Flag of Europe

The Flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on an azure background. It is the flag and emblem of both the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU). It is termed "Flag of Europe" or "European Flag" by both organisations, intended to represent the continent as a whole, but has no legal basis beyond use by the CoE. It is also known as the "flag of the European Union", excluding its relation to the CoE, but the term "flag of the Council of Europe" is never used.

It is also often used to indicate eurozone countries, and, more loosely, to represent the continent of Europe or the countries of Europe independent of any of these institutions. The number of stars does not vary according to the member states as they are intended to represent all the peoples of Europe, even those outside the EU.

The flag was designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe as its symbol, and the CoE urged it to be adopted by other organisations. In 1985 the European Economic Community (EEC), adopted it as its own flag (having had no flag of its own before) at the initiative of the European Parliament.