Hansard

Flags

Volume 700: debated on Friday 25 April 2008

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Lord Tebbit

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they first became aware of the status of the European Union flag in the United Kingdom and the rest of the European Union. [HL2904]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Lord Malloch-Brown)

The EU flag has no legal status in UK or EU law.

The EU flag originated on 25 October 1955 when the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly took the unanimous decision to adopt a flag as its emblem. The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers adopted it as the European flag on 8 December 1955. In 1985, the European flag was adopted as the official emblem of the then European Communities by heads of state and government. EU institutions have been using it since 1986.