Danish broadcaster DR has revealed more information on the new 2025 flag policy that will be enforced at Eurovision next month. This comes after heavy criticism being aimed at the EBU for the 2024 policy, despite the policy being drafted and enforced by the host broadcaster SVT.
A much more liberal approach for the audience
According to DR, the new flag policy states that “political messages must be avoided” but that the host country, Switzerland, “places a high value on freedom of speech”.
Last year, SVT had chosen to only allow the flags of participating nations as well as the Rainbow flag: flags of other nations, or non-national flags such as the flag of Europe (which is not just used by the EU) were banned from Malmö Arena.
This year, however, it appears that SRG SSR, the Swiss broadcaster, will allow any flag “that does not violate Swiss law.” These are examples of what would violate Swiss law:
- Flags with racist and discriminatory content, including symbols that incite hatred or violence
- Flags that may be considered offensive or defamatory
- Flags with symbols of banned terrorist organizations
This would thus allow people to bring flags of other countries (with Palestine being a likely candidate, considering the current situation), as well as European flags, different types of Pride Flags, etc. A limitation remains on the physical nature of the flag, which must not pose a risk to safety. Last year, for examples, flags attached to sticks were not allowed, the stick being considered a safety risk. It is advised to bring just the flag or flags you wish to take with you, without sticks or masts.
People not following the rules may be escorted out of the venue without refund.
Stricter rules for delegations and artists
Last year, the eventual winner Nemo had to smuggle their non-binary flag in the arena in order to walk with it at the Grand Final’s Flag Parade. Doing so was in defiance of SVT’s policy which only allowed the Rainbow flag inside the arena. After their victory, in reaction to this smuggling, Nemo said in their press conference that “maybe Eurovision needs fixing a little bit […], every now and then”.
Despite these statements, the flag policy will actually be stricter on delegations this year. It is understood that delegations and artists may only use their national flags during any official Eurovision event and/or in Eurovision venues. These include:
- The opening ceremony and Turquoise Carpet
- The Eurovision stage
- The Eurovision Village stage
- The Green Room
It likely includes press conferences too. This means that delegations and artists will not be allowed to display any other flags, including Pride-related flags or flags of other nations. Additionally, the flags used for the Flag Parade in the Grand Final will be provided to the delegations by SRG SSR.
Nemo was not the first artists to bring another flag at Eurovision. In 2023, Marco Mengoni of Italy brought a Progress Pride Flag on the Liverpool stage, an image that was chosen as the thumbnail of the official Flag Parade video. A year before, Systur from Iceland brought transgender flags, and Sheldon Riley had a pride flag next to his Australian flag. In other years, such as 2019 and 2021, artists also paraded without a flag.
And of course, in 2019, Hatari from Iceland displayed Palestinian flags from the Green Room during the voting sequence, while in 2016 the Armenian delegation displayed a flag from Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
What do you think of the new flag policy? Do you agree with it? What flags will your bring at Eurovision? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
