International Sava River Basin Commission
Boy, snoozerama, huh? Take a couple of boxes, a little blue stripe, and lots of text; plop it on a bedsheet; and call it a day.
This is one of several river commissions in Europe (all of whom have much better flags, might I say). The Sava? It’s a river (duh) that cuts through the old Yugoslavia and empties into the Danube
Baltic Assembly
Believe it or not, there is such a thing as too much white space. Also, what is that thing?
Why, it’s a … a … er …”blue, stylized, three-contour trefoil” (Flags of the World). What is a “a blue, stylized, three-contour trefoil”? Well, it’s a … “a blue, stylized, three-contour trefoil.” Couldn’t find much of anything else on this one.
The Assembly seems to be just an excuse for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to get together.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
What it be? Two O’s? An O and a C?
Sadly, it’s just two links of a chain, symbolizing unity or slavery or something.
The EBRD? It’s an investment bank that loans out dough to support market economies. It was created in 1991 to support former Eastern Bloc countries, but has since expanded pretty much all over the place.
Assembly of European Regions
22 words! In five different languages! It’s a new European record!
Remember the Adriatic Ionian Euroregion? This is their parent organization. Those languages? French, English, German, Spanish, and Italian.
Liaison Committee of Social Military Organisations
The 1970s called. They want their flag back.
Yeah, this is pretty cheesy. The shadows, that shiny metallic reflection thing, those stars swooping out of the frame, the date …
CLIMS (the LCSMO, in English) is “an international body gathering of military social services whose objective consists in developing bi- or multilateral youth exchanges and family vacations between the Ministries of Defence of the member countries.” What that all means is beyond me. Buncha military types throwin’ a party while on vacation?
Nordic Council
I think these guys may have confused themselves with some airline. Seriously. Eastern? Piedmont?
So, I guess this group is the blonde-haired, blue-eyed equivalent of the Baltic Assembly (remember them?).
By the way, that’s a swan. One of those 4-winged Scandinavian swans.
Actually, the wings stand for the four founding members, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. There are a couple more these days, but a swan with that many wings would just look weird.
Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM)
Um, wouldn’t that be ODED? I mean, GUAM’s a little snappier, but I think it’s already taken.
Okay, okay. There are four members in this club – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova. Ergo, GUAM. But, really, why not MAUG, or GUMA, or MUGA, or AMUG, or UGMA …
European Stork City Organisation
Okay, it’s an odd flag. But, I mean, really, storks? Stork cities?
Sure enough, ESCO is “an international organisation, joining European towns and cities, which have a stork in their coat of arms.” Honestly? I mean, that’s a thing?
Members include:
- Busk (Ukraine)
- Demene (Latvia)
- Komarovce (Slovakia)
- Kongaz (Moldova)
- Luka nad Jihlavou (Czech Republic)
- Ramygala (Lithuania)
- Taujenai (Lithuania)
- Staicele (Latvia)
- Stolin (Belarus)
- Storkow (Germany)
So, do they actually get together? What do they do? What do they talk about? Storks?
European Wind Energy Association
Alright, I get it. But, really, isn’t that a little weird? Odd? Creepy? Disturbing?
Actually, EWEA is now Wind Europe. Doesn’t look like they’ve changed their flag though.
Office or Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Continuing our eye theme ... Holy cow! It’s a tree of eyes! Run for your lives! Tree of eyes! Tree of eyes!
As you can tell from the lower left corner of the flag, ODIHR is an arm of the OSCE. In particular, it is tasked “with the ‘human dimension’ of security.” Whatever that might be.
Yeniche
Also known as the Yenish, the Yeniche people are basically Irish Travelers. Their flag appears to have a fire, a wagon, a basket, and an accordion on it. Sure, why not?
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