Flag icons for languages

The use of flag icons for languages is a common practice, yet has been criticized as poor design. The symbolism of a national flag introduces both politicization and often ambiguity. Such icons have long been used on tourist attraction ephemera, but have found wider use in website localization where UX limitations have become apparent.
Belying the nation-state concept, many languages are natively spoken in several countries, and many countries have several major languages. Alternatives include using the native names of languages or their language codes, possibly under a generic symbol of translation such as the Language Icon.