European Union
I think we’re all pretty familiar with this one (and the organization behind it). You gotta admit, though – it truly is a classic.
Ever wondered how it came about though? It was actually designed by an employee, one Arsène Heitz (who did something with railroads). He seemed to have stuffed the ballot box a little, though, having submitted dozens of possible designs.
Slavic Union
I actually like this one because of its echoes of the EU design. Just enough to be different though.
To be quite honest, this is actually a slightly older version. The new one is, unfortunately, very square and, with the addition of a few more flags, rather busy as well.
By the way, I have no idea what this organization is about. Their website is on Tripod (!?!?) and looks like it was done by a 12 year old … back in 1997 … in an afternoon. By the way, do not confuse these folks with a neo-Nazi party of the same name in Russia.
Central European Free Trade Agreement
I can see echoes in this one as well.
Indeed, CEFTA is a trade agreement of non-EU countries. As such, it’s an org that is constantly losing members, as anyone the EU lets in is gone in a heartbeat. So, whereas CEFTA used to include Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, it’s now limited to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo.
As for that rather interesting design? Sorry, couldn’t find a thing on it. Would love to know though. I’m pretty sure it means something.
Paneuropa Union
Continuing our EU theme, this baby was actually in the running for the EU flag, but its cross was objected to by Turkey. I think you can see its influence in the final design though.
The PU (I may be the only one who calls it that) was founded back in 1923, by one Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi. Its members have included notables such as Albert Einstein, Fridtjof Nansen, Thomas Mann, Aristide Briand, Konrad Adenauer, Sigmund Freud, Benedetto Croce, Georges Pompidou, and Winston Churchill. It was, at one time, led by Otto, the Habsburg heir.
Adriatic Ionian Euroregion
So, here’s something a little non-EU for a change. In fact, this one’s a little out there, vexillologically-speaking that is. I mean, those two blues are pretty unusual, not to mention very close in hue (most flags go for a little more color contrast). And that drawing is very modern, and also rather thin and light. The whole thing really works though.
The AIE? Well, their website uses the snappy tagline “THE LARGEST NETWORK OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN THE MACROREGIONAL AREA” (and, yes, that in all caps). It goes on to say that the organization promotes “trans-national and inter-regional cooperation” among 29 members, most of whom are “NUTS2.” Excuse me? (Oh, that’s “the first level below State, in conformity with the European Community nomenclature NUTS, and with the administrative organization of each country.")
European Southern Observatory
Just to show that Europeans can even make what is basically an acronym look good.
The ESO is basically a partnership between Europe and Chile so that European astronomer types can gaze at the stars from the crystal clear Chilean desert.
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Flags that do a good job with dopey, old acronyms are just so rare that I had to include another one.
The OSCE is pretty big time. With 56 members in Europe and actually all over the globe, it’s the biggest regional security org there is. It’s into the usual do-gooder stuff – arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, fair elections, conflict prevention, crisis management, post-conflict rehabilitation …
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