Official script

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Designated writing system of a jurisdiction

title: "Official script" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["spelling-reform", "spelling", "concepts-in-language-policy"] description: "Designated writing system of a jurisdiction" topic_path: "general/spelling-reform" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_script" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Designated writing system of a jurisdiction ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/"a"in_official_Indian-language_scripts(serif).svg" caption="Meitei"] ::

bottom row:Bengali/Assamese, Kannada/Telugu, Ol Chiki, Devanagari, Gurmukhi), Urdu alphabet}}

These are the examples of the official scripts.]] An official script is a writing system that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other jurisdictions. Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. It is used primarily where an official language is in practice written with two or more scripts. As, in these languages, use of script often has cultural or political connotations, proclamation of an official script is sometimes criticized as having a goal of influencing culture or politics or both. Desired effects also may include easing education, communication and some other aspects of life.

List of official scripts

Below is a partial list of official scripts used in different countries. Those in italics are states that have limited international recognition.

This list does not cover local variations of international scripts, such as which diacritics are used.

Historical

  • In the USSR, numerous languages were latinized during the 1920s–1930s. In the late 1930s the Latinization campaign was canceled and all newly romanized languages were converted to Cyrillic.

References

References

  1. [https://advokat-prnjavorac.com/legislation/Constitution-of-Republika-Srpska.pdf Constitution of Republika Srpska] {{Webarchive. link. (22 December 2015 , Article 7.)
  2. [https://advokat-prnjavorac.com/legislation/constitution_fbih.pdf Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina] {{Webarchive. link. (12 April 2019 , Part I, Article 6.)
  3. "The law of national all-purpose language and character in the People's Republic of China.".
  4. After the announcement of Simplified Chinese in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau didn't follow the change, making Traditional Chinese the de facto official script. (Hong Kong and Macau were still colonies at that time, and their current constitutions don't state whether Tradition Chinese or Simplified Chinese is to be used. Both places continued to use Traditional Chinese after handover.see [[List of languages written in Chinese characters and derivatives of Chinese characters]] )
  5. "Basic Provisions". Croatian Parliament.
  6. "Official Language Act - Official Language: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India".
  7. "Alphabet Transitions: Chronology of the New Latin Script".
  8. Staff. (2001-08-02). "A-Z back in Azerbaijan". The Guardian.
  9. [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran#Chapter_2_:_The_Official_Language,_Script,_Calendar,_and_Flag_of_the_Country Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country] {{Webarchive. link. (5 March 2021 .)
  10. "National Language Acts 1963/67".
  11. (2013). "Building Bridges: Is There Hope for North Korea?". Lion Books.
  12. link. (24 June 2021 prefers hangul but also allows hanja in parentheses, in cases prescribed by South Korean Presidential Decree.)
  13. "Constitution of Moldova".
  14. (2011-06-21). "Official Documents to be in Mongolian Script". UB Post.
  15. "Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia". Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia.
  16. In Russian, the designation of Cyrillic as an official script (2001) has the consequence that the official languages of national [[Republics of Russia]] have to be written in the Cyrillic script in all official institutions and education. The passing of the law was met with particular resistance and criticism in the Republic of [[Tatarstan]], as it replaced the Turkish Latin alphabet which the local government tried to promote in education after the dissolution of USSR.see [[List of languages in Russia]]
  17. "I Constitution Principles". Government of Serbia.
  18. Control by Republic of China
  19. Chapter I - Decree 5 - Section 3 of the current [[Constitution of Vietnam. Constitution]] (2013) states that [[Vietnamese language]] is the [[National language]] of Vietnam, but nothing states the [[Vietnamese alphabet. Vietnamese Latin Alphabet]] (called as c''hữ Quốc ngữ'') is the official script [[de jure]].[https://vnexpress.net/quoc-hoi-thong-qua-hien-phap-sua-doi-2916328-p2.html] {{Webarchive. link. (15 November 2017 ''[[chữ Hán]]'' ([[Chinese characters]]) and [[chữ Nôm]] sometime can be used, most in activities about the traditional cultural in Vietnam (e.g. ''[[Vietnamese calligraphy]]).'')

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