On Sunday 22 June, the Mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, unveiled the winning entries to NATO's summit mural competition. Following successful editions in Vilnius (2023) and Washington (2024), the 2025 competition marked the third year in a row that NATO has invited young artists from across Europe and North America to submit designs encapsulating the spirit of the Alliance and the personality of the summit's host city.
© Gemeente Den Haag
Diederik Dijkgraaf from the Netherlands and Riivo Kruuk from Estonia managed to convince the jury with their submissions and were able to bring their murals to life in The Hague in collaboration with Dutch artist Tobias Becker. This year's competition was organised under the motto "Maintaining Our Shared Future".
The mural consists of the two winning entries combined. On the left, "NATO Dove: Protection of 1 Billion Citizens" was designed by Diederik Dijkgraaf and incorporates the flags of all 32 Allies into the wings of a dove. On the right, "A Peaceful Day" was designed by Riivo Kruuk and pays tribute to Dutch painters such as Johannes Vermeer. The winning designs were selected by a professional jury who considered entries from all across the Alliance.
