Polandball, also known as countryballs, is an art style occasionally used in online comics, in which countries are typically personified as spherical characters decorated with their country's flag. The characters often interact in broken English, commonly known as Engrish The dialog typically uses regional and/or national variations, depending on the region the character represents The characters poke fun at national stereotypes and international relations, as well as historical conflicts. Countryballs have also been used in videos and comics involving alternate and speculative history. It is an Internet meme which originated on the /int/ board of German imageboard Krautchan.net in the latter half of 2009. The comics style may be referred to both as Polandball and countryball.