Contestants at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest won’t be allowed to display Pride flags onstage or during official events per new policy guidance.

As Them notes, the Danish Broadcasting Company first reported on the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) new rules late last month. The EBU organizes the Eurovision Song Contest. The new policy stipulates that performers and their delegations will only be allowed to display the official flag of the country they are representing on the main Eurovision stage, the Eurovision Village Stage, in the green room, and on the event’s turquoise carpet.

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A politically charged finale also saw Israel booed and the Dutch entrant expelled.

The EBU told CNN that the new rules change the contest’s flag policy, which in recent years allowed contestants to display Pride flags as well as the flags of participating countries. Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said the new policy is meant to ensure that “it is immediately clear which country is being represented.”

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But as Them notes, the new policy not only bans Pride flags, it also bans contestants from showing solidarity with Palestine and Ukraine amid those ongoing conflicts.

At the same time, the EBU has relaxed its rules around flags audience members can display during the televised competition, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland, later this month. According to CNN, spectators will now be allowed to wave any flag permitted under Swiss law, which bans racist and discriminatory content and symbols as well as those that may incite hatred, defamation, or violence. The EBU’s previous policy only allowed audiences to display the flags of countries that were competing.

The new audience policy follows criticism last year of Eurovision’s inclusion of Israel amid the country’s ongoing war on Gaza while banning the Palestinian flag and messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

In a statement shared with multiple outlets, the EBU said the goal of the policy changes is 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.”

“Outside of these official spaces, the flag policy for delegations is the same as for audiences, where all flags permitted under Swiss law can be used, including Pride flags, and provides plenty of opportunities for the expression of everyone’s identities,” the statement continued, according to Metro.

While previous Eurovision policy allowed Pride flags onstage, Swiss performer Nemo, the contest’s first out nonbinary winner, claimed last year that they had to “smuggle” a nonbinary Pride flag into the Malmö Arena. Nemo reportedly displayed the flag during the contest’s opening parade and in the green room but did not bring it onstage for their performance.

LGBTQ+ rights groups criticized Eurovision’s new rules for performers, with a spokesperson for Dutch organization COC Nederland calling it “ridiculous.” In a press release, the group compared the flag ban to “banning people from holding hands, kissing each other, or wearing an earring,” according to CNN.

“Limiting expressions of support for equality — through flags, colors, or words — weakens the spirit of Eurovision, which thrives on diversity, creativity, and freedom,” Outright International executive director Maria Sjödin told the outlet.

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