Jump to content

Flag of the Western European Union

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Western European Union
UseCivil flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion2:3
Adopted1993 (original design)
1995 (modified design)
DesignA semicircle of 10 5-pointed gold stars on a blue field with white initials WEU and UEO in the centre.
UseFlag of the Assembly of the Western European Union
UseEarlier version (1993–1995)
Part of a series on the
History of the
European Union
Timeline
Organisation
European Communities (1958–2009)
European Coal and Steel Community (1952–2002)
European Economic Community (1958–1993)
European Atomic Energy Community (1958–present)
European Community (1993–2009)
Justice and Home Affairs (1993–2003)
Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (2003–2009)
Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar (1993–2009)
Western European Union (1954–2011)
Western Union (1948–1954)
Treaties
Treaty of Paris 1951
Treaty of Rome 1957
Merger Treaty 1965
Single European Act 1986
Maastricht Treaty 1992
Treaty of Amsterdam 1997
Treaty of Nice 2001
Treaty of Lisbon 2007
Commissions
Hallstein Commission 1958
Rey Commission 1967
Malfatti Commission 1970
Mansholt Commission 1972
Ortoli Commission 1973
Jenkins Commission 1977
Thorn Commission 1981
Delors Commission 1985
Santer Commission 1994
Prodi Commission 1999
Barroso Commission 2004
Juncker Commission 2014
Von der Leyen Commission 2019
Topics
flag European Union portal

The flag of the Western European Union (WEU) was dark blue with a semicircle of ten yellow five pointed stars, broken at the top, with the organisation's initials in the centre. Although it is the flag of a military organisation, it has rarely been flown in military situations.

Design

[edit]

The flag is dark blue with a semicircle of ten yellow five pointed stars, broken at the top, with the white letters WEU horizontally across the centre and UEO vertically across the centre sharing the letter E with the former set of initials. UEO is the French abbreviation for Western European Union (Union de l'Europe Occidentale). The flag's blue colour with yellow stars is taken from the flag of the Council of Europe and European Union, however the number of stars is ten due to the WEU membership being of that number.

There were variants for WEU bodies, such as its assembly, which were used on formal occasions.[1]

Between 1993 and 1995, there was a similar design but with only nine stars (before Greece became a member) and the stars towards the base of the flag were progressively larger than those at the fringe. This design replaced the flag of the Western Union, the organisation that was transformed into the WEU upon the entry into force of the Modified Brussels Treaty.

Use

[edit]

The flag was rarely used, with the WEU being largely dormant before it was succeeded by the European Union's (EU) military activities. It was once flown on board an operational United States Navy warship, USS John Rodgers, when it was used as the flagship of an Italian general (with a WEU crew) commanding WEU relief operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The WEU treaty is now terminated, with WEU activities wound up by June 2011, so no further use of the flag is foreseeable.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flag_of_the_Western_European_Union&oldid=1215150067"