FYI http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=07&dd=05&nav_category=93&nav_id=42251
Kosovo starts selection of flag, emblems 5 July 2007 | 16:36 | Source: BIRN *PRIŠTINA -- A committee that will select a flag and emblem for Kosovo gathered on Thursday to open nearly 1,000 proposals submitted. * BIRN reports from Priština that the first phase of the selection process will see the committee will verify whether the 993 applicants met the competition’s criteria, according to committee head Hajredin Kuci. Those proposals meeting the design standards will be forwarded for further selection to a group of top politicians responsible for resolving details related to the region’s status, Kuci said. The contestants were required to devise a Kosovo flag with a simple design and color scheme without words, slogans or mottos. The symbols of statehood were not to resemble those of Serbia, or neighboring Albania. Kosovo’s symbols could not use the representation of any eagle symbol nor employ color schemes using red and black or red, white and blue. Albania’s flag shows a black, double-headed eagle in the center of a red field. Serbia’s national flag has three equal horizontal stripes of red, blue and white and a coat of arms that includes a white, double-headed eagle. In the next phase of finding Kosovo’s flag and seal, the Unity Team, the assembly’s presidency, the chiefs of leading parliamentary groups and other Kosovo experts will cut the candidates down to three proposed designs. The ultimate decision will be made in Kosovo’s assembly, with the winning designs needing two-thirds of the votes, Kuci said, though “the ratification will take place only after Kosovo’s final status is resolved.”
