European flag

From Freepedia

Image:European flag.svg Image:EU Flag specification.png

The European flag consists of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background.

Although the flag is most commonly associated with the European Union (EU), it was initially used by the Council of Europe (COE), and intended to represent Europe as a whole as opposed to any particular organization such as the EU or the COE.

The flag was originally adopted by the Council of Europe on December 8, 1955, from a suggested design by the Chief Herald of Ireland Mr Gerard Slevin, born in Cork City. The Council of Europe from the beginning desired it to be used by other regional organizations seeking European integration. The European Community (EC) adopted it on May 26, 1986. The European Union, which was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 to replace the EC and encompass its functions, also adopted the flag. Since then the use of the flag has been controlled jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Union.

The flag appears on the face of all euro currency banknotes, and the stars on euro coins.

The number of stars on the flag is fixed at 12 and is not related to the number of member states of EU. In 1953, the Council of Europe had 15 members; it was proposed that the future flag should have one star for each member, and would not change based on future members. West Germany objected to this as one of the members was the disputed area of Saarland, and to have its own star would imply sovereignty for the region. On this basis, France also objected to fourteen stars, as this would imply the absorption of Saarland into Germany. Myth has it that the Italian representative then objected that thirteen was an unlucky number, as well as the fact that early flags of the United States featured that number of stars. Twelve was eventually adopted as a number with no political connotations and as a symbol of perfection and completeness[1] because of the ubiquity of the number for groups in European cultures and traditions such as:

The number has led to a number of unproved assertions that there is further meaning in the stars, for example its similarity to the twelve-star halo of the Virgin Mary seen in Roman Catholic art and thus part of a conspiracy to revive a Catholic supremacy or the Holy Roman Empire. Interestingly, some staunchly religious organisations make the counter-claim that the stars represent the Queen of Heaven in Babylonian myth and show the existence of an ungodly movement in the leadership of the EU. Most non-partisan authorities on the subject disregard such theories as myth [2]. However, flag designer Arsene Heitz has acknowledged that the Book of Revelation helped to inspire him. [3]