A Facebook account spread fake news about EURO 2024 football tournament. The caption of the post reads: “What symbols did yesterday’s players have on both sides? Gay EU?”. The post is accompanied by two photos, the first one shows the football players of the Georgian National Team, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Georges Mikautadze, and the second one shows the EURO-2024 logo. In fact, the EURO-2024 logo has a completely different meaning, and it has nothing to do with the colors of the LGBT flag or the European Union.
According to the description of the logo on the EURO-2024 website, the idea for the logo of the tournament derives from the flags of the 55 members of UEFA (The Union of European Football Associations) and their colors, which reflect different combinations and shape the roof of the Olympic Stadion (Olympiastadion – a stadium in Berlin, where the final of EURO-2024 will be held). The famous Henri Delaunay trophy is depicted in the center of the logo, and the 24 colored strips around the trophy represent the teams participating in EURO-2024.
The logo is also displayed on the equipment of football players participating in the championship (see below for examples).
Georgia National Football Team:
The Czech Republic National Football Team:
Therefore, the logo and the colors portrayed on it are irrelevant to the LGBTQ flag or the European Union. It is inspired by the colors of the flags of the participating countries.
