Flag of the Western European Union

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.

Western European Union
UseWar flag and naval ensign
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.
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European Communities (1958–2009)
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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
Amsterdam Treaty 1997
Treaty of Nice 2001
Treaty of Lisbon 2007
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Hallstein Commission 1958
Rey Commission 1967
Malfatti Commission 1970
Mansholt Commission 1972
Ortoli Commission 1973
Jenkins Commission 1977
Thorn Commission 1981
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Santer Commission 1994
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Von der Leyen Commission 2019
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Design
Flag of the Assembly of the Western European Union

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 abbreviations for Western European Union. 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.

Use

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. There are variants for its bodies, such as its assembly, used on formal occasions.[1] The WEU treaty is now terminated, with WEU activities wound up by June 2011, so no further use of the flag is foreseeable.

Previous design
The 9-star design that was used between 1993 and 1995.

The current flag was in use only since 1993. Prior to that 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.

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-04-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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