The Danish flag, or Dannebrog, is probably the oldest in the world. The same flag was officially adopted as the national emblem of the Czech Republic in 1992. Since it featured the colours of Bohemia alone, the blue of Moravia and Slovakia was added in 1920. The first Czech red-and-white flag appeared during the First World War and became the first national flag of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Red and white are the traditional colours of Bohemia and feature on coats of arms dating from 1192 (a white lion against a red background). Indeed, the word copper originates from the Greek name for Cyprus: Kypros. The yellow of the island is an allusion to copper mined in Cyprus since the third millennium BC. The Cypriot flag, which was adopted when Cyprus became independent in 1960, represents the island and two olive branches against a white background, symbolising peace between the Greek and Turkish communities. The current flag with the coat of arms in the centre was officially adopted in December 1990. However, since then, the central emblem has changed several times. The red-white-blue tricolour has been used since the 19th century, originally by revolutionaries in 1848. Additionally, the main shield is crowned by five smaller historical shields.
It features a red and white checkerboard which also forms the basis of the eye-catching jerseys of Croatian national sport teams, for example of the national football team. The coat of arms of Croatia is positioned at the centre of the flag.
The Croatian flag consists of three horizontal stripes in red, white and blue. The three-coloured flag had first been used by the First Bulgarian Legion of Georgi Rakovski (1861) and then confirmed as Bulgaria’s national flag in the Turnovo Constitution (1879). The elite troops, arranged in the middle, had a green strip, which was the traditional colour of the ruler at the time. The left wing of the army was distinguished by white strips on its spears, the right being marked with red ones. The three national colours – white, green and red – are linked to those used by the Old Bulgarian Army. The following year the government passed a law adopting vertical bands. When Belgium became independent in 1830, the current flag was officially adopted, but at the time the bands were placed horizontally. When the Brabant Uprising broke out in 1787, the people of Brussels adopted the tricolour rosette in red, gold and black as opposed to the colours of Joseph II (red, white and red). The Belgian flag, a variant on the French tricolour, evokes the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, which dates from the 12th century: a gilded lion with red claws and red tongue against a black background. The current flag was adopted as Austria’s national flag in 1918 and as a civic emblem in 1921, and was reintroduced on, when the German occupation ended. The red-white-red bands appeared for the first time in 1787 on national military insignia. In 1985, it was taken up by EU leaders as the official emblem of the European Union (called the European Communities at the time).įrom the 13th century onwards, the Austrian flag consisted of a red shield on a horizontal white band. Over the following years the Council of Europe encouraged the emerging European institutions to embrace the flag as well.
The history of the flag goes back to 1955, when the Council of Europe - defending human rights and promoting European culture – adopted the design for its own use. The European flag signifies not only the European Union but also Europe in a wider sense.
The number of stars has nothing to do with the number of EU member countries. The circle of stars symbolises the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. The European flag consists of 12 golden stars in a circle on a blue background. EUROPA - EuropaGO - Memory game - Find out more
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