDED); // 🇽🇰

Examples

Kosovo

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

$flag = FlagsGenerator::getFlag('xk', CodeSet::EXTENDED);
echo $flag; // 🇽🇰

Ascension Island

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

$flag = FlagsGenerator::getFlag('ac', CodeSet::EXTENDED);
echo $flag; // 🇦🇨

All Extended Codes

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

$extendedCodes = ['ac', 'dg', 'ea', 'ic', 'ta', 'xk'];

foreach ($extendedCodes as $code) {
    $flag = FlagsGenerator::getFlag($code, CodeSet::EXTENDED);
    echo "$flag " . strtoupper($code) . "\n";
}

// Output:
// 🇦🇨 AC
// 🇩🇬 DG
// 🇪🇦 EA
// 🇮🇨 IC
// 🇹🇦 TA
// 🇽🇰 XK

Get All Available Codes

Including extended codes:

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

// Get all codes (ISO + extended)
$allCodes = FlagsGenerator::getAvailableCodes(CodeSet::EXTENDED);

// Filter only extended codes
$isoCodes = FlagsGenerator::getAvailableCodes(CodeSet::ISO3166);
$extendedOnly = array_diff($allCodes, $isoCodes);

print_r($extendedOnly);
// Array: ['ac', 'dg', 'ea', 'ic', 'ta', 'xk']

Default Behavior

By default, methods use CodeSet::ISO3166 (standard codes only):

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\FlagsGenerator;

// These are equivalent
FlagsGenerator::getFlag('gb');
FlagsGenerator::getFlag('gb', CodeSet::ISO3166);

// Extended codes require explicit specification
FlagsGenerator::getFlag('xk', CodeSet::EXTENDED);

Validation

To validate extended codes, use the CountryCodeValidator with CodeSet::EXTENDED:

use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\CountryCodeValidator;
use Rteeom\FlagsGenerator\Enums\CodeSet;

// Validate with ISO codes
$isValid = CountryCodeValidator::isValidCountryCode('xk', CodeSet::ISO3166);
// false (Kosovo not in ISO 3166-1)

// Validate with extended codes
$isValid = CountryCodeValidator::isValidCountryCode('xk', CodeSet::EXTENDED);
// true (Kosovo in extended set)

Learn more in the Validation section.

Next Steps