diff --git a/frontend/src/components/common/LanguageSelect.svelte b/frontend/src/components/common/LanguageSelect.svelte
index a72f1d5..61fcf9d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/common/LanguageSelect.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/components/common/LanguageSelect.svelte
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   // files from the locales folder are listed after the built-ins; their value
   // is "user:<id>".
   import { onMount } from 'svelte'
-  import { IconCheck } from '@tabler/icons-svelte'
+  import { IconCheck, IconWorld } from '@tabler/icons-svelte'
   import { locales, localeNames, detectOSLocale, userLocalePrefix, t } from '../../lib/i18n'
   import { flagFor } from '../../lib/flags'
   import { listUserLocales } from '../../lib/api'
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@
     <button type="button" class="lang-card" class:active={value === l} on:click={() => onSelect(l)} role="option" aria-selected={value === l}>
       {#if flagFor(l)}
         <img class="lang-flag" src={flagFor(l)} alt="" draggable="false" />
+      {:else}
+        <!-- a language no single country's flag stands for (#440). The mark
+             keeps the tiles aligned and reads as chosen rather than missing. -->
+        <IconWorld class="lang-flag lang-globe" size={16} stroke={1.8} />
       {/if}
       <span class="lang-name">{localeNames[l]}</span>
       {#if l === recommended}
@@ -98,6 +102,12 @@
     object-fit: cover;
   }
 
+  /* the neutral mark occupies the flag's column so the names stay in line, and
+     sits back a shade since it is standing in for a flag rather than being one. */
+  :global(.lang-globe) {
+    color: var(--text-tertiary);
+  }
+
   .lang-card:hover {
     background: var(--surface-hover);
   }
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/flags.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/flags.test.ts
index 53355c0..5ab67fc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/flags.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/flags.test.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,48 @@ describe('flagFor', () => {
     withSystemLanguage('zh-CN')
     expect(countryOf(flagFor('zh-CN'))).toBe('cn')
   })
+
+  // #440: Arabic used to borrow whatever region the reader's machine named,
+  // which showed Portugal's flag beside العربية on a machine set to Portuguese.
+  // No country's flag stands for the language, so it gets none.
+  it('gives arabic no flag from a region that is not its own', () => {
+    for (const tag of ['pt-PT', 'de-DE', 'en-US']) {
+      withSystemLanguage(tag)
+      expect(flagFor('ar'), tag).toBeUndefined()
+    }
+  })
+
+  // a reader whose own system is set to Arabic in a country is a different
+  // matter: that region is their own setting rather than a country picked for
+  // them, and it is the same rule that gives an en-US machine the US flag.
+  it('keeps a region the reader set themselves', () => {
+    withSystemLanguage('ar-EG')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('ar'))).toBe('eg')
+    withSystemLanguage('ar-MA')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('ar'))).toBe('ma')
+  })
+
+  // the same fallback would have done it to any language without an entry, so
+  // the rule is general rather than a special case for one language.
+  it('gives an unknown language no flag rather than the readers own', () => {
+    withSystemLanguage('pt-PT')
+    expect(flagFor('ja')).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(flagFor('user:mine')).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  // the languages that do have a flag must keep it: this narrows what is shown,
+  // and it would be easy to narrow it too far.
+  it('still resolves every language that has one', () => {
+    withSystemLanguage('de-DE')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('de'))).toBe('de')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('fr'))).toBe('fr')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('it'))).toBe('it')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('pt'))).toBe('pt')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('nl'))).toBe('nl')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('es'))).toBe('es')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('pl'))).toBe('pl')
+    expect(countryOf(flagFor('tr'))).toBe('tr')
+  })
 })
 
 describe('detectOSLocale', () => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/flags.ts b/frontend/src/lib/flags.ts
index 85326f2..19c0676 100644
--- a/frontend/src/lib/flags.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/flags.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
 // gets the US flag and an en-GB one the union flag without asking anybody or
 // touching the network.
 //
+// A language with no entry here gets no flag, and the picker shows a neutral
+// mark in its place. It used to borrow whatever region the reader's machine
+// named, which put Portugal's flag next to العربية for a reader in Portugal
+// (#440): a flag nobody chose, attached to a language it has nothing to do
+// with. Showing none says what is true.
+//
 // The svgs come from flag-icons (MIT) and are bundled, never fetched.
 
 /** Every flag in the set, keyed by lowercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. */
@@ -23,7 +29,8 @@ for (const [path, url] of Object.entries(files)) {
 }
 
 // the flag a language falls back to when the operating system names no region,
-// or names one the language is not spoken in.
+// or names one the language is not spoken in. A language missing from here
+// shows no flag at all.
 const defaultCountry: Record<string, string> = {
   en: 'gb',
   de: 'de',
@@ -34,8 +41,8 @@ const defaultCountry: Record<string, string> = {
   pl: 'pl',
   tr: 'tr',
   pt: 'pt',
-  // ar has no entry: it is spoken across many regions, so flagFor falls back to
-  // the reader's own.
+  // ar has no entry and is given none: no single country's flag stands for the
+  // language, so the picker shows the neutral mark.
   // keyed by the full tag: a bare "zh" would also claim zh-TW, which uses a
   // different flag.
   'zh-cn': 'cn',
@@ -54,39 +61,10 @@ export function flagFor(language: string): string | undefined {
     const pinned = defaultCountry[tag]
     return pinned ? byCountry[pinned] : undefined
   }
-  // last resort is the reader's own region, for a language spoken across many
-  // of them.
-  const country = osRegionFor(tag) ?? defaultCountry[tag] ?? osRegion()
+  const country = osRegionFor(tag) ?? defaultCountry[tag]
   return country ? byCountry[country] : undefined
 }
 
-/**
- * The reader's own region, whatever language it belongs to.
- *
- * Every tag is read, not just the first. navigator.language is the interface
- * language's conventional tag, and the webview rewrites one it does not
- * recognize: an "en-DE" machine (English interface, German region) reports
- * "en-GB" there, which is a country the reader has nothing to do with. The rest
- * of the list keeps the real one, so the first tag carrying a region we have a
- * flag for wins.
- *
- * It is best effort. A machine that names no region anywhere gets no flag,
- * which is the honest answer rather than a guess.
- */
-function osRegion(): string | undefined {
-  if (typeof navigator === 'undefined') {
-    return undefined
-  }
-  const tags = navigator.languages?.length ? navigator.languages : [navigator.language || '']
-  for (const tag of tags) {
-    const region = tag.toLowerCase().split('-')[1]
-    if (region && region.length === 2 && byCountry[region]) {
-      return region
-    }
-  }
-  return undefined
-}
-
 /**
  * The operating system's region, but only when it belongs to the language being
  * asked about. A de-DE install says nothing about which Spanish the user means,