File:Flag of Europe.svg

Flag of Europe*
country	All member states of the Council of Europe or the European Union
used by	1) Council of Europe; 2) European Union
current since	1) 9 December 1955; 2) 1983 (European Parliament), 1986 (European Communities)
created by	Arsène Heitz
format	2:3
shape	rectangular
Blue	rendered as RGB 000 051 153
Gold	rendered as RGB 255 204 000
other characteristics	flag contains 12 stars (special formation of the stars: five-point-stars, all upright, equally spaced on a central circle whose radius is one 3rd of the flag height (like the 12 hours on a circular clock); each star is regular and placed on a circle whose radius is one 18th of the flag height.).;

Size of the above preview of this SVG file: 960 × 640 pixels. Other resolutions: 330 × 220 pixels | 1,280 × 853 pixels | 3,840 × 2,560 pixels.

Original file (SVG file, nominally 900 × 600 pixels, file size: 791 bytes)

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is copied below.

Summary

DescriptionFlag of Europe.svg	Беларуская: Сцяг Еўропы, які ўяўляе сабою 12 залатых пяціканцовых зорак, размешчаных па кругу, аналагічна лічбам на цыферблаце гадзінніка. Выкарыстоўваецца Еўрапейскім Саюзам і Саветам Еўропы. Brezhoneg: Banniel Europa zo banniel Unaniezh Europa ha Kuzul Europa. Čeština: Vlajka Evropské unie Deutsch: Die Europaflagge besteht aus einem Kranz aus zwölf goldenen, fünfzackigen, sich nicht berührenden Sternen auf azurblauem Hintergrund. Sie wurde 1955 vom Europarat als dessen Flagge eingeführt und erst 1986 von der Europäischen Gemeinschaft übernommen. Die Zahl der Sterne, zwölf, ist traditionell das Symbol der Vollkommenheit, Vollständigkeit und Einheit. Nur rein zufällig stimmte sie zwischen der Adoption der Flagge durch die EG 1986 bis zur Erweiterung 1995 mit der Zahl der Mitgliedstaaten der EG überein und blieb daher auch danach unverändert. Ελληνικά: Σημαία της Ευρώπης English: The Flag of Europe is the flag and emblem of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE). It consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on a blue background. It was created in 1955 by the CoE and adopted by the EU, then the European Communities, in the 1980s. The CoE and EU are distinct in membership and nature. The CoE is an international organisation with 46 members, dealing with human rights and rule of law, while the EU is a quasi-federal union of 27 states, focused on economic integration and political cooperation. Today, the flag is mostly associated with the latter. It was the intention of the CoE that the flag should come to represent Europe as a whole, and since its adoption the membership of the CoE covers nearly the entire Europe by the number of states involved, although only a little over half of the European continent by territory. This is why the EU adopted the same flag. The flag has been used to represent Europe in sporting events and as a pro-democracy banner outside the European Union. Español: La Bandera de la Unión Europea consta de doce estrellas amarillas sobre fondo azul. Inicialmente, era el símbolo utilizado por el Consejo de Europa, quien adoptó la bandera el 8 de diciembre de 1955, inspirándose probablemente en alguno de los múltiples diseños que se atribuyen a Arsène Heitz, un pintor de Estrasburgo, con el propósito manifiesto de que fuera utilizada por el mayor número de organizaciones posible, fomentando así la integración de Europa. Posteriormente, también las Comunidades Europeas adoptaron este símbolo, que hoy representa a la Unión Europea. Esperanto: Flago de la Eŭropa Unio Eesti: Euroopa lipp Suomi: Euroopan lippu Français : Le Drapeau européen est le symbole non seulement de l’Union européenne, mais aussi de l’unité et de l’identité de l’Europe dans un sens plus large, puisqu'il a d'abord été le drapeau du Conseil de l'Europe. Le cercle d'étoiles dorées représente la solidarité et l’harmonie entre les peuples d’Europe. Le nombre d'étoiles n’est pas lié au nombre d’États membres. Les créateurs du drapeau, Paul M.G Lévy et Arsène Heitz, voulaient représenter la couronne de 12 étoiles de la Vierge Marie de la rue du Bac à Paris. Ainsi, le drapeau reste le même, indépendamment des élargissements du Conseil de l'Europe (actuellement 46 membres) ou de l'Union européenne (actuellement 27 membres). Hrvatski: Zastava Europske unije Magyar: Az Európai Unió zászlaja Italiano: La Bandiera dell'Europa raffigura dodici stelle dorate disposte in cerchio su campo blu. Anche se la bandiera viene comunemente associata all'Unione europea, venne inizialmente usata dal Consiglio d'Europa, ed è pensata per rappresentare l'intera Europa geografica e non una particolare organizzazione come la stessa Unione europea od il Consiglio d'Europa. Latviešu: Eiropas karogs Nederlands: Vlag van Europa Polski: Flaga Unii Europejskiej Português: Bandeira europeia Română: Steagul Uniunii Europene Русский: Флаг Европы содержит кольцо из двенадцати золотых (жёлтых) звёзд на синем фоне. Его обычно связывают с Европейским союзом, ранее Европейским сообществом, которое приняло этот флаг в 1980-х. Но впервые флаг был принят Советом Европы, который создал его в 1955. Число звёзд не означает число государств-членов. Здесь двенадцать звёзд, потому что число двенадцать, традиционно, — символ совершенства, законченности и единства. Српски / srpski: Застава Европске уније Slovenščina: Zastava Evropske Unije Shqip: Flamuri i Evropës Türkçe: Avrupa Bayrağı Українська: Прапор Європи, який використовується Європейський Союзом та Радою Європи. Представляє собою синє полотнище з дванадцятьма золотистими зірками, які розташовані радіально навколо центра, і їх розташування таке саме як розташування цифр на годиннику. Вперше прапор був затверджений в 1955 році Радою Європи, а Європейським Союзом він був затверджений як офіційний символ вже в 1980-их роках. 中文（简体）：欧盟旗帜 *Detailed specifications and construction sheet (European Union website)*
Source	File created by various Wikimedia users (see "Author"). File based on the specification given at [1].
Author	User:Verdy p, User:-xfi-, User:Paddu, User:Nightstallion, User:Funakoshi, User:Jeltz, User:Dbenbenn, User:Zscout370
Permission (Reusing this file)	See below
Other versions	Flag construction sheet — Unofficial version with larger stars for better visibility at smaller sizes
SVG development InfoField	The SVG code is valid. This flag was created with a text editor.
Source code InfoField	SVG code <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="900" height="600"> <rect width="900" height="600" fill="#039"/> <g fill="#fc0" transform="translate(450,300)"> <path id="s" d="M0,162.5 22.041947,230.338137 -35.664619,188.411863H35.664619L-22.041947,230.338137z"/> <use xlink:href="#s" y="-400"/> <g id="s5"> <use xlink:href="#s" transform="rotate(30) rotate(-30,0,200)"/> <use xlink:href="#s" transform="rotate(60) rotate(-60,0,200)"/> <use xlink:href="#s" transform="rotate(90) rotate(-90,0,200)"/> <use xlink:href="#s" transform="rotate(120) rotate(-120,0,200)"/> <use xlink:href="#s" transform="rotate(150) rotate(-150,0,200)"/> </g> <use xlink:href="#s5" transform="scale(-1,1)"/> </g> </svg>

It is easy to put a border around this flag image

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[[File:Flag of Europe.svg|border|96x176px]]

Licensing

Original graphical design and permission of use

The Council of Europe holds the copyright for the European flag.

Requests shall be addressed to the Legal Affairs Directorate of the Council of Europe: [F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex; tel. +33-388 41 20 00; fax +33-388 41 20 52]

The European emblem may be used only if:

there is no likelihood of the user of the emblem being confused with the European Community or the Council of Europe;
the emblem is not used in connection with objectives or activities which are incompatible with the aims and principles of the European Community or of the Council of Europe.

Permission to use the European emblem does not confer on those to whom it is granted any right of exclusive use, nor does it allow them to appropriate the emblem or any similar trademark or logo, either by registration or any other means. Each case will be examined individually to ascertain whether it satisfies the criteria set out above. This will be unlikely in a commercial context if the European emblem is used in conjunction with a company's own logo, name or trade mark.

(See: Official copyright and legal statement)

English ∙ +/−

Insignia

This image shows a flag, a coat of arms, a seal or some other official insignia. The use of such symbols is restricted in many countries. These restrictions are independent of the copyright status.

For the file format and data

The following licence only covers the creation of the file, not the flag's graphical design itself.

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.
In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

	Date/Time	Dimensions	User	Comment
current	05:07, 20 February 2026	900 × 600 (791 bytes)	Jarekt	Fulfilling edit request by ~2025-32784-35: cleaner more compact version
	15:55, 21 October 2008	810 × 540 (1 KB)	Rjd0060	Reverted to version as of 15:52, 21 October 2008
	15:52, 21 October 2008	810 × 540 (1 KB)	Silver Spoon	Reverted to version as of 23:49, 9 May 2008
	15:52, 21 October 2008	810 × 540 (1 KB)	Xinese-v	Restituyendo la bandera europea
	23:49, 9 May 2008	810 × 540 (1 KB)	Ssolbergj	Reverted to version as of 12:10, 24 August 2007
	23:49, 9 May 2008	810 × 540 (5 KB)	Ssolbergj	regroup stars
	12:10, 24 August 2007	810 × 540 (1 KB)	Ms2ger	Replace with image from Image:European flag.svg, which seems to be preferable
	09:56, 24 August 2007	945 × 630 (1 KB)	Ssolbergj	== Summary == {{Information \|Description=The flag of The Council of Europe and The European Union \|Source=self-made \|Date= \|Author= Ssolbergj }} == Licensing == {{PD-self}}