{{Short description|none}} {{redirect|European flag|a gallery of flags of countries in Europe|Flags of Europe}} {{about|European flag|the group of aerospace companies|Euroflag|flag football competition|IFAF European Flag Football Championship}} {{pp-move-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Use British English|date=January 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox flag | Name = Flag of Europe | Article = | Image = Flag of Europe.svg | Image_size = 255px | Nickname = European flag<br />Flag of the Council of Europe<br />Flag of the European Union<br />Circle of stars | Morenicks = | Use = *Symbol of Europe *Union flag representing the EU (27 members) *Council flag representing the Council of Europe (46 members) | Proportion = 2:3 | Adoption = 9 December 1955<ref name="european-flag">{{cite web |title=The European flag |publisher=Council of Europe |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-flag |access-date=8 December 2020 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220132009/https://www.coe.int/en/web/about-us/the-european-flag |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Emblème du Conseil de l'Europe|date=9 December 1955|publisher=Council of Europe|url=https://rm.coe.int/16804ef667|access-date=8 December 2020|archive-date=8 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408083457/https://rm.coe.int/16804ef667|url-status=live}}</ref> (CoE)<br />29 June 1985<ref name="COE page"/> (EEC) | Design = A circle of twelve five-pointed yellow stars on a blue field ("Twelve mullets or on ground azure") }}
The '''flag of Europe''' or '''European flag'''{{NoteTag|Alternatively, it is sometimes called the ''flag of the European Union'' when representing the EU. The name "flag of the European Union" is used in e.g. the Italian [http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/98022l.htm law no. 22 of 5 February 1998] (''bandiera dell'Unione europea''), and by the ''Centre virtuel de la connaissance sur l'Europe'' (''[http://www.cvce.eu/obj/le_drapeau_de_l_union_europeenne-fr-c0e88f08-81df-47ff-9d03-38d4a06e12d7.html Le drapeau de l'Union européenne]'', 2016).}} consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe.<ref name="european-flag"/>
Since 1985, the flag has also been a symbol of the European Union (EU), whose 27 member states are all also CoE members, although in that year the EU had not yet assumed its present name or constitutional form (which came in steps in 1993 and 2009). Adoption by the EU, or EC as it then was, reflected a long-standing CoE desire to see the flag used by other European organisations.<ref name="european-flag"/> Official EU use widened greatly in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the flag has to date received ''no status'' in any of the EU's treaties. Its adoption as an official symbol was planned as part of the 2004 ''Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe'' but this failed to be ratified. Mention of the flag was removed in 2007 from the text of the Treaty of Lisbon, which ''was'' ratified. On the other hand, 16 EU members that year, plus France in 2017, have officially affirmed (by Declaration No. 5224) their attachment to the flag as an EU symbol.
The flag is used by other European entities, such as unified golf teams under the rubric Team Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rydercup.com/team |title=Teams at the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Kohler, WI, Sept. 22-27 brought to you by Rydercup.com |access-date=3 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615183549/https://www.rydercup.com/team |archive-date=15 June 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Design== ===Specifications=== {{gallery |align=center |height=250 |width=360 |File:EU Flag specification.svg|Flag construction sheet }} According to graphical specifications published online by the Council of Europe in 2004, the flag is rectangular with 2:3 proportions: its fly (width) is one and a half times the length of its hoist (height). Twelve yellow stars are centred in a circle (the radius of which is a third of the length of the hoist) upon a blue background. All the stars are upright (one point straight up), have five points and are spaced equally, like the hour positions on the face of a clock. The diameter of each star is equal to one-ninth of the height of the hoist.<ref name=CoEguide>{{cite web |title=Graphical specifications for the European flag |publisher=Council of Europe |url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/flag_guide.asp#TopOfPage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040612082135/http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/flag_guide.asp#TopOfPage |archive-date=12 June 2004 |url-status=dead }} "PANTONE REFLEX BLUE corresponds in the web-palette colour RGB:0/0/153 (hexadecimal: 000099) and PANTONE YELLOW corresponds in the web-palette colour RGB:255/204/0 (hexadecimal: FFCC00)."</ref>
The colours are regulated in the 1996 guide by the EC,<ref name=1996guide>{{in lang|fr}} ''[https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/guide_graphique_relatif_a_l_embleme_europeen_1996-fr-93eedaa0-b431-4ca8-ac7b-113ca01c0395.html Guide graphique relatif à l'emblème européen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609114155/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/guide_graphique_relatif_a_l_embleme_europeen_1996-fr-93eedaa0-b431-4ca8-ac7b-113ca01c0395.html |date=9 June 2021 }}'' (1996), p. 3: ''Description symbolique: Sur le fond bleu du ciel, les étoiles figurant les peuples d'Europe forment un cercle en signe d'union. Elles sont au nombre invariable de douze, symbole de la perfection et de la plénitude''...''Description héraldique: Sur fond azur, un cercle composé de douze étoiles d'or à cinq rais, dont les pointes ne se touchent pas''. cf. {{cite web|title=Graphical specifications for the European Emblem|publisher=European Commission|url=http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/graphics1_en.htm#symbol|access-date=4 August 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622134708/http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/graphics1_en.htm#symbol|archive-date=22 June 2006}}</ref> and equivalently in the 2004 guide by the Council of Europe.<ref name=CoEguide/> The base colour of the flag is defined as Pantone "Reflex Blue", while the golden stars are portrayed in Pantone "Yellow":
{| class="wikitable" style="white-space: nowrap; text-align: left" width="60%" ! !style="background:#003399"| <span style="color:#FFFFFF"> Azure </span> !style="background:#FFCC00"| Gold |- | Pantone | Reflex Blue | Yellow |- | HEX | <code>#003399</code><ref name=RGBvalues>The 1996 guideline does not include any recommendation for RGB values. The 2004 guideline published online by the CoE recommends "RGB:0/51/153 (hexadecimal: 003399)" for "PANTONE REFLEX BLUE" and "RGB:255/204/0 (hexadecimal: FFCC00)" for "PANTONE YELLOW" for the web palette (the limited 12 bit color space popular at the time). These recommendations are by no means objective or universal. Other recommendations for "Reflex Blue" include: * #0c1c8c ([http://pantonecolors.org/pantone-reflex-blue.php pantonecolors.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205233940/http://pantonecolors.org/pantone-reflex-blue.php |date=5 December 2017 }}) * #001489 ([https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/Reflex-Blue-C pantone.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814073051/https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/Reflex-Blue-C |date=14 August 2016 }}) * #00209F ([http://www.colourlovers.com/color/00209F/Pantone_Reflex_Blue colourlovers.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420102449/https://www.colourlovers.com/color/00209F/Pantone_Reflex_Blue |date=20 April 2021 }}) * #001789 ([https://www.e-paint.co.uk/Lab_values.asp?cRange=Pantone%20C&cRef=Reflex+Blue+C e-paint.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015113110/https://www.e-paint.co.uk/Lab_values.asp?cRange=Pantone%20C&cRef=Reflex+Blue+C |date=15 October 2020 }}) * #171796 ([http://encycolorpedia.com/171796 encycolorpedia.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618140303/https://encycolorpedia.com/171796 |date=18 June 2021 }})
The former Pantone "Yellow" is now{{clarify|date=May 2018}} called "Yellow C", with recommended RGB value #FEDD00 (CMYK 0.1.100.0). [https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/Process-Yellow-C (pantone.com)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712000957/https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/Process-Yellow-C |date=12 July 2020 }}</ref> | <code>#FFCC00</code><ref name=RGBvalues/> |- | CMYK | 100.80.0.0<ref name=CMYK1996>{{in lang|fr}} ''Guide graphique relatif à l'emblème européen'' (1996), p. 6: ''Le jaune est obtenu avec 100% de «Process Yellow». En mélangeant 100% de «Process Cyan» avec 80% de «Process Magenta», on obtient un bleu très semblable au Reflex Blue Pantone.''</ref> | 0.21.100.0<ref name=CMYK1996/> |- |}
The 2013 logo of the Council of Europe has the colours:<ref name=CoE2013>[http://www.coe.int/02/Logo/CoE-Charte-graphique-V1-2013-EN.pdf Council of Europe's new visual identity- Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104051458/https://www.coe.int/02/Logo/CoE-Charte-graphique-V1-2013-EN.pdf |date=4 November 2018 }}, Council of EUrope, 2013.</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: nowrap; text-align: left" width="60%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="1" |- style="text-align: center; background: #eee" ! !style="background:#1E448A"| <span style="color:#FFFFFF"> Azure </span> !style="background:#FDCB0B"| Gold |- | Pantone | PMS 287<ref name=PantoneCoE2013>RGB and CMYK values are those given in the 2013 recommendation. Pantone recommendations for PMS 287: RGB #003087, CMYK 100.75.2.18 ([https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/287-C pantone.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801192425/https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/287-C |date=1 August 2021 }}); for PMS 116: RGB #FFCD00, CMYK 0.14.100.0 ([https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/116-C pantone.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725165539/https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/116-C |date=25 July 2021 }}).</ref> | PMS 116<ref name=PantoneCoE2013/> |- | HEX | <code>#1E448A</code> | <code>#FDCB0B</code> |- | CMYK | 100.67.0.40 | 0.20.100.0 |- |}
===Blazon=== The blazon given by the EU in 1996 describes the design as: "On an azure field a circle of twelve golden mullets, their points not touching."<ref name=1996guide/>
===Symbolism=== The flag used is the Flag of Europe, which consists of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background. Originally designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe, the flag was adopted by the European Communities, the predecessors of the present European Union, in 1986. The Council of Europe gave the flag a symbolic description in the following terms,<ref name="36th2">{{cite web |title=Thirty-sixth meeting of the ministers' deputies: resolution (55) 32 |date=9 December 1955 |url=http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/fonds/themes/flags/Res(55)32_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528195931/http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Fonds/Themes/Flags/Res%2855%2932_en.pdf |url-status=dead |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=2 February 2008 |archive-date=28 May 2009}}</ref> though the official symbolic description adopted by the EU omits the reference to the "Western world":<ref name="1996guide2">{{cite web |language=fr |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/guide_graphique_relatif_a_l_embleme_europeen_1996-fr-93eedaa0-b431-4ca8-ac7b-113ca01c0395.html |title=Guide graphique relatif à l'emblème européen |year=1996 |page=3 |quote=''Description symbolique: Sur le fond bleu du ciel, les étoiles figurant les peuples d'Europe forment un cercle en signe d'union. Elles sont au nombre invariable de douze, symbole de la perfection et de la plénitude''...''Description héraldique: Sur fond azur, un cercle composé de douze étoiles d'or à cinq rais, dont les pointes ne se touchent pas''. |access-date=5 May 2018 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609114155/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/guide_graphique_relatif_a_l_embleme_europeen_1996-fr-93eedaa0-b431-4ca8-ac7b-113ca01c0395.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Graphical specifications for the European Emblem |url=http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/graphics1_en.htm#symbol |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622134708/http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/graphics1_en.htm#symbol |url-status=dead |publisher=European Commission |access-date=4 August 2004 |archive-date=22 June 2006}}</ref>{{blockquote|Against the blue sky of the Western world, the stars symbolise the peoples of Europe in a form of a circle, a sign of union. Their number is invariably twelve, the figure twelve being the symbol of perfection and entirety.|Council of Europe. Paris, 7–9 December 1955.}}
Other symbolic interpretations have been offered based on the account of its design by Paul M. Levy. The five-pointed star is used on many national flags and represents aspiration and education. Their golden colour is that of the sun, which is said to symbolise glory and enlightenment.<ref name=":0fe">{{Cite web|url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/e/european-union-flag.php|title=European Union Flag : University of Dayton, Ohio|website=udayton.edu|access-date=20 February 2019|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221075341/https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/e/european-union-flag.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
Their arrangement in a circle represents the constellation of Corona Borealis and can be seen as a crown and the stability of government. The blue background resembles the sky and symbolises truth and the intellect. It is also the colour traditionally used to represent the Virgin Mary. In many paintings of the Virgin Mary as Stella Maris she is crowned with a circle of twelve stars.<ref name=":0fe" />
====Marian interpretation==== {{further|Crown of Immortality|Circle of stars}} {{multiple image | align = right | image1 = Statue of Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Strasbourg.jpg | width1 = 165 | caption1 = Statue of the Blessed Virgin in Strasbourg Cathedral (1859) | image2 = | width2 = 210 | caption2 = ''Blessing Madonna'', the stained glass window donated by the Council of Europe to Strasbourg Cathedral in 1956.<ref name="Economist"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Large full version of the window |publisher=venez-chez-domi.fr |url=http://www.venez-chez-domi.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/32-abside-notre-dame-de-strasbourggrande.jpg |access-date=28 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227042738/http://www.venez-chez-domi.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/32-abside-notre-dame-de-strasbourggrande.jpg |archive-date=27 February 2009}}</ref> }} [[File:Shield of Dom Guéranger.svg|thumb|165px|Arms of monk and priest Prosper Guéranger (1805–1875)<ref>p. 309 of [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k374920v/f315.image "Armorial des prélats Français du XIXème siècle"]</ref>]]
In 1987, following the adoption of the flag by the EC, Arsène Heitz, one of the designers who had submitted proposals for the flag's design, suggested a religious inspiration for it. He stated that the circle of stars was based on the iconographic tradition of showing the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse, wearing a "crown of twelve stars".<ref name="Economist"/><ref name="Gialdino">Carlo Curti Gialdino, ''I Simboli dell'Unione europea, Bandiera – Inno – Motto – Moneta – Giornata''. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., 2005. {{ISBN|88-240-2503-X}}, pp. 80–85. Gialdino is here cited after a translation of the Italian text published by the ''Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe'' ([http://www.cvce.eu/obj/carlo_curti_gialdino_the_symbols_of_the_european_union_origin_of_the_design_for_the_european_flag-en-df9f9dde-98a3-461b-a8a8-8f9c13012343.html cvce.eu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003142722/https://www.cvce.eu/obj/carlo_curti_gialdino_the_symbols_of_the_european_union_origin_of_the_design_for_the_european_flag-en-df9f9dde-98a3-461b-a8a8-8f9c13012343.html |date=3 October 2017 }}):
<blockquote>Irrespective of the statements by Paul M. G. Levy and the recent reconstruction by Susan Hood, crediting Arsène Heitz with the original design still seems to me the soundest option. In particular, Arsène Heitz himself, in 1987, laid claim to his own role in designing the flag and to its religious inspiration when he said that 'the flag of Europe is the flag of Our Lady' [''Magnificat'' magazine, 1987].
Secondly, it is worth noting the testimony of Father Pierre Caillon, who refers to a meeting with Arsène Heitz. Caillon tells of having met the former Council of Europe employee by chance in August 1987 at Lisieux in front of the Carmelite monastery. It was Heitz who stopped him and declared "I was the one who designed the European flag. I suddenly had the idea of putting the 12 stars of the Miraculous Medal of the Rue du Bac on a blue field. My proposal was adopted unanimously on 8 December 1955, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I am telling you this, Father, because you are wearing the little blue cross of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima".</blockquote></ref>
Heitz also made a connection to the date of the flag's adoption, 8 December 1955, coinciding with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Paul M. G. Lévy, then Director of Information at the Council of Europe responsible for designing the flag, in a 1989 statement maintained that he had not been aware of any religious connotations.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Union: Myths on the flag |orig-year=1995 |year=2002 |publisher=Flags of the World |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu!myt.html |access-date=4 August 2007 |archive-date=14 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714232156/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu!myt.html |url-status=live }} "While Count Coudenhove-Kalergi in a personal statement maintained that three leading Catholics within the Council had subconsciously chosen the twelve stars on the model of Apocalypse 12:1, Paul M.G. Lévy, Press Officer of the Council from 1949 to 1966, explained in 1989 that there was no religious intention whatsoever associated with the choice of the circle of twelve stars." Peter Diem, 11 June 2002.</ref>
In an interview given 26 February 1998, Lévy denied not only awareness of the Marian connection, but also denied that the final design of a circle of twelve stars was Heitz's. To the question "Who really designed the flag?" Lévy replied:
<blockquote>I did, and I calculated the proportions to be used for the geometric design. Arsène Heitz, who was an employee in the mail service, put in all sorts of proposals, including the 15-star design. But he submitted too many designs. He wanted to do the European currencies with 15 stars in the corner. He wanted to do national flags incorporating the Council of Europe flag.<ref name="Gialdino"/></blockquote>
Carlo Curti Gialdino (2005) has reconstructed the design process to the effect that Heitz's proposal contained varying numbers of stars, from which the version with twelve stars was chosen by the Committee of Ministers meeting at Deputy level in January 1955 as one out of two remaining candidate designs.<ref name="Gialdino"/>
Lévy's 1998 interview apparently gave rise to a new variant of the Marian anecdote. An article published in {{lang|de|Die Welt}} in August 1998 alleged that it was Lévy himself who was inspired to introduce a Marian element as he walked past a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pinzka |first=Thomas |url=https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article625491/Der-Sternenkranz-ist-die-Folge-eines-Geluebdes.html |title=Der Sternenkranz ist die Folge eines Gelübdes |trans-title=The crown of stars is the result of a vote |newspaper=Die Welt |date=26 August 1998 |access-date=3 November 2018 |language=de |archive-date=29 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129110758/https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article625491/Der-Sternenkranz-ist-die-Folge-eines-Geluebdes.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
An article posted in ''La Raison'' in February 2000 further connected the donation of a stained glass window for Strasbourg Cathedral by the Council of Europe on 21 October 1956. This window, a work by Parisian master Max Ingrand, shows a blessing Madonna underneath a circle of 12 stars on dark blue ground.<ref name="origine">{{cite web |title=L'origine chrétienne du drapeau européen |publisher=atheisme.org |url=http://www.atheisme.org/drapeau.html |access-date=21 January 2009 |language=fr |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308204447/http://atheisme.org/drapeau.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The overall design of the Madonna is inspired by the banner of the cathedral's ''Congrégation Mariale des Hommes'', and the twelve stars are found on the statue venerated by this congregation inside the cathedral (twelve is also the number of members of the congregation's council).<ref>{{cite web |title=Congrégation Mariale des Hommes |date=4 February 2004 |publisher=Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg |url=http://www.cathedrale-strasbourg.fr/congregation_mariale.aspx |access-date=24 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081114001435/http://www.cathedrale-strasbourg.fr/congregation_mariale.aspx |archive-date=14 November 2008 |url-status=dead |language=fr}}</ref> The Regional Office for Cultural Affairs describe this stained glass window called "Le vitrail de l'Europe de Max Ingrand" (The Glass Window of Europe of Max Ingrand).<ref>{{cite web |title=Le vitrail de l'Europe de Max Ingrand |publisher=DRAC Alsace |url=http://docpatdrac.hypotheses.org/jep-2015/jep2015-20-vitrail-europe-max-ingrand |access-date=14 October 2017 |language=fr |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014133006/http://docpatdrac.hypotheses.org/jep-2015/jep2015-20-vitrail-europe-max-ingrand |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History and usage== The twelve-star "flag of Europe" was designed in 1950 and officially adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955. The same flag was adopted by the European Parliament in 1983. The European Council adopted it as an "emblem" for the European Communities in 1985. Its status in the European Communities was inherited by the European Union upon its formation in 1993. The proposal to adopt it as official flag of the European Union failed with the ratification of the European Constitution in 2005, and mention of all emblems suggesting statehood was removed from the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, although sixteen member states signed a declaration supporting the continued use of the flag.<ref>Final Act, [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF Official Journal of the European Union, 2007 C 306–2, p. 267] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815060321/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF |date=15 August 2019 }} Declaration 52, consolidated EU treaties.</ref> In 2007, the European Parliament officially adopted the flag for its own use.<ref>{{cite web|title=EU Parliament set to use European flag, anthem|publisher=EU Business|date=11 September 2008|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1221140822.65|access-date=12 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912123052/http://eubusiness.com/news-eu/1221140822.65 <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=12 September 2008}} The proposal was passed on 8 October 2008 by 503 votes to 96 (15 abstentions). {{cite news |first=Lucia |last=Kubosova |title=No prolonged mandate for Barroso, MEPs warn |newspaper=EUobserver |date=9 October 2008 |url=http://euobserver.com/9/26899 |access-date=9 October 2008 |archive-date=10 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010125604/http://euobserver.com/9/26899 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{contradictory inline|date=May 2018}}<!-- We just said that the European Parliament had already adopted the flag for is own use back in 1983. Which is correct? Did they adopt it twice? Why?-->
===Pan-European flags before 1950=== {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Proposed flag of europe from an anonymous pan-european brochure from 1920 (obverse).svg|Proposed flag of europe from an anonymous pan-european brochure from 1920 (obverse) |File:Proposed flag of europe from an anonymous pan-european brochure from 1920 (reverse).svg|Proposed flag of europe from an anonymous pan-european brochure from 1920 (reverse)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19343441|title=Das Neue Europa Mit Dem Dauernden Frieden. Die Unionisierung Mitteleuropas. [The New Europe With Lasting Peace. The Central European Union.]|date=3 January 2020|website=Cornell University Library|access-date=4 May 2023|archive-date=18 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118185606/https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19343441|url-status=live}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/maas-utopian-european-union/|title=An extraordinary map of a proposed European Union … in 1920!|date=31 March 2026|website=Boston Rare Maps|access-date=31 March 2026|archive-date=1 November 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251101224526/https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/maas-utopian-european-union/|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:United States of Europe Flag Sketch (1930).svg|Anonymous sketch flag for the United States of Europe from 1930<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b735|title=Sketch of a flag for the United States of Europe ("Union Stati Europa")|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028134155/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b735|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Hertensteiner Kreuz.svg|Hertensteiner Cross (14-24 September 1946) |File:Old flag of the European Movement.svg|Flag of the European Movement }}
===1950–present: Council of Europe=== The Council of Europe in 1950 appointed a committee to study the question of adopting a symbol. Numerous proposals were looked into.<ref name="ENA page"/>
{{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Former Flag of the International Paneuropean Union.svg|Kalergi's Paneuropean Union proposal |File:Proposed flag for Europe, designed in 1954 by members of the Council of Europe.png|"Eight rings" proposal, reminiscent of the Western Union Standard |File:Europe flag proposal 4.svg|"Single-star" proposal }}
Among the unsuccessful proposals was the flag of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi's International Paneuropean Union, which he had himself recently adopted for the European Parliamentary Union.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Historical_Content/flag/3.pdf Letter to the secretary general of the Council of Europe from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031003606/http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Historical_Content/flag/3.pdf |date=31 October 2008 }}, Council of Europe.</ref> The design was a blue field with a red cross inside an orange circle at the centre. Kalergi was very committed to defending the cross as "the great symbol of Europe's moral unity", the Red Cross in particular being "recognized by the whole world, by Christian and non-Christian nations[,] as a symbol of international charity and of the brotherhood of man",<ref>Johan Fornäs, ''Signifying Europe'' (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=PG73B_1Xha4C&pg=PA131 p. 131].</ref> but the proposal was rejected by Turkey (a member of the Council of Europe since 1949) on grounds of its religious associations<ref name="FOTW proposals">[http://www.fahnenversand.de/fotw/flags/eu_ce.html Council of Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927172923/http://www.fahnenversand.de/fotw/flags/eu_ce.html |date=27 September 2011 }} fahnenversand.de</ref> in spite of Kalergi's suggestion of adding a crescent alongside the cross to overcome the Muslim objections.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Historical_Content/flag/f_d204.pdf Letter from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi regarding a Muslim modification to the Pan-Europa flag design] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031003604/http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Historical_Content/flag/f_d204.pdf |date=31 October 2008 }}, Council of Europe.</ref>
Other proposals included the flag was the European Movement, which had a large green E on a white background,<ref>[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu%7Dmov.html European Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823114630/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu%7Dmov.html |date=23 August 2007 }} crwflags.com [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu!1.html Proposals for the European flag] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715135147/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu%211.html |date=15 July 2007 }} crwflags.com</ref> a design was based on the Olympic rings, eight golden rings on a blue background, rejected due to the rings' similarity with "dial", "chain" and "zeros", or a large yellow star on a blue background, rejected due to its equality with the flag of the Belgian Congo.<ref name="FOTW proposals"/>
{{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Salvador de Madariaga Flag Proposal (01 December 1951).svg|Madariaga's "constellation" proposal |File:Proposed 15-star flag of Europe (1953).png|Fifteen-star proposal adopted by the Consultative Assembly in 1953 }}
The Consultative Assembly narrowed their choice to two designs. One was by Salvador de Madariaga, the founder of the College of Europe, who suggested a constellation of stars on a blue background<ref name="ENA page">{{cite web |title=The European flag: questions and answers |editor=CVCE |url=http://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#39d51e24-2e68-4497-b81e-7a08e09ee0d7_en&overlay |access-date=25 June 2014 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118101434/https://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#39d51e24-2e68-4497-b81e-7a08e09ee0d7_en&overlay |url-status=live }}</ref> (positioned according to capital cities, with a large star for Strasbourg, the seat of the council). He had circulated his flag round many European capitals and the concept had found favour.<ref name="Irish"/> The second was a variant by Arsène Heitz, who worked for the council's postal service and had submitted dozens of designs,<ref>{{cite web |title=Lettre d'Arsène Heitz à Filippo Caracciolo (Strasbourg, 5 janvier 1952) |publisher=CVCE |url=http://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#6b758d67-f606-4ac9-90fc-3339fe66a76c_en&overlay |access-date=25 June 2014 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118101434/https://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#6b758d67-f606-4ac9-90fc-3339fe66a76c_en&overlay |url-status=live }}</ref> one of which was accepted by the Assembly. The design was similar to Salvador de Madariaga's, but rather than a constellation, the stars were arranged in a circle.<ref name="ENA page"/> Arsène Heitz was one of several people who proposed a circle of gold stars on a blue background.<ref>{{cite web |title=Weekly broadcast of the Council of Europe, 6th October, 1953 |url=https://rm.coe.int/168092b324 |website=Council of Europe |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817073846/https://rm.coe.int/168092b324 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Rejected: Designs for the European Flag |date=Dec 10, 2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |isbn=9783948200039 |pages=103–108}}</ref> None of his proposals perfectly match the design that was adopted.<ref>{{cite web |title=Proposals for European flags from Arsène Heitz (1952–1955) |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_arsene_heitz_1952_1955-en-3c8f111a-6be6-4111-a433-20f1a7f9fdba.html |website=CVCE |date=8 November 2011 |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-date=8 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808065032/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_arsene_heitz_1952_1955-en-3c8f111a-6be6-4111-a433-20f1a7f9fdba.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Paul Levy claims that he was the one who designed the template for the flag, not Arsène Heitz. In 1987, Heitz would claim that his inspiration had been the crown of twelve stars of the Woman of the Apocalypse, often found in Marian iconography (see above).<ref name="Economist">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2004/10/28/real-politics-at-last|title=Real politics, at last? |newspaper=The Economist|date=28 October 2004|access-date=14 August 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121104441/https://www.economist.com/europe/2004/10/28/real-politics-at-last |archive-date=2018-11-21}}</ref>
On 25 September 1953, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe recommended that a blue flag with fifteen gold stars be adopted as an emblem for the organisation, the number fifteen reflecting the number of states of the Council of Europe.<ref>{{cite web|title=Recommendation 56(1) of the Consultative Assembly on the choice of an emblem for the Council of Europe (25 September 1953)|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#61695385-14bd-4f99-9e5f-efb8f9581c5e_en&overlay|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118101434/https://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#61695385-14bd-4f99-9e5f-efb8f9581c5e_en&overlay|url-status=live}}</ref> West Germany objected to the fifteen-star design, as one of the members was Saar Protectorate, and to have its own star would imply sovereignty for the region.<ref name="Irish">{{cite web |last=Murphy |first=Sean |title=Memorandum on the Role of Irish Chief Herald Slevin in the Design of the European Flag |date=25 January 2006 |publisher=Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies |url=http://homepage.eircom.net/%7Eseanjmurphy/chiefs/euroflagmemo.html |access-date=2 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205083719/https://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/chiefs/euroflagmemo.html |archive-date=5 December 2008}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This website refers to a CoE website for its information, but that only contains the official reading about solidarity and harmony and all that; no political history of the flag.|date=March 2018}} The Committee of Ministers (the council's main decision-making body) agreed with the Assembly that the flag should be a circle of stars, but opted for a fixed number of twelve stars, "representing perfection and entirety".<ref name="ENA page"/> The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 October 1955 agreed to this. Paul M. G. Lévy drew up the exact design of the new flag.<ref name="Levy">{{cite web|title=Account by Paul M. G. Lévy, a Belgian Holocaust survivor on the creation of the European flag|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#6d23210b-865d-4f02-b2ca-2c30b9ed0588_en&overlay|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118101434/https://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#6d23210b-865d-4f02-b2ca-2c30b9ed0588_en&overlay|url-status=live}}</ref> Officially adopted on 8 December 1955, the flag was unveiled at the Château de la Muette in Paris on 13 December 1955.<ref name="COE page">{{cite web |title=Council of Europe's Emblems|publisher=Council of Europe|url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/flag.asp |access-date=16 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807045151/http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/flag.asp |archive-date=7 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ENA page"/>
====Alternative proposals from the 1950s==== For the flag of the Council of Europe, many stylistic proposals were made in regards to colours and symbolism. These first proposals were made 19 January 1950 by Paul Levy in a letter to the Secretary-General. He proposed that the flag should contain a cross for several reasons. Firstly, the cross symbolizes roads crossing, and also represents the east, the west, the north, and the south with its arms. Furthermore, the cross appears in most of the European Council members' flags, and it is the oldest and most noble symbol in Europe. Moreover, the cross depicted Christianity. As far as the colours are concerned, he proposed them to be white and green, colours of the European Movement, which was of great significance since 1947. Green also depicted hope, and the green cross over a white background was a design that had not been used yet. Finally, Levy proposed that the arms of Strasbourg was an important element to be added as it represented where the council would be, and being located in the heart of the cross meant that the council was the point where the European roads met.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000016806998d8|title=Memorandum from Paul Levy to Jacques-Camille Paris (Secretary General) about having a cross on the European flag|date=19 January 2020|website=Council of Europe}}</ref>
Shortly after this design considerations by Paul Levy, on 27 July 1950, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, president of the Pan-European movement wrote a memorandum which contained some rules that a flag for such union should follow. The rules he stated where:<ref>{{cite news |title=Memorandum from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi on the European flag (Gstaad, 27 July 1950) |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/memorandum_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_on_the_european_flag_gstaad_27_july_1950-en-ad9469d5-d9cf-46ae-95e0-897f96f94195.html |access-date=31 January 2021 |work=CVCE.EU by UNI.LU |date=12 March 2012 |language=en |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929211324/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/memorandum_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_on_the_european_flag_gstaad_27_july_1950-en-ad9469d5-d9cf-46ae-95e0-897f96f94195.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* It should be a symbol of our common civilisation. * It should present a European emblem. * It should not provoke any national rivalry. * It should represent tradition. * It should be beautiful and dignified.
After these statements, Coudenhove-Kalergi proposed that the Pan-European movement flag would be the perfect one to fit these criteria<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699d97|title=Memorandum presented to the Council of Europe by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi|date=26 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030003753/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699d97|url-status=live}}</ref>
15 July 1951, the consultative assembly put forward a final memorandum on the European flag. The symbols proposed where the following<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069cb09|title=Memorandum of the Secretariat General on the European Flag|date=26 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030031114/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069cb09|url-status=live}}</ref>
* A cross: Symbol of Christianity, Europe's crossroads, reminiscent of the crusades, and present in half of the member state's flags. * An "E": Used by the European Movement. * A white star in a circle: Symbol used in 1944–45 by the armies of liberation. * Multiple stars: Each star could represent a member. They could be green on a white background, white stars on a red background, or silver stars for associate members, and golden stars for full members. * Strasbourg's Coat of Arms: To symbolize the official seat of the Council of Europe. * A sun: It would represent dawning hope. * A triangle: It would represent culture.
Furthermore, several colours were also proposed:
* Multi-coloured: It was proposed that the flag could contain all the colours the flags of the member states had. * Green and White: These were the colours of the European Movement. * Blue: Symbol of peace and neutrality, as other colours were already used for other movements such as black for mourning, red for bolshevism, or green for Islam.
'''Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi'''
Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi consistently proposed choosing a flag with a red cross. In addition to the blue flag of the Pan-European movement with a yellow circle, he also presented the white flag with such cross.
{{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Former Flag of the International Paneuropean Union.svg|5 June 1950<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699937|title=Letter from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi to Jacques-Camille Paris (Secretary General) about using the red cross of the united states of Europe|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030025306/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699937|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699d97|title=Memorandum presented to the Council of Europe by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi about using the red cross of the United States of Europe|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030003753/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699d97|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Coudenhove-Kalergi Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|15 July 1951<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/09000016807b016c|title=Memorandum of the Secretariat General on the European Flag|date=3 January 2020|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=3 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103215005/https://rm.coe.int/09000016807b016c|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Coudenhove-Kalergi Flag Proposal (26 September 1951).svg|26 September 1951<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_flags_submitted_to_the_consultative_assembly_of_the_council_of_europe_december_1951-en-e1e93292-ee7f-43d7-8b82-c332ce034b82.html|title=Proposals for flags submitted to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (December 1951)|date=3 January 2020|website=CVCE.eu|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=4 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104000254/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_flags_submitted_to_the_consultative_assembly_of_the_council_of_europe_december_1951-en-e1e93292-ee7f-43d7-8b82-c332ce034b82.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699e8c|title=Memorandum from Paul Levy to Antoine Fischer (Saisons d'Alsace?) – 12 proposals for a flag|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe}}</ref> |File:Coudenhove-Kalergi Flag Proposal (15 October 1951).svg|15 October 1951<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_arsene_heitz_1952_1955-en-3c8f111a-6be6-4111-a433-20f1a7f9fdba.html|title=Proposals for European flags from Arsène Heitz (1952–1955)|date=3 January 2020|website=CVCE.eu|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=13 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113021045/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_arsene_heitz_1952_1955-en-3c8f111a-6be6-4111-a433-20f1a7f9fdba.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Coudenhove-Kalergi's Europe Flag Proposal.svg|Exact date unknown<ref>{{cite web |title=Proposals for European flags from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, Hanno F. Konopath, Gaetano Gambin and Wolfram Neue |date=13 April 2017 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_hanno_f_konopath_gaetano_gambin_and_wolfram_neue-en-5f32b2f9-cd30-40b8-9bfb-1bfe78aec077.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=12 May 2026 |archive-date=28 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015957/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_hanno_f_konopath_gaetano_gambin_and_wolfram_neue-en-5f32b2f9-cd30-40b8-9bfb-1bfe78aec077.html |url-status=live }}</ref> }}
'''Arsène Heitz'''
Council of Europe postal worker Arsène Heitz presented many flag concepts, mostly blue flags with stars or compass rose. Sometimes his designs included a space where the national flag of the country in which it was used would be placed. In addition to the blue flags, he also proposed green-red-yellow flags inspired by the medieval French banner known as Oriflamme. Red depicts the bloodshed in fratricidal struggles and yellow being the colour of the Pope and Christianity. {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (15 October 1951).svg|15 October 1951<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069aa2d|title=Letter from Arsène Heitz to Paul Levy. He proposes a red cross.|date=3 January 2020|website=council of Europe}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/09000016807b012c|title=European Flag: Memorandum by the Secretariat-General|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017224924/https://rm.coe.int/09000016807b012c|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (1951) 7.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=120}} |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (1951) 6.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=121}} |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (05 January 1952).svg|5 January 1952<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069a995|title=Letter from Arsène Heitz to F. Caracciolo (Clerk of the Assembly). He proposes a red cross on a green background, inspired by Charlemagne's standard|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe}}</ref>
|File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (1) (15 November 1952).svg|15 November 1952<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b81d|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – blue flag with the Turkish flag surrounded by stars in the top left-hand corner|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030050306/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b81d|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (2) (15 November 1952).svg|15 November 1952<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b823|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – blue flag with the British flag on the top left, and 15 stars laid out in two concentric circles in the middle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017083351/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b823|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (3) (15 November 1952).svg|15 November 1952<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b84e|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – blue flag with the French flag on the top left, and 15 stars laid out in two concentric circles in the middle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019194613/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b84e|url-status=live}}</ref>
|File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 1.svg|12 November 1954<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b857|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a yellow eight-pointed star in a red circle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023162038/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b857|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (12 November 1954).svg|12 November 1954<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b857|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a yellow eight-pointed star in a red circle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (25 December 1954).svg|25 December 1954<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a red and white eight-pointed compass rose in the middle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024150351/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (25 December 1954) 2.svg|25 December 1954<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a red and white eight-pointed compass rose in the middle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024150351/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (25 December 1954) 3.svg|25 December 1954<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a red and white eight-pointed compass rose in the middle|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024150351/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b872|url-status=live}}</ref>
|File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 15 yellow stars (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 11 yellow red stars (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 12 yellow red stars (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 15 yellow red stars (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 11 white red stars (11 September 1955).svg|11 September 1955<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|title=Design by Arsène Heitz – Blue flag with a star in the middle surrounded by twelve secondary stars|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015204258/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b874|url-status=live}}</ref>
|File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (1954).svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 5.svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 2.svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 3.svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal 4.svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> |File:Arsène Heitz Flag Proposal (Oriflamme of Charlemagne).svg|Exact date unknown<ref name=":4" /> }}
'''Hanno Konopath'''
Star circles were also proposed by Hanno F. Konopath in 1952. {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Hanno F. Konopath's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 1.svg|1952<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=117 }}</ref> |File:Hanno F. Konopath's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 2.svg|1952<ref name="CVCE">{{cite web |title=Proposals for European flags from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, Hanno F. Konopath, Gaetano Gambin and Wolfram Neue |date=13 April 2017 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_hanno_f_konopath_gaetano_gambin_and_wolfram_neue-en-5f32b2f9-cd30-40b8-9bfb-1bfe78aec077.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=12 May 2026 |archive-date=28 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015957/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_from_richard_coudenhove_kalergi_hanno_f_konopath_gaetano_gambin_and_wolfram_neue-en-5f32b2f9-cd30-40b8-9bfb-1bfe78aec077.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |File:Hanno F. Konopath's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 3.svg|1952<ref name="CVCE"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=117 }}</ref> |File:Proposed 15-star flag of Europe (1953).png|1953<ref name="CVCE"/> }}
'''Additional minor proposals '''
In the 1950s, during the Council of Europe's selection process, a number of additional designs were submitted. These designs were created by lesser-known designers, including private individuals from across Europe who submitted their proposals by post. The gallery below presents these archived designs.
{{Hidden begin| expanded = | title = Image gallery (rolled up)}} '''Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 1.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=23 }}</ref> |File:Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 2.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=23 }}</ref> |File:Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet's Europe Flag Proposal (1952) 3.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=23 }}</ref> }}
'''J. E. Dynan''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:J. E. Dylan Flag Proposal (26 September 1951).svg|1951<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699e32|title=Letter from J. Dynan (Associated Press) to Paul Levy – proposals for a flag|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=24 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024111820/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699e32|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:J. E. Dylan's Europe flag proposal (1951) 2.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=68 }}</ref> |File:J. E. Dylan's Europe flag proposal (1951) 3.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=68 }}</ref> |File:J. E. Dylan's Europe flag proposal (1951) 4.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=68 }}</ref> |File:J. E. Dylan's Europe flag proposal (1951) 5.svg|1951<ref>{{cite book |last1=von Lenthe |first1=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |date=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 |page=68 }}</ref> }}
'''Gambin Gaetano''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 1.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 2.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 3.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 4.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 5.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 6.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Gambin Gaetano flag proposal 1955 7.svg|1955<ref name="CVCE"/> }}
'''Alwin Mondon''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Alwin Mondon Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|15 July 1951<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Mondon">{{cite web |title=Proposals for European flags by Alwin Mondon |date=13 April 2017 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_by_alwin_mondon-en-61b59fd4-ed18-43ac-a681-18c77ae58a73.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=12 May 2026 |archive-date=13 March 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260313211017/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposals_for_european_flags_by_alwin_mondon-en-61b59fd4-ed18-43ac-a681-18c77ae58a73.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 2.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 3.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/><ref name="Alsace"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 4.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 5.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 6.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 7.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 8.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 9.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 10.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 11.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> |File:Alvin Mondon's Europe flag proposal (1951) 12.svg|1951<ref name="Mondon"/> }}
'''Muller of Wiesbaden''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Muller of Wiesbaden Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|15 July 1951<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Muller of Wiesbaden Flag Proposal (15 July 1951) 2.svg|15 July 1951<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> }}
'''Wolfram Neue''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Wolfram Neue's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 1.svg|1951<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Wolfram Neue's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 2.svg|1951<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Wolfram Neue's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 3.svg|1951<ref name="CVCE"/> |File:Wolfram Neue's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 4.svg|1951<ref name="CVCE"/> }}
'''Michel Pélot''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Michel Pélot's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 1.svg|1951<ref name="Projets">{{cite web |title=Projets de drapeaux pour une organisation de l'Europe |date=13 April 2017 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/projets_de_drapeaux_pour_une_organisation_de_l_europe-fr-ad2b30df-1f46-434b-aa83-02bdf011ef0c.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=12 May 2026 |archive-date=28 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260128020002/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/projets_de_drapeaux_pour_une_organisation_de_l_europe-fr-ad2b30df-1f46-434b-aa83-02bdf011ef0c.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=40}} |File:Michel Pélot's Europe Flag Proposal (1951) 2.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=40}} }}
'''Lucien Philippe''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Lucien Philippe Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|1951<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Lucien Philippe's Europe flag proposal (15 July 1951) 2.svg|1951<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Lucien Philippe's Europe flag proposal (15 July 1951) 3.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=95}} |File:Lucien Philippe's Europe flag proposal (15 July 1951) 4.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=95}} |File:Lucien Philippe's Europe flag proposal (15 July 1951) 5.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=95}} |File:Lucien Philippe's Europe flag proposal (15 July 1951) 6.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=95}} }}
'''Walther Timm''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Walther Timm's Europe flag proposal (1951) 1.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=25}} |File:Walther Timm's Europe flag proposal (1951) 2.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=25}} |File:Walther Timm's Europe flag proposal (1951) 3.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=25}} |File:Walther Timm's Europe flag proposal (1951) 4.svg|1951{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=25}} }}
'''Louis Wirion''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Louis Wirion Flag Proposal (15 July 1951) (Original).svg|15 July 1951 |File:Louis Wirion Flag Proposal (15 July 1951) (Martin-Levy Modification).svg|15 July 1951 |File:Unknown Flag Proposal (26 September 1951).svg|26 September 1951 |File:Unknown Flag Proposal (26 September 1951) (2).svg|26 September 1951 |File:Louis Wirion's Europe flag proposal (1951).svg|1951 }}
'''Other''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Bichet's Flag Proposal (September 1953).svg|Bichet's (September 1953) |File:G. A. Bornemann's Europe flag proposal (1952).svg|G. A. Bornemann Proposal (1952){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=56}} |File:H.C. Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|H.C. Blue-red flag is the international code sign of the letter "E". (15 July 1951)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Harmignies Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|Harmignies (15 July 1951)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Paul Levy Flag Proposal (12 May 1952).svg|Paul Levy (12 May 1952)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069a997|title=Extract of a letter from George Coedes on the Turks and the cross|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069aafe|title=Letter from Paul Levy to Salvador de Madariaga on Turkish opposition to a cross|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028185308/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069aafe|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069c90a|title=Letter from Paul Levy to Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi on Turkish opposition to a cross|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028102518/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069c90a|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069c912|title=Letter from Paul Levy to Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi. He suggests how to proceed as regards his proposal for a crescent shape to be added.|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017222129/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069c912|url-status=live}}</ref> |File:Adolf Lorder's Europe flag proposal (1950s).svg|Adolf Lorder (1950s)<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Martin-Levy Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|Martin-Levy (15 July 1951)<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Camille Manné Flag Proposal (23 August 1949).svg|Camille Manné (23 August 1949)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699417|title=Proposal by Camille Manné (Founder of the SICOP printing firm, Bischheim, Alsace, France)|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=19 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019214831/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=0900001680699417|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b736|title=Flag showing the design by Camille Manet (Founder of the SICOP printing firm, Bischheim, Alsace, France)|date=3 January 2020|website=Council of Europe|access-date=14 April 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030173325/https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168069b736|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/> |File:Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet's Europe flag proposal (1952).svg|Joseph Oberson-Bagnolet (1952){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=94}} |File:Poucher Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|Poucher (1951)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Prince de Schwarzenberg Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|Prince de Schwarzenberg (1951)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> |File:Sommier of Neuilly Flag Proposal (15 July 1951).svg|Sommier of Neuilly (1951)<ref name=":0" /> |File:Mirko Svetkov's Europe flag proposal (1951).svg|Mirko Svetkov (1951){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=53}} |File:August Vincent's Europe flag proposal (1950).svg|August Vincent (1950){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=21}} |File:Lex Weyer's Europe flag proposal (1951).svg|Lex Weyer (1951){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=52}} |File:Werner S. Wulfing, Feldkirch, 1949.svg|Werner S. Wulfing (1949){{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=92}} }}
'''Anonymous''' {{Gallery|align=center|height=120 |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 1.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 2.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 3.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 4.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/><ref name="Alsace">{{cite web |title='A flag for Europe' from Saisons d'Alsace (1950) |date=8 November 2011 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/a_flag_for_europe_from_saisons_d_alsace_1950-en-a6e5f5e4-e625-4de3-bbec-ab422fd8c518.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=12 May 2026 |archive-date=28 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015959/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/a_flag_for_europe_from_saisons_d_alsace_1950-en-a6e5f5e4-e625-4de3-bbec-ab422fd8c518.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 9.svg|1950s<ref name="Alsace"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 5.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 6.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 7.svg|1950s<ref name="Alsace"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 8.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/><ref name="Alsace"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 10.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 11.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=43}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 12.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=42}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 13.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=42}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 14.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (pre 1950) 15.svg|1950s<ref name="Alsace"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 16.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=20}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 17.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=20}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 18.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=20}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (pre 1950) 19.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=85}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 20.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=84}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 21.svg|1950s<ref name="Projets"/> |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 28.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 22.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=55}} |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 23.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 24.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 25.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 26.svg|1950s |File:2Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 27.svg|1950s |File:Unattributed European flag proposal (1950s) 29.svg|1950s{{sfn|von Lenthe|2020|p=22}} }} {{Hidden end}}
===1983–present: From European Communities to European Union{{anchor|European Community}}=== {{recentism|date=August 2019}} thumb|150px|Vertical flag of Europe|left Following Expo 58 in Brussels, the flag caught on and the Council of Europe lobbied for other European organisations to adopt the flag as a sign of European unity.<ref name="ENA page"/> The European Parliament took the initiative in seeking a flag to be adopted by the European Communities. Shortly after the first direct elections in 1979 a draft resolution was put forward on the issue. The resolution proposed that the Communities' flag should be that of the Council of Europe<ref name="COE page"/> and it was adopted by the Parliament on 11 April 1983.<ref name="ENA page"/>
[[File:Wim Schuijt proposed flag for the European Communities (1960).svg|thumb|150px|Wim Schuijt proposed flag for the European Communities (19 November 1960)<ref>{{cite web |title=Proposed flag for the European Communities (1960) |date=8 December 2011 |url=https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposed_flag_for_the_european_communities_1960-en-aa16ca02-858d-476e-851f-f9536cf0f2c1.html |publisher=University of Luxembourg |access-date=11 May 2026 |archive-date=28 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260128015959/https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/proposed_flag_for_the_european_communities_1960-en-aa16ca02-858d-476e-851f-f9536cf0f2c1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]] thumb|150px|"Flag and emblem" for the European Communities proposed in the 1985 Adonnino Report<ref name=Adonnino/> The June 1984 European Council (the Communities' leaders) summit in Fontainebleau stressed the importance of promoting a European image and identity to citizens and the world. The European Council appointed an ''ad hoc'' committee, named "Committee for 'a People's Europe'" (Adonnino Committee).
This committee submitted a substantial report, including wide-ranging suggestions, from organising a "European lottery" to campaigning for the introduction of local voting rights for foreign nationals throughout Europe.<ref name=Adonnino>[https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/resources/historicaldocument.faces/en/4659/html.bookmark Regarding The "Adonnino Report" – Report to the European Council by the ad hoc committee "On a People's Europe", A 10.04 COM 85, SN/2536/3/85] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506173740/https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/resources/historicaldocument.faces/en/4659/html.bookmark |date=6 May 2018 }}.</ref> Under the header of "strengthening of the Community's image and identity", the Committee suggested the introduction of "a flag and an emblem", recommending a design based on the Council of Europe flag, but with the addition of "a gold letter E" in the center of the circle of stars.<ref>"bearing in mind the independence and the different nature of the two organizations, the Committee proposes to the European Council that the European Community emblem and flag should be a blue rectangle with, in the center, a circle of twelve five-pointed gold stars which do not touch, surrounding a gold letter E, of the design already used by the Commission." Adonnino Report, p. 31.</ref> The European Council held in Milan on 28/29 June 1985 largely followed the recommendations of the Adonnino Committee. But as the adoption of a flag was strongly reminiscent of a national flag representing statehood and was extremely controversial with some member states (in particular the United Kingdom, as the proposed flag closely resembled the Queen's personal standard), the Council of Europe's "flag of Europe" design was adopted, without the letter E, only with the official status of a "logo".<ref>Tobias Theiler, ''Political Symbolism and European Integration'', Manchester University Press, 2005 [https://books.google.com/books?id=JMiqfaCXr50C&pg=PA61 p. 61–65].</ref> This compromise was widely disregarded from the beginning, and the "European logo", in spite of the explicit language of giving it the status of a "logo", was referred to as the "Community flag" or even "European flag" from the outset.<ref>"not a compromise that the Commission itself cared much to abide by: from the outset, it generally used the terms 'Community flag' or, bolder still, 'European flag'." Tobias Theiler, ''Political Symbolism and European Integration'', Manchester University Press, 2005 [https://books.google.com/books?id=JMiqfaCXr50C&pg=PA6 p. 6].</ref>
The Communities began to use the "emblem" as its ''de facto'' flag from 1986, raising it outside the Berlaymont building (the seat of the European Commission) for the first time on 29 May 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=Raising of the European flag in front of the Berlaymont (Brussels, 29 May 1986)|date=8 December 2011|publisher=CVCE|url=http://www.cvce.eu/obj/raising_of_the_european_flag_in_front_of_the_berlaymont_building_brussels_29_may_1986-en-8ac2b8f2-eaff-4f43-951a-a7aa21aa6b42.html|access-date=25 June 2014|archive-date=4 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204010508/http://www.cvce.eu/obj/raising_of_the_european_flag_in_front_of_the_berlaymont_building_brussels_29_may_1986-en-8ac2b8f2-eaff-4f43-951a-a7aa21aa6b42.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The European Union, which was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 to replace the European Communities and encompass its functions, has retained ''de facto'' use of the "Community logo" of the EC.<ref name="COE page"/> Technically and officially, the "European flag" as used by the European Union remains not a "flag" but "a Community 'logo' — or 'emblem' — [...] eligible to be reproduced on rectangular pieces of fabric".<ref>Nicole Scicluna, ''European Union Constitutionalism in Crisis'', Routledge (2014), [https://books.google.com/books?id=AYbZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 p. 56] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605214843/https://books.google.com/books?id=AYbZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |date=5 June 2023 }}.</ref>
In 1997, the "Central and Eastern Eurobarometer" poll included a section intending to "discover the level of public awareness of the European Union" in what were then candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Interviewees were shown "a sticker of the European flag" and asked to identify it. Responses considered correct were: the European Union, the European Community, the Common Market, and "Europe in general". 52% of those interviewed gave one of the correct answers, 15% gave a wrong answer (naming another institution, such as NATO or the United Nations), and 35% could or would not identify it.<ref>Countries polled: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia (joined 2004), Bulgaria and Romania (joined 2007). [http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ceeb/ceeb_8.pdf Central and Eastern Eurobarometer, Issue 8] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506173903/http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ceeb/ceeb_8.pdf |date=6 May 2018 }}, European Commission, March 1998.</ref>
{{anchor|Barcode flag}} thumb|196x196px|Demi Vollering, wearing the 2026 European championship medal and jersey The European Cycling Union, established in 1990<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 January 2026 |title=About UEC |url=https://www.uec.ch/en/about-uec#/ |access-date=23 January 2026 |archive-date=1 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260101020546/https://www.uec.ch/en/about-uec#/ |url-status=live }}</ref>, uses the blue and yellow stars with includes lighter shades of blue and tilted stars in its logo. The same design elements are seen on championship jerseys and medals awarded to the winners of annual championships.[[File:European Union barcode flag by Rem Koolhaas (2002).svg|thumb|The "flag barcode"|211x211px]] In 2002, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed a symbol, dubbed the "barcode", which displayed the colours of the national flags of the EU member states in vertical stripes. It was reported as a replacement for the European flag, which was not the intention. It was not adopted by the EU or any other organisation at the time, but an updated version was used in the visual identity of the Austrian EU Presidency in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Down with EU stars, run up stripes |date=8 May 2002 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1974721.stm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=EU barcode |work=OMA projects |url=https://www.oma.com/projects/eu-barcode |access-date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308041700/https://www.oma.com/projects/eu-barcode |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Austrian EU Presidency Logo|date=21 October 2005|publisher=Dexigner|url=https://www.dexigner.com/news/5578|access-date=13 October 2016|archive-date=18 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018101801/https://www.dexigner.com/news/5578|url-status=live}}</ref>
The official status of the emblem as the flag of the European Union was to be formalised as part of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. However, as the proposed treaty failed ratification, the mention of all state-like emblems, including the flag, were not included in the replacement Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in 2009.
Instead, a separate declaration by sixteen Member States was included in the final act of the Treaty of Lisbon stating that the flag, the anthem, the motto and the currency and Europe Day "will for them continue as symbols to express the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it."<ref name="lisbon-symbols-declaration">"Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic declare that the flag with a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background, the anthem based on the 'Ode to Joy' from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, the motto 'United in diversity', the euro as the currency of the European Union and Europe Day on 9 May will for them continue as symbols to express the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it." Final Act, [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF Official Journal of the European Union, 2007 C 306–2, p. 267] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815060321/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF |date=15 August 2019 }}</ref>
In reaction to the removal of the flag from the treaty, the European Parliament, which had supported the inclusion of such symbols, backed a proposal to use these symbols "more often" on behalf of the Parliament itself; Jo Leinen, MEP for Germany, suggested that the Parliament should take "an ''avant-garde'' role" in their use.<ref>{{cite web |last=Beunderman |first=Mark |title=MEPs defy member states on EU symbols |newspaper=EUobserver |date=11 July 2007 |url=http://euobserver.com/9/24464 |access-date=12 July 2007 |archive-date=10 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210093334/http://euobserver.com/9/24464 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{clarify|date=January 2017}}
In September 2008, the Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs proposed a formal change in the institution's rules of procedure to make "better use of the symbols". Specifically, the flag would be present in all meeting rooms (not just the hemicycle) and at all official events.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EU Parliament set to use European flag, anthem |publisher=EU Business |date=11 September 2008 |url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1221140822.65 |access-date=12 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912123052/http://eubusiness.com/news-eu/1221140822.65 |archive-date=12 September 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The proposal was passed on 8 October 2008 by 503 votes to 96 (15 abstentions).<ref>{{Cite news|first=Lucia|last=Kubosova|title=No prolonged mandate for Barroso, MEPs warn|newspaper=EUobserver|date=9 October 2008|url=http://euobserver.com/9/26899|access-date=9 October 2008|archive-date=10 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010125604/http://euobserver.com/9/26899|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2015, a set of commemorative Euro coins was issued on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the emblem by the European Communities.<ref>"To mark the 30th anniversary of the decision by EU leaders to adopt the flag as an EU emblem, the 19 euro area countries are issuing a special commemorative coin. Following an online competition held in 2015 by the European Commission, citizens and residents of the euro area selected the design created by Georgios Stamatopoulos, an engraver at the Bank of Greece. It comprises 12 stars that morph into human figures embracing the birth of a new Europe." ([https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/flag_en europa.eu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816235343/https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/flag_en |date=16 August 2016 }})</ref>
{{further|Pan-Europeanism|Colour revolutions}} In April 2004, the European flag was flown on behalf of the European Space Agency, by Dutch astronaut André Kuipers while on board the International Space Station, in reference to the Framework Agreement establishing the legal basis for co-operation between the European Space Agency and the European Union.<ref>{{cite web|title=Further steps towards a European space policy|publisher=European Space Agency|url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJ0Z0DU8E_index_1.html#subhead3|access-date=11 February 2009|archive-date=14 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614200502/http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJ0Z0DU8E_index_1.html#subhead3|url-status=live}}</ref>
Following the 2004 Summer Olympics, President Romano Prodi expressed his hope "to see the EU Member State teams [[2008 Summer Olympics|in Beijing [viz., the 2008 games] ]] carry the flag of the European Union alongside their own national flag as a symbol of our unity".<ref>[http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-04-1052_en.htm?locale=EN Olympic Games 2004 – Congratulations from President Prodi, European Commission, 30 August 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425183731/http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-04-1052_en.htm?locale=EN |date=25 April 2018 }}.</ref> Use of the flag has also been reported as representing the European team at the Ryder Cup golf competition in the early 2000s, although most European participants preferred to use their own national flags.<ref>"While some fans of the European players in golf's Ryder Cup unfurl the flag of the European Union, many persist in waving their national flags despite the multinational composition of the European team." Alan Bairner, ''Sport, Nationalism, and Globalization: European and North American Perspectives'' (2001), [https://books.google.com/books?id=tyruTIHJJIMC&pg=PA2 p. 2.] {{cite web|last=Rachman|first=Gideon|title=The Ryder Cup and Euro-nationalism|date=22 September 2006|work=Financial Times|url=http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2006/09/the-ryder-cup-ahtml/|access-date=17 August 2008|archive-date=21 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821162928/http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2006/09/the-ryder-cup-ahtml/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The flag has been widely used by advocates of European integration since the late 1990s or early 2000s. It is often displayed in the context of Europe Day, on 9 May. Outside the EU, it was used in the context of several of the "colour revolutions" during the 2000s. In Belarus, it was used on protest marches alongside the white-red-white flag and other flags of opposition movements, such as ''Zubr'', during the protests of 2004–2006.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mite|title=Belarus: Scores Arrested, Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Minsk Protests|date=20 October 2004|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1055434.html|access-date=5 August 2007|archive-date=10 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110050601/https://www.rferl.org/a/1055434.html|url-status=live}} {{cite news|last1=Myers|first1=Steven Lee|last2=Chivers|first2=C.J.|title=Election is landslide for leader of Belarus|date=20 March 2006|work=International Herald Tribune|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/19/news/belarus.php|access-date=9 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515113728/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/19/news/belarus.php|archive-date=15 May 2008}}</ref> The flag was used widely in a 2007 pro-EU march in Minsk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Belarusians had European March in Minsk |date=14 October 2007 |publisher=charter97.org |url=http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2007/10/14/674/ |access-date=25 November 2007 |archive-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611184743/http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2007/10/14/674/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Similar uses were reported from Moldova in 2009.{{failed verification|date=April 2017}}<ref name="Romania slams Moldova's sanctions">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7992259.stm|title=Romania slams Moldova's sanctions|date=9 April 2009|access-date=12 December 2017|website=News.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=12 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412190749/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7992259.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
In Georgia, the flag has been on most government buildings since the coming to power of Mikheil Saakashvili (2007),<ref>{{cite news |last=Petersen |first=Alex |title=Comment – Georgia: Brussels on its mind |date=1 May 2007 |newspaper=EUobserver |url=http://euobserver.com/7/23969 |access-date=1 May 2007 |archive-date=5 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505195003/http://euobserver.com/7/23969 |url-status=live }}</ref> who used it during his inauguration,<ref>{{cite news |last=Gutterman |first=Steve |title=Saakashvili Sworn in as New President |newspaper=The Moscow Times |url=http://oldtmt.vedomosti.ru/sitemap/free/2004/1/article/saakashvili-sworn-in-as-new-president/233386.html |date=26 January 2004 |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=5 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205193351/http://oldtmt.vedomosti.ru/sitemap/free/2004/1/article/saakashvili-sworn-in-as-new-president/233386.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> stating: "[the European] flag is Georgia's flag as well, as far as it embodies our civilisation, our culture, the essence of our history and perspective, and our vision for the future of Georgia."<ref>{{cite web |last=Petersen |first=Alexandros |title=Georgia: Brussels on its mind |date=2 May 2007 |publisher=Global Power Europe |url=http://www.globalpowereurope.eu/2007/05/georgia-brussels-on-its-mind.html |access-date=25 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061020/http://www.globalpowereurope.eu/2007/05/georgia-brussels-on-its-mind.html |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
It was used in 2008 by pro-western Serbian voters ahead of an election.<ref name=Reuters>{{cite news |title=Photo from Reuters Pictures|date=9 May 2008|publisher=Reuters Images, on Daylife |url=http://www.daylife.com/photo/0aMZfuae7saPC/European_Union |access-date=9 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625171412/http://www.daylife.com/photo/0aMZfuae7saPC/European_Union |archive-date=25 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Euromaidan Kyiv 1-12-13 by Gnatoush 005.jpg|thumb|Protesters in Kyiv waving Ukrainian and European flags during the Euromaidan demonstrations in 2013]] The flag became a symbol of European integration of Ukraine in the 2010s, particularly after Euromaidan. Ukraine is not a part of the EU but is a member of the Council of Europe. The flag is used by the Cabinet of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine, and MFA UA during official meetings.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/photogallery/gallery?galleryId=247776574& |title=Government portal :: November 26, a meeting of the Government |access-date=8 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220638/http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/photogallery/gallery?galleryId=247776574& |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was flown during the 2013 Euromaidan protests in Ukraine,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2013-12-09/revolution-euromaidan|title=Revolution on Euromaidan|last=Grätz|first=Jonas|date=9 December 2013|work=Foreign Affairs|access-date=3 April 2018|issn=0015-7120|archive-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403012356/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2013-12-09/revolution-euromaidan|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/11/ukraine-and-eu-0|title=Politics of brutal pressure|date=23 November 2013|newspaper=The Economist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225010431/http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/11/ukraine-and-eu-0/|archive-date=25 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/euromaidan-politics-ukraine/26648497.html|title=The Evolution Of Euromaidan|date=19 November 2014|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403004926/https://www.rferl.org/a/euromaidan-politics-ukraine/26648497.html|archive-date=3 April 2018}}</ref> and in 2016 by the pro-EU faction in the EU membership referendum campaigns in the United Kingdom.
The flag has also been adopted as a symbol for EU policies and expansionism by EU-sceptics. In an early instance, Macedonian protesters burned "the flag of the EU" in the context of EU involvement in the 2001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia.<ref>''The Times'' 27 June 2001, p. 14, cited after Ian Jeffries, ''The Former Yugoslavia at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to the Economies in Transition'', Routledge (2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=sl-BAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA296 p. 296].</ref> In the 2005 Islamic protests against the ''Jyllands-Posten Muhammad'' cartoons, the Danish flag was most frequently burned, but (as the cartoons were reprinted in many European countries), some protesters opted for burning "the EU flag" instead.<ref>G. Delanty in: David Denney (ed.), ''Living in Dangerous Times: Fear, Insecurity, Risk and Social Policy'' (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5c1WJamanfYC&pg=PA124 p. 124].</ref> Protesters during the Greek government-debt crisis of 2012 "burned the EU flag and shouted 'EU out' ".<ref>Blaming Sara B. Hobolt, James Tilley, ''Europe?: Responsibility Without Accountability in the European Union'' (2014), [https://books.google.com/books?id=l9TQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 p. 3].</ref> Burning of the EU flag has been reported from other anti-EU rallies since.<ref>e.g. Jess Casey, [http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Cork-group-burns-flag-during-anti-EU-rally-outside-City-Hall-50f2d444-88c8-494d-8fd1-7eb0392886a3-ds Cork group burns flag during anti-EU rally outside City Hall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425183122/http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Cork-group-burns-flag-during-anti-EU-rally-outside-City-Hall-50f2d444-88c8-494d-8fd1-7eb0392886a3-ds |date=25 April 2018 }}, Evening Echo, 10 May 2017</ref>
By the 2010s, the association of the emblem with the EU had become so strong that the Council of Europe saw it necessary to design a new logo, to "avoid confusion", officially adopted in 2013.<ref name="CoE2013"/>
The EU emblem ("EU flag") is depicted on the euro banknotes.<ref>{{cite web |title=The euro |publisher=European Central Bank|url=http://www.ecb.int/bc/euro/html/index.en.html|access-date=4 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806010151/http://www.ecb.int/bc/euro/html/index.en.html |archive-date=6 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Euro coins also display a circle of twelve stars on both the national and common sides.<ref>{{cite web |title=Euro coins |publisher=European Central Bank |url=http://www.ecb.int/bc/euro/coins/html/index.en.html |access-date=28 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224165324/http://www.ecb.int/bc/euro/coins/html/index.en.html |archive-date=24 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
It is also depicted on many driving licences and vehicle registration plates issued in the Union.<ref name="FOTW legal">{{cite web |title=European Union: Legal use of the flag |date=10 September 2005 |publisher=Flags of the World |url=http://www.allstates-flag.com/fotw/flags/eu_law.html |access-date=29 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118061239/http://www.allstates-flag.com/fotw/flags/eu_law.html |archive-date=18 November 2009}}</ref> Diplomatic missions of EU member states fly the EU flag alongside their national flag. In October 2000, the then-new British Embassy in Berlin sparked controversy between the UK and Germany and the EU when the embassy did not have a second external flagpole for the EU flag. After diplomatic negotiations, it was agreed that the outside flagpole would have the diplomatic Union Flag while inside the embassy, the EU flag would accompany the UK flag.<ref>{{cite news |last=Helm|first=Toby|title=Embassy flagpole flies in the face of EU diplomacy |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1370700/Embassy-flagpole-flies-in-the-face-of-EU-diplomacy.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/1370700/Embassy-flagpole-flies-in-the-face-of-EU-diplomacy.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=13 April 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Some member states' national airlines such as Lufthansa have the EU flag alongside their national flags on aircraft as part of their aircraft registration codes, but this is not an EU-mandated directive.<ref>{{cite web |last=Reid|first=Jenni|title=Lufthansa flies a pro-European message ahead of EU elections|date=25 April 2019 |url=https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2019/04/25/lufthansa-flies-pro-european-message-ahead-of-eu-elections/|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref>
A number of logos used by EU institutions, bodies and agencies are derived from the design and colours of the EU emblem.<ref name="Europa logos">{{cite web |title=Emblems|publisher=Europa (web portal)|url=http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000200.htm|access-date=28 December 2007}}</ref>
Other emblems make reference to the European flag, such as the EU organic food label that uses the twelve stars but reorders them into the shape of a leaf on a green background. The original logo of the European Broadcasting Union used the twelve stars on a blue background adding ray beams to connect the countries.
There was a proposal before the EU parliament in 2003 to deface national civil ensigns with the EU emblem. The proposal was rejected by the parliament in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rejected proposal of a European civil ensign |publisher=Flags of the World |url=http://areciboweb.50megs.com/fotw/flags/eu~eun.html#pro |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-date=12 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612163915/http://areciboweb.50megs.com/fotw/flags/eu~eun.html#pro |url-status=live }}</ref>
The flag is usually flown by the government of the country holding the rotating presidency Council of Ministers. In 2009, Czech President Václav Klaus, a eurosceptic, refused to fly the flag from his castle. In response, Greenpeace projected an image of the flag onto the castle and attempted to fly the flag from the building themselves.<ref name="Czech">{{cite web |title=Greenpeace screen EU flag on Prague Castle|date=7 January 2009|publisher=Aktuálně.cz|url=https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/greenpeace-screen-eu-flag-on-prague-castle/r~i:article:626523|access-date=18 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018083942/https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/greenpeace-screen-eu-flag-on-prague-castle/r~i:article:626523/ |archive-date=18 October 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>
Extraordinary flying of the flag is common on Europe Day, celebrated annually on 9 May.<ref name=Reuters/><ref>{{cite web |last=Rasmussen|first=Rina Valeur|title=Celebration of Europe Day 9 May 2007 in Denmark |publisher=Politeia |url=http://www.politeia.net/newsletter/politeia_newsletter_special_june_2007/celebration_of_europe_day_9_may_2007_in_denmark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929003643/http://www.politeia.net/newsletter/politeia_newsletter_special_june_2007/celebration_of_europe_day_9_may_2007_in_denmark|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 September 2007|access-date=4 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rasmussen|first=Rina Valeur|title=London Eye lights up in colours of the European flag|date=9 May 2007|publisher=Europa (web portal)|url=http://ec.europa.eu/news/around/070509_uk_en.htm|access-date=4 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819214159/http://ec.europa.eu/news/around/070509_uk_en.htm |archive-date=19 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On Europe Day 2008, the flag was flown for the first time above the German Reichstag.<ref name=Reuters/>
The flag has also been displayed in the context of EU military operations (EUFOR Althea).<ref>{{cite web |title=EUFOR Welcome Ceremony/Unfolding EU flag |publisher=NATO |url=http://www.nhqs.nato.int/multimedia/photoGallery/2003/NHQS/31%20March%20EUFOR%20Welcome%20Ceremony/pages/Unfolding%20EU%20flag%2001_jpg.htm |format=PDF |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611165130/http://www.nhqs.nato.int/multimedia/photoGallery/2003/NHQS/31%20March%20EUFOR%20Welcome%20Ceremony/pages/Unfolding%20EU%20flag%2001_jpg.htm |archive-date=11 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
<gallery> File:KOD demonstration, Warsaw May 7 2016 21.jpg|A KOD demonstration in Warsaw, Poland against the ruling Law and Justice party, on 7 May 2016 File:Holding an EU flag.jpg|European flag with the Ukrainian trident at a pro-EU rally in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 24 November 2013 File:The Europa series 100 € obverse side.jpg|Flag of the EU in the top left corner of a 100 euro banknote (second series) File:Logo European Central Bank.svg|European Central Bank logo File:Saksen-Anhalt license plate 02.JPG|The EU uses the emblem in a number of ways, here on vehicle registration plates. The "D" in this photo indicates Germany (Deutschland). File:Sergio Mattarella e António Guterres al Quirinale 2019 (2).jpg|In Italy the European Flag must be displayed alongside the national flag in official ceremonies and over public buildings. File:EU Flag Louvre.jpg|The European Flag is placed on numerous municipal flagpoles in Paris, on a par with the flag of France; here in front of the Louvre Palace (flown upside down). File:Flickr - Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδας - Angela Merkel - Αντώνης Σαμαράς (9).jpg|Order of precedence at the state visit of Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras in Berlin (24 August 2012): The Greek flag takes the first order of precedence, followed by the German flag on the right (seen on the left when facing the building) and the European flag in third order, on the left. File:BadElster Grenze4383.JPG|German border sign File:Croatian driving licence 2023 (recto).jpg|Driving licences in the EU feature the twelve stars on a blue background with the country's distinguishing sign. File:2021 Czech ID card front.jpg|From 2021, identity cards issued in the EU display an EU flag with their two-letter country code. </gallery>
Sixteen out of twenty-seven member states in 2007 signed the declaration recognising "the flag with a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background" as representing "the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF|title=Official Journal of the European Union, 2007 C 306–2, p. 267|access-date=8 May 2008|archive-date=15 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815060321/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:0231:0271:EN:PDF|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, president of France Emmanuel Macron signed a declaration endorsing the 2007 statement,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-21-2017-INIT/en/pdf|title=Meeting of the EUROPEAN COUNCIL held on 19 October 2017|date=17 January 2018|access-date=3 February 2018|publisher=European Council|archive-date=4 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204000125/http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-21-2017-INIT/en/pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-france-recognize-eu-flag-and-anthem/|title=Manu joins EU flag club|date=19 October 2017|access-date=3 November 2017|first=FLORIAN|last=EDER|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107030203/https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-france-recognize-eu-flag-and-anthem/|url-status=live}} {{cite web|url=http://en.rfi.fr/europe/20171020-macron-squares-eurosceptics-eu-flag-brexit|title=Macron squares up to Eurosceptics on EU flag, Brexit|date=20 October 2017|access-date=3 November 2017|first=Tony|last=Cross|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011549/http://en.rfi.fr/europe/20171020-macron-squares-eurosceptics-eu-flag-brexit|url-status=live}}</ref> so that, as of 2018, 17 out of 27 member states have recognised the emblem as a flag representing "allegiance to the EU": Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.<!--Dissidents: Croatia [accession 2013], Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, UK-->
Italy has incorporated the EU flag into its flag code. According to an Italian law passed in 2000, it is mandatory for most public offices and buildings to hoist the European Flag alongside the Italian national flag (Law 22/1998 and Presidential Decree 121/2000). Outside official use, the flag may not be used for "aims incompatible with European values".<ref name="FOTW legal"/> The 2000 Italian flag code expressly replaces the Italian flag with the European flag in precedence when dignitaries from other EU countries visit – for example the EU flag would be in the middle of a group of three flags rather than the Italian flag.<ref name=Italy_flag_law>[http://www.governo.it/Presidenza/cerimoniale/onorificenze_araldica/documentazione/sistema_onorifico_rep_it.pdf The Rules of Protocol regarding national holidays and the use of the Italian flag] (2001) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219113545/http://www.governo.it/Presidenza/cerimoniale/onorificenze_araldica/documentazione/sistema_onorifico_rep_it.pdf |date=19 December 2008}} Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department of Protocol (2001). LAW No. 22 of 5 February 1998: "General Rules Governing the Use of the Flags of the Italian Republic and the European Union".</ref> In Germany, the federal flag code of 1996 is only concerned with the German flag,<ref>[https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl196s1729.pdf FlaggAO (BGBl. I S. 1729) 13. November 1996] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214182632/https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&jumpTo=bgbl196s1729.pdf |date=14 December 2016 }}.</ref> but some of the states have legislated additional provisions for the European flag, such as Bavaria in its flag regulation of 2001, which mandates that the European flag take the third order of precedence, after the federal and state flags, except on Europe Day, where it is to take the first order of precedence.<ref>[http://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/BayVwAoFlag/true Flaggen-Verwaltungsanordnung (VwAoFlag) in der Fassung der Bekanntmachung vom 4. Dezember 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317010914/http://www.gesetze-bayern.de/Content/Document/BayVwAoFlag/true? |date=17 March 2018 }} "§ 3 (1) Grundsätzlich werden die bayerische Staatsflagge, die Bundesflagge und, soweit möglich, die Europaflagge gemeinsam gesetzt. (2) 1 Der Bundesflagge gebührt die bevorzugte Stelle. 2 Sie ist grundsätzlich in der Mitte zu setzen, rechts anschließend, vom Innern des Gebäudes mit dem Blick zur Straße gesehen, die bayerische Staatsflagge und links die Europaflagge. 3 Am Europatag ist die Europaflagge an bevorzugter Stelle zu hissen."</ref>
In Ireland<ref name="Protocol IE">{{cite web |title=An Bhratach Náisiúnta / The National Flag |publisher=Department of the Taoiseach |url=http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/RTF%20files/The%20National%20Flag.rtf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128165907/http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/RTF%20files/The%20National%20Flag.rtf |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 November 2007 |format=RTF |access-date=28 December 2007}}</ref><ref>"Order for European Union Events The European Union Flag: The national flags in order of their name in their primary local language." {{cite web |title=Flying Flags in the United Kingdom |publisher=Flag Institute |url=https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Flying_Flags_in_the_United_Kingdom.pdf |date=March 2010 |access-date=29 May 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610143353/https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Flying_Flags_in_the_United_Kingdom.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> on occasions of "European Union Events" (for example, at a European Council meeting), where the European flag is flown alongside all national flags of member states, the national flags are placed in alphabetical order (according to their name in the main language of that state) with the European flag either at the head, or the far-right, of the order of flags.
In most member states, use of the EU flag is only ''de facto'' and not regulated by legislation, and as such subject to ''ad hoc'' revision. In national usage, national protocol usually{{clarify|date=May 2018}}<!--specify which countries this applies to--> demands the national flag takes precedence over the European flag (which is usually displayed to the right of the national flag from the observer's perspective). In November 2014, the speaker of the Hungarian Parliament László Kövér ordered the removal of the EU flag from the parliament building, following an incident in which a member of parliament<!--:hu:Tamás Gaudi-Nagy--> had "defenestrated" two EU flags from a fourth story window.<ref>[https://budapestbeacon.com/president-hungarian-parliament-orders-removal-eu-flag/ President of Hungarian parliament orders removal of EU flag] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522152316/https://budapestbeacon.com/president-hungarian-parliament-orders-removal-eu-flag/ |date=22 May 2021 }}, ''The Budapest Beacon'' 17 November 2014.</ref> In November 2015, the newly elected Polish government under Beata Szydło removed the EU flag from government press conferences.<ref>{{cite news |title=EU flags disappear from Polish government press briefings |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/eu-flags-disappear-from-polish-government-press-briefings-115112401422_1.html |access-date=31 January 2021 |work=Business Standard India |publisher=Business Standard |date=24 November 2015 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204112722/https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/eu-flags-disappear-from-polish-government-press-briefings-115112401422_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Derivative designs== The design of the European flag has been used in a variation, such as that of the Council of Europe mentioned above, and also to a greater extent such as the flag of the Western European Union (WEU; now defunct), which uses the same colours and the stars but has a number of stars based on membership and in a semicircle rather than a circle. It is also defaced with the initials of the former Western European Union in two languages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Western European Union |publisher=Flags of the World |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu%5Eweu.html |access-date=11 February 2009 |archive-date=3 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203041208/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu%5Eweu.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The European Parliament used its own flag from 1973, but never formally adopted it. It fell out of use with the adoption of the twelve-star flag by the Parliament in 1983. The flag followed the yellow and blue colour scheme however instead of twelve stars there were the letters EP and PE (initials of the European Parliament in the six community languages at the time) surrounded by a wreath.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Parliament |publisher=Flags of the World |date=28 October 2004 |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu_ep.html |access-date=4 August 2007 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012112828/http://crwflags.com/fotw/flags/eu_ep.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Sometime later, the Parliament chose to use a logo consisting of a stylised hemicycle and the EU flag at the bottom right.
The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina, imposed by High Representative Carlos Westendorp after the country's parliament failed to agree on a design, is reminiscent of the symbolism of the EU flag, using the same blue and yellow colours; also, the stars (although of a different number and colour) are a direct reference to those of the European flag.<ref name=BandH>{{cite web|title=New flag imposed on Bosnians|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/53480.stm|website=BBC News|access-date=6 April 2017|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615030346/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/53480.stm|url-status=dead}} {{cite web |title=Bosnia and Herzegovina – The 1998 Flag Change – Westendorp Commission – The Choice |publisher=Flags of the World |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ba-fccho.html |access-date=11 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430140116/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/ba-fccho.html |archive-date=30 April 2008 }}</ref>
Likewise, Kosovo uses blue, yellow and stars in its flag, which has been mocked as a "none too subtle nod to the flag of the European Union, which is about to become Kosovo's new best friend as it takes over protector status from the United Nations".<ref name="RoK">{{cite news|title=Kosovo's fiddly new flag|date=18 February 2008|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2008/02/kosovos_fiddly_new_flag.cfm|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=11 February 2009|archive-date=17 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317062457/http://www.economist.com/blogs/certainideasofeurope/2008/02/kosovos_fiddly_new_flag.cfm|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3555196/Kosovo-will-need-more-than-a-new-flag.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3555196/Kosovo-will-need-more-than-a-new-flag.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Kosovo will need more than a new flag|last=Quetteville|first=Harry de|date=19 February 2008|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=12 December 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Kosovo|title=flag of Kosovo|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702013538/https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Kosovo|url-status=live}}</ref>
The flag of the Brussels-Capital Region (introduced in 2016) consists of a yellow iris with a white outline upon a blue background. Its colours are based on the colours of the Flag of Europe, because Brussels is considered the unofficial capital of the EU.<ref>{{cite web|title=Un nouveau look pour la région Bruxelles-capitale|url=http://www.brusselslife.be/fr/article/un-nouveau-look-pour-la-region-de-bruxelles-capitale#!|website=brusselslife.be|access-date=23 December 2016|quote=[Sander Vermeulen ajoute :] "Quant aux couleurs, elles rappellent celles du drapeau de l'Union européenne dont Bruxelles est la Capitale"|language=fr}}</ref><ref name=BN>{{cite news |title=Gewest gaat voor nieuwe vlag met hartjeslogo |trans-title=Region goes for new flag with hearts logo |url=http://www.brusselnieuws.be/nl/nieuws/gewest-gaat-voor-nieuwe-vlag-met-hartjeslogo |newspaper=brusselsnieuws.be |location=Brussels |date=17 December 2014 |access-date=1 January 2015 |language=nl |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232612/http://www.brusselnieuws.be/nl/nieuws/gewest-gaat-voor-nieuwe-vlag-met-hartjeslogo |url-status=live }}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="150" heights="100"> File:Flag of the Brussels-Capital Region.svg|The blue and yellow colours of the Brussels flag are those of the European Union, of which Brussels is the ''de facto'' capital city.<ref name=BN /> File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg|alt=The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was partly based on the European flag|The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina was partly based on the European flag.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/53480.stm|title=BBC News | Europe | New flag imposed on Bosnians|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615030346/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/53480.stm|url-status=dead}}</ref> File:Logo of the Council of Europe (no lettering).svg|Logo of the Council of Europe File:Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community 6 Star Version.svg|Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community (1958–1972) File:Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community 9 Star Version.svg|Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community (1973–1980) File:Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community 10 Star Version.svg|Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community (1981–1985) File:Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community 12 Star Version.svg|Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community (1986–2002) File:Flag of Kosovo.svg|The flag of Kosovo was partly based on the European flag. File:Flag of the Western European Union (1993-1995).svg|Flag of the Western European Union (1993–1995) File:Flag of the Western European Union.svg|Flag of the Western European Union (1995–2011) File:Flag of the Assembly of the Western European Union.svg|Flag of the Assembly of the Western European Union File:Flag of the European Parliament (1973-1983).svg|Flag of the European Parliament (1973–1983) File:Flag of the European Maritime Safety Agency.svg|Flag of the European Maritime Safety Agency File:Flag of EMCDDA.svg|Flag of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (until 2024) File:Organic-Logo.svg|EU emblem for certification of organic agricultural products </gallery>
===Heraldry=== {{See also|Armorial of Europe}}
The coat of arms of the chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC), the highest-ranking officer within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), depicts the European emblem as a coat of arms, i.e. emblazoned on an escutcheon. In heraldic terms, this makes the European flag is the banner of arms, i.e. the flag form of this coat of arms. In English blazon, the arms is ''Azure, a circle of 12 mullets or, their points not touching''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Publications Office – Interinstitutional Style Guide – Annex A1 – Graphics guide to the European emblem|url=https://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000100.htm|access-date=2021-12-28|website=publications.europa.eu|archive-date=7 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607030325/http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000100.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
Several EU publications related to the CSDP generally, and its prospective development as a defence arm, have also displayed the European emblem in this manner, albeit as a graphical design element rather than an official symbol.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-sibiu-towards_a_european_defence_union_0.pdf|title=European Commission|access-date=14 August 2019|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629122220/https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/euco-sibiu-towards_a_european_defence_union_0.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="150px" heights="150px"> File:Informal meeting of defence ministers (FAC). Arrivals Michail Kostarakos (36892148436).jpg|Chairman Michail Kostarakos wearing the heraldic badge File:Coat of arms of Europe.svg|Heraldic badge File:EUBAM logo.svg|Moldovan and Ukrainian flags displayed as supporters, symbolising the EU's border assistance mission since 2005 File:EU Roma Musei Capitolini close-up crop.jpg|The European emblem emblazoned on a chair at the occasion of the 2004 signing of the European Constitution in Rome File:Blue Eiffel Tower 00003 (2744637971).jpg|The European emblem emblazoned on the Eiffel Tower in 2008 File:European Court of Human Rights, courtroom, 2014 (cropped).JPG|The European emblem emblazoned on the carpet in the European Court of Human Rights </gallery>
==Incorrect versions==
<gallery mode="packed" widths="150" heights="100" caption="Incorrect flags"> File:European flag, upside down.svg|The stars are upside down. File:European flag, incorrect star rotation.svg|The stars point outwards instead of in one direction. File:European flag, incorrect star positions.svg|The stars should be arranged like a face of a clock, which is not the case in this flag. File:Flag of Europe (larger stars).svg|The stars are a different size than 1/9 of the flag's total height.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annex A1 – Graphics guide to the European emblem - Interinstitutional Style Guide - Publications Office of the EU |url=https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=annex-a1-graphics-guide-european-emblem |access-date=26 February 2026 |website=Interinstitutional Style Guide |language=en-GB}}</ref> </gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="150" heights="100" caption="Correct flag for comparison"> File:Flag of Europe.svg </gallery>
==See also== * Symbols of Europe#Flag * Symbols of the European Union * European Fisheries Control Agency#Pennant
; Flags of the European Union's precursors * Flag of the Western Union * Flag of the Western European Union * Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community
; Flags of other European unification movements * Flag of the Paneuropean Union (adopted 1922) * Hertensteiner Cross of the federalist movements (used in 1946) * Federalist flag of the European Movement (adopted 1948)
; Other continental flags * Flag of the African Union * Flag of the Eurasian Economic Union
==Notes== {{NoteFoot}} {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=von Lenthe |first=Jonas |title=Rejected: Designs For The European Flag |year=2020 |publisher=Wirklichkeit Books |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-948212-25-4 }} {{refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Flag of Europe}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070807045151/http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/flag.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> Council of Europe on the flag] ** [http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/Historical_Content/flag_en.asp Council of Europe historical files on the flag] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110519135445/http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/graphics1_en.htm EU's graphical specifications for the flag] * [http://www.cvce.eu/education/unit-content/-/unit/eeacde09-add1-4ba1-ba5b-dcd2597a81d0/2b4e569f-9aa3-48dd-b877-13d0d5f1d177/Resources#9fe0d3a5-1c8d-40eb-9f0b-9d812b274edc The symbols of the European Union: The flag of the Council Europe]. Virtual Centre for Knowledge on Europe * {{FOTW|id=eu-eun|title=European Union}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205083719/https://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/chiefs/euroflagmemo.html Memorandum on design and designer of European flag]
{{EU symbols}} {{Flags of Europe}} {{Coats of arms of Europe}} {{Portal bar|Europe|European Union|Heraldry}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Europe}} European Union Flag Category:Flags introduced in 1955 Category:Flags of Europe Category:Flags of international organizations Flag Category:Flags with circles Category:Flags with stars Category:Horizontally symmetrical flags Category:Vertically symmetrical flags