Switzerland will join U.N. but won't change flag

GENEVA -- Handing out chocolate and special-issue Swatches, the Swiss kicked off ceremonies Monday to end decades of splendid isolation and follow the rest of the world into the United Nations.

But in a final gesture of independence, they made it clear they would not change their flag.

The U.N. General Assembly is expected to formally admit Switzerland as its 190th member during a ceremony in New York Tuesday. To the accompaniment of the Swiss Army Band, the country's flag will then be hoisted to flutter as a lone square among the sea of rectangles.

"Finally Switzerland will be at home as a member of the U.N. family," declared Bertrand Louis, ambassador to U.N. offices in Geneva.

"When the Swiss delegation steps down from his observer seat to join the main U.N. body, it will be a big step. It will be a step out of the shadows."

After more than 50 years on the sidelines, Switzerland joined the United Nations after voters approved the move in March by a 55 percent majority.

In the last vote 16 years earlier, 75 percent opposed U.N. membership on the grounds it would endanger the Alpine nation's revered neutrality in an era of acute East-West tensions.

Switzerland will be sandwiched between Sweden and Syria on the U.N.'s alphabetical list. Switzerland's membership leaves the Vatican as the only state with U.N. observer status.