Organisers of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest have decided that this year there will be no restrictions on the flags that will be allowed by the members of the audience, as long as the flags do not violate the law of this year’s host country, Switzerland.

Although fans can wave any flag they wish, the rules for artists are restricted to the national flags of the countries they are representing. Such rules apply on stage, during the flag parade, in the green room, at the Eurovision village and during the opening ceremony on May 11th. Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR will hand the flag that will be carried by each finalist during the flag parade at the start of the final.

This means that pride flags or flags which contain any social and/or political messages are strictly prohibited from the artists during any official Eurovision events. This decision comes as a response from last year’s backlash where eventual winner Nemo had to smuggle in a non-binary flag to display it in the greenroom. During last year’s contest, organisers confiscated several palestinian and pride flags at the venue entrance in Malmö.

The new policy does not come without clear warnings. Artist who breache the rules may face serious consequences, although it is yet to be revealed by the EBU what consequences these may be. The EBU stated that the goal of these changes is to balance freedom of expression with clear guidelines for all participating delegations.

This means that we are unlikely to see a scenario similar to what happened in 2019 when Icelandic group Hatari displayed Palestinian scarves after finding out their televote result.

However, this also means that artists will not be able to wave the flags of other countries in the greenroom, meaning that what happened in 2022 where the Lithuanian, Icelandic and Georgian delegation waved a Ukrainian flag.

As for the audience, all flags are tolerated but anyone caught violating Swiss law or bringing flags with hate symbols, violent messages, or links to terrorist organisations may be removed from the venue without a refund.

Do you agree with this decision? Let us know in the comments section!