In 1946, during the Greek Civil War, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Military Observers in Greece were conducting one of the Organization¡¯s first operations. They lacked, however, an established way to identify themselves as Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ personnel and were frequently fired upon.
To protect themselves, one Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officer embroidered a white globe onto blue fabric and attached it to their white jeep.
Thus, the unofficial Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag was born. (In another version of this story, the Secretariat gave military observers approval to create an unofficial flag).
The creation of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag had actually begun in 1945 during the San Francisco Conference. Designers settled on an image of the globe and words ¡°Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Conference on International Organization, San Francisco, 1945¡±. To promote the design, organizers placed the image on a lapel pin worn by all conference participants.
Originally, the globe was surrounded by laurel branches (symbols of victory) but was switched to olive leaves as a more fitting mark of peace. ¡°Stettinius Blue¡± ¨C a new colour not found on any Member States¡¯ flag ¨C was used as a background, in honour of Edward Stettinius, Jr., the head of the United States delegation.
The colour soon became known as ¡°Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Blue¡±.
On 7 December 1946, the General Assembly officially approved the design as the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ emblem and official seal (without the text). Following this decision, hundreds of suggestions for a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag followed; yet, the unofficial Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag used in Greece remained the front-runner!
On 20 October 1947, the General Assembly decided that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ official emblem should also be the official Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag and directed Secretary-General Trygve Lie to authorize regulations for the flag design and adopt a flag code.
The first official Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag was premiered in front of the temporary Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ headquarters at Lake Success on 21 October 1947. The first Flag Code was issued by the Secretary-General on 19 December 1947 and the was issued in 2020.
Recently, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Archives team discovered one of the earliest drawings of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ flag ¨C the paint still vibrant 70+ years later.
Long may it wave!
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