diff -urd -X freeciv.current/diff_ignore freeciv.current/client/gui-gtk/plrdlg.c work/client/gui-gtk/plrdlg.c
--- freeciv.current/client/gui-gtk/plrdlg.c	Thu Aug 30 15:06:00 2001
+++ work/client/gui-gtk/plrdlg.c	Sat Sep  1 00:29:45 2001
@@ -166,6 +166,8 @@
 
   players_list=gtk_clist_new_with_titles(NUM_COLUMNS, titles);
 
+  gtk_clist_set_row_height(GTK_CLIST(players_list),40);
+
   for(i=0; i<NUM_COLUMNS; i++)
     gtk_clist_set_column_auto_resize (GTK_CLIST (players_list), i, TRUE);
 
@@ -346,7 +348,7 @@
 				    int *start_y, int *end_x, int *end_y)
 {
   GdkImage *mask_image;
-  int i;
+  int i, j;
 
   if (!sprite->has_mask || sprite->mask == NULL) {
     *start_x = 0;
@@ -359,24 +361,44 @@
   mask_image =
       gdk_image_get(sprite->mask, 0, 0, sprite->width, sprite->height);
 
-  for (i = 0; i < sprite->width; i++)
-    if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, i, 0) != 0)
-      break;
+  for (i = 0; i < sprite->width; i++) {
+    for (j = 0; j < sprite->height; j++) {
+      if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, i, j) != 0) {
+	goto cont1;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+cont1:
   *start_x = i;
 
-  for (i = 0; i < sprite->height; i++)
-    if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, 0, i) != 0)
-      break;
+  for (i = 0; i < sprite->height; i++) {
+    for (j = 0; j < sprite->width; j++) {
+      if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, j, i) != 0) {
+	goto cont2;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+cont2:
   *start_y = i;
 
-  for (i = sprite->width - 1; i >= 0; i--)
-    if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, i, 0) != 0)
-      break;
+  for (i = sprite->width - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+    for (j = 0; j < sprite->height; j++) {
+      if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, i, j) != 0) {
+	goto cont3;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+cont3:
   *end_x = i;
 
-  for (i = sprite->height - 1; i >= 0; i--)
-    if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, 0, i) != 0)
-      break;
+  for (i = sprite->height - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+    for (j = 0; j < sprite->width; j++) {
+      if (gdk_image_get_pixel(mask_image, j, i) != 0) {
+	goto cont4;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+cont4:
   *end_y = i;
 
   gdk_image_destroy(mask_image);
@@ -391,37 +413,52 @@
 static void build_flag(int playerindex)
 {
   int start_x, start_y, end_x, end_y, flag_h, flag_w, newflag_h, newflag_w;
-  GdkPixmap *flag_pixmap;
+  GdkPixmap *flag_pixmap, *flag_pixmap2;
   SPRITE *flag_sprite;
 
   flag_sprite = get_nation_by_plr(&game.players[playerindex])->flag_sprite;
 
   get_sprite_bounding_box(flag_sprite, &start_x, &start_y, &end_x, &end_y);
 
-  assert(start_x == 0);
-  assert(start_y == 0);
-  assert(end_x >= MINIMAL_FLAG_WIDTH);
-  assert(end_y >= MINIMAL_FLAG_HEIGHT);
-
   flag_w = (end_x - start_x) + 1;
   flag_h = (end_y - start_y) + 1;
 
+  assert(flag_w > 0 && flag_h > 0);
+
   /* now scaling the original pixmap */
   newflag_h = GTK_CLIST(players_list)->row_height;
   newflag_w = ((double) newflag_h / flag_h) * flag_w;
 
-  freelog(LOG_DEBUG, "%dx%d %dx%d %dx%d", flag_sprite->width,
+  freelog(LOG_NORMAL, "%dx%d %dx%d %dx%d", flag_sprite->width,
 	  flag_sprite->height, flag_w, flag_h, newflag_w, newflag_h);
 
-  flag_pixmap = gtk_scale_pixmap(flag_sprite->pixmap, flag_w, flag_h,
-				 newflag_w, newflag_h);
+  /* make the pixmap white */
+  flag_pixmap = gdk_pixmap_new(root_window, newflag_w, newflag_h, -1);
+  gdk_gc_set_foreground(civ_gc, colors_standard[COLOR_STD_WHITE]);
+  gdk_draw_rectangle(flag_pixmap, civ_gc, 1, 0, 0, newflag_w, newflag_h);
+
+  /* draw the flag over the white background */
+#if 1
+  gdk_gc_set_clip_origin(civ_gc, 0, 0);
+  gdk_gc_set_clip_mask(civ_gc, flag_sprite->mask);
+#endif
+  gdk_draw_pixmap(flag_pixmap, civ_gc, flag_sprite->pixmap, start_x,
+		  start_y, 0, 0, flag_w, flag_h);
 
+  /* scale it */
+  flag_pixmap2 = gtk_scale_pixmap(flag_pixmap, flag_w, flag_h,
+				  newflag_w, newflag_h);
+
+  gdk_pixmap_unref(flag_pixmap);
+
+#if 0
   /* put a black border around it */
   gdk_gc_set_foreground(civ_gc, colors_standard[COLOR_STD_BLACK]);
   gdk_draw_rectangle(flag_pixmap, civ_gc, 0, 0, 0, newflag_w, newflag_h);
+#endif
 
   /* and finaly store the pixmap in the static flags array */
-  flags[playerindex] = flag_pixmap;
+  flags[playerindex] = flag_pixmap2;
 }
 
 /**************************************************************************