Artists competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will only be allowed to display flags from the country they are representing while performing. This year, participants who also identify as LGBTQ+ will be barred from supporting the community during their performance, and will only be able to bring flags provided by Swiss television station SRG SSR. Participants are also barred from holding flags to express solidarity with other countries such as Ukraine, Palestine, or Israel.
Eurovision is an original song competition in which each member of the European Union sends an artist to represent their country with a new song to compete to win. Each year, the competition is hosted in a different European city. This year, Eurovision is being hosted in Basel, Switzerland, and rules and regulations for the event will be overseen by the Swiss government.
Eurovision has seen the participation of many LGBTQ+ artists over the years, most recently, in 2024, nonbinary singer Nemo from Switzerland won the competition. Nemo revealed at the time of the competition that they were told not to bring the non-binary flag on stage, however, the artist was able to smuggle one in, according to PinkNews.
A representative for Eurovision told PinkNews “The official flag policies of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2025 have been developed by the Swiss host broadcaster SRG SSR with input from the EBU, particularly on official ESC spaces, to provide clarity for audiences and delegations.”
“Together we wanted to strike a balance to ensure that our audiences and artists can express their enthusiasm and identities, whilst at the same time provide more clarity for the delegations when it comes to official spaces.”
Some European Union countries, however, have restricted LGBTQ+ rights in recent years. Hungary, for example, banned Pride events earlier this year thanks to legislation supported by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Though artists may not be able to represent their communities during Eurovision, fan flag restrictions have been relaxed, allowing spectators to bring “all flags and banners” to Eurovision events so long as they don’t pose a safety risk. These flags also must comply with Swiss law.
