The Barcode flag (also EU Barcode) was designed in 2002 and updated in 2006 by Dutch architect Remment Koolhaas as a proposal for the flag of the European Union."EU Barcode"OMA"European Union: Changing the flag?"CRW Flags It was never adopted by the EU, but became well known later on after having been featured in multiple newspapers."Opinion | A new 'flag'?"Eye Magazine
In 2005, it became a symbol of the Austrian presidency of the Council of the European Union."Austria Adopts AMO Barcode Design as Symbol of its EU Presidency"Dexigner
It was criticized for its jarring appearance and resemblance to a barcode"A flag for Europe | European Union"The Guardian (which lent the design its colloquial name), as well as for its intentional portrayal of the EU as nothing more than a sum of its member states."The European Union flag like a barcode. Here is a proposal from 2002"MadWhite
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