The UEFA European Football Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

has featured mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

s since 1980. The very first mascot was Pinocchio, for the UEFA Euro 1980 in Italy. Since then, every tournament has had a mascot except for the UEFA Euro 2008, which had two. The mascots are mostly targeted at children, with cartoon shows and other merchandise released to coincide with the competition.

List of mascots

There have been a total of nine mascots (a duo was featured in 2008) in the eight tournaments since 1980:

European Football Championship	Mascot(s)	Description
Italy 1980	Pinocchio Pinocchio The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...	Based on the character from the children's story of the same name. Pinocchio Pinocchio The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...  comprised a small wooden boy with long nose in the colours of the Italian national flag Flag of Italy The flag of Italy is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the hoist side...  and a white hat emblazened with EUROPA 80.
France 1984	Péno	A white cockerel Rooster A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels... , a traditional national symbol of France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... , dressed in a French coloured football strip France national football team The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...  including football boot Football boot Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North America, are an item of footwear worn when playing association football. Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the bottom to aid grip... s and white gloves.
West Germany 1988	Berni	A cartoonised Animated cartoon An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...  German Grey Rabbit with human shaped body Human physical appearance Human physical appearance refers to the outward phenotype or look of human beings. There are infinite variations in human phenotypes, though society reduces the variability to distinct categories... . Berni wore an outfit in the colours of the German national flag Flag of Germany The flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold....  with a black football jersey with UEFA across the front, red football shorts and yellow or golden socks additionally with white head Headband A headband is a clothing accessory worn in the hair or around the forehead, usually to hold hair away from the face or eyes. Headbands generally consist of a loop of elastic material or a horseshoe-shaped piece of flexible plastic or metal...  and wristbands. Mostly depicted while jumping and controlling a football.
Sweden 1992	Rabbit	The Swedish mascot was also a rabbit in the national colours with head and wristbands controlling a football like the mascot from four years previously and was called name of Rabbit.
England 1996	Goaliath	Goaliath was designed in a similar fashion to the original World Cup mascot FIFA World Cup mascot Each FIFA World Cup since 1966 has its own mascot. World Cup Willie, the mascot for the 1966 competition, was the first World Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition...  from 1966 World Cup 1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...  called World Cup Willie. Goliath comprised a lion Lion The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger... , the image on the English football teams England national football team The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...  crest Coat of arms of England In heraldry, the Royal Arms of England is a coat of arms symbolising England and its monarchs. Its blazon is Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure, meaning three identical gold lions with blue tongues and claws, walking and facing the observer, arranged in a column... , dressed in an England football strip and football boots whilst holding a football under his right arm.
Netherlands-Belgium 2000	Benelucky	A lion with a devil's tail and human hands. A lion appears on the crest of the Dutch national federation Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues , the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch national football team. It is based in the municipality of Zeist.The KNVB came into being on 8 December 1889... , and the Belgian national team is historically nicknamed "Red Devils". The name Benelucky, is a portmanteau of "Benelux Benelux The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany... ", the term for the three nations of Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... , the Netherlands and Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south... , and the ending "-lucky" wishing the participating teams "good luck". It wore football boots and held a football under its left arm. One of the most striking characteristics of Benelucky was its multicoloured lions mane which incorporated the colours of both the Belgian Flag of Belgium The national flag of Belgium contains three equal vertical bands of black , yellow, and red. The colours were taken from the colours of the Duchy of Brabant, and the vertical design may be based on the flag of France....  and Dutch national flags Flag of the Netherlands The flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.-Description:... .
Portugal 2004	Kinas	A cartoon version of a boy dressed in the Portugal football strip Portugal national football team The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento... . The mascot's name, Kinas, is taken from "Bandeira das Quinas", which is a name for Portugal's national flag Flag of Portugal The flag of Portugal is the national flag of the Portuguese Republic. It is a rectangular bicolour with a field unevenly divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms is centered over the colour boundary at equal distance from the upper and... .
Austria-Switzerland 2008	Trix and Flix	A twin set of mascots two represent the two host countries, Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...  and Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... . The Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...  design was of two child like characters both dressed in football strips comprising solely red and white, the colours of the national flags of Austria and Switzerland.
Poland-Ukraine 2012	Slavek (Sławek) and Slavko	Once again Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...  created the mascots. The twins represent two host nations, Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...  and Ukraine Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... . One twin wears Poland's national colours of red and white, the other the yellow and blue of Ukraine.
France 2016 UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2016, will be the 15th European Championship for national football teams sanctioned by UEFA. It will be held in the summer of 2016. The host nation was announced to be France on 28 May 2010...	TBA	TBA
2020	TBA	TBA

External links

• Mascots of the European tournament