Here's a little checklist that makes sure special characters get displayed correctly in flash. 1. utf-8 encode your html page () 2. encode your external variables to utf-8 (utf8_encode($var); in php) 3. use system.useCodepage = true; in the firstframe of your flash movie 4. Make sure that your textfield in flash is set on HTMLtext! 5. embed the needed characters in flash! (àâçëéèêïñôöùü) For more detailed information please visit the link: http://livedocs.adobe.com/flash/9.0/UsingFlash/help.html?content=WSd60f23110762d6b883b18f10cb1fe1af6-7b14.html