There is a ban on certain flags being displayed at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest – and the Welsh dragon seems to be the latest to make it onto the “no-fly list”.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has made the move to curb the likelihood of political statements and controversy interrupting the musical bash in Sweden on May 14.
So, for example, the ISIS flag is banned, for obvious reasons, while Palestinian flag is also not allowed, as only flags of contest members and UN states can be flown.
It’s because of that UN state rule that the Welsh dragon is now prohibited at the event – which is especially awkward seeing as one half of the UK’s entry act, Joe Woolford, is Welsh.
Charity gig for the @S4C pic.twitter.com/aLiTrIHu2H
— Joe Woolford (@joewoolford) January 12, 2016
You can download our first EVER single “You’re Not Alone” right now on iTunes! https://t.co/2rsNFCutBB#JoeAndJake pic.twitter.com/1ZHLlXIQt2
— Joe and Jake (@JoeandJakemusic) March 11, 2016
A Eurovision spokesman told WalesOnline:
“The European Broadcasting Union aims to ensure that the Eurovision Song Contest is free from political statements, unauthorised commercial messages and offensive comments, in line with the contest’s rules that all 42 participating broadcasters agreed upon.
“On the request of the venue, the flag policy contains some examples of flags that are not permitted under the flag policy. It is important to state that the flag policy is not aimed against specific territories or organisations, and certainly does not compare them to each other, but merely aims at assuring that the broadcast is free from the aforementioned messages and to assure that venue and security staff can enforce this policy upon entrance, without delaying the entrance of some 10,000 people.”
In a similar vein, the Scottish Saltire is also not allowed:
“Scotland is not a member of the UN so therefore the flag does not comply with the policy,” a spokesperson told The Telegraph.
The European Union flag is allowed to be flown, however. Another exception to the rule is the rainbow flag, the symbol of LGBT rights. Pink News reports:
“Rainbow flags and the European Union flag will be tolerated provided they will, according to the evaluation of the organisers, not be used as tool to intentionally make a political statement during the show. Particularly, the organisers request and urge the fan community to respect and appreciate the non-political nature of the Eurovision Song Contest.”
This essentially means not waving the rainbow flag as a protest during the Russian act.
If they ban the rainbow flag during Russian performance we can still throw up in #Eurovision #RetchingDuringRussia pic.twitter.com/2nEVSQFskF
— 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙤 (@politono_) May 2, 2016
Finally, on a completely unrelated note, can we just take a moment to appreciate the brilliant name of the other half of the UK’s Eurovision entry:
“Shakeshaft”.
Amazing.
