A spec-compliant Unicode renderer is expected to render 259 flags [1]. So 8 bits isn't quite enough. You would need 9.
Obviously an arbitrary bitmap of dimensions that could be used for a recognizable flag would need orders of magnitude more storage. The constraint that we are representing a finite set of flags is what admits such a compact representation.
Obviously an arbitrary bitmap of dimensions that could be used for a recognizable flag would need orders of magnitude more storage. The constraint that we are representing a finite set of flags is what admits such a compact representation.
[1] https://www.unicode.org/Public/emoji/latest/emoji-sequences....