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European Union

by Antonio Martins, 23 July 1999

The flag of European Council
The flag of the European Parliament
The 'Marian Seal' hypothesis
Why 12 stars
History of the flag

members (1996-12-01) : Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

See also:

The flag of the Council of Europe

The above EU flag was originally the flag of the Council of Europe, another, older and wider, European institution.
Giuseppe Bottasini

Flag of the European Parliament

In 1986, the European Parliament already had a flag, blue bearing a gold wreath surrounding the letters

EP
PE

Whether this is still in use, or has been replaced by the CofE/EU flag, I do not know.

Roy Stilling, 1 May 1996

The 'Marian Seal' hypothesis

I have recently read an article about the hypothesis that the 12 stars of European Union are derived from a Marian seal very common at Lourdes (France): in fact the author of the flag of Council of Europe was very devoted to Our Lady of Lourdes.
Giuseppe Bottasini , 22 November 1995

I have also seen the argument that the flag and emblem of the European Union is in fact a catholic symbol. This argument has been put forward by Lutheran north Europeans as a contribution to the line of thought that the EU is a catholic (that is elitist, non-democratic etc.) project the north Europeans (that is democratic and Lutheran) ought to stay out of. Some of the more extreme argue that the EU is a fulfillment of the prophesies in The Book of Revelation - the resurrection of the Roman Empire etc. (evidence: the EU was founded with the treaty of Rome). Chapter12 verse 1 reads: 'After that there appeared a great sign in heaven: a woman robed with the sun, beneath her feet the moon, and on her head a crown of TWELVE STARS.' In church art this crown is in the form of a circle of stars around the Virgin Mary's head (the cathedral in Strasbourg is said to have a stained glass window looking very much like the European emblem). See how catholic this is?
Now, the argument is that the flag of the Council of Europe, which the EU took over, was decided by a small group of representatives from the catholic member states (in secretive meetings from which there is no written record) and without explaining the symbolism of the circle of stars. The gullible protestants thought the design was OK and voted for it (that is, they were duped). In this way the non-catholics have been forced into worshiping the Virgin Mary when displaying the EU flag.
Now, I don't believe in this argument, but is such a beautiful conspiracy theory that I had to comment on it.
Jan Oskar Engene, 23 November 1995

12 stars, not 15

One was the 15 star European Union flag.
Anonymous - a common mistake.

I doubt it. The Council of Europe / European Union flag had always 12 stars. The fact that the EU had 12 members from 1986 till 1996 was just a coincidence.

Didn't the council's flag have 15 stars at it beginning in 1953 when there were 15 members ?

I found a booklet, published by one of the European pressure groups, that had an explanation of the European flag.
According to them the Council of Europe had 15 members and the flag had one star for each member. The number of stars was not to alter if the number of members changed.
However Germany objected to the number 15 because one of the members represented Saarland, and 15 stars would imply "star" sovereignty for that region.
France would not agree to 14 stars as that number would acknowledge the absorption of Saarland into Germany.
13 was ruled out for superstitious reasons.
12 was reckoned to be a "good" number because it had no political innuendo, and there are

12 signs of the zodiac
12 hours on a clock
12 months in a year
12 apostles
12 tables of Roman Law
and 12 starry crowns of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse (good?)

D Prothero, 12 December 1996

History of the flag

Since its foundation in 1949, the Council of Europe has been aware of the need to give Europe a symbol with which its inhabitants can identify.

On 25 October 1955 the Parliamentary Assembly made the unanimous decision to adopt a circle of gold stars on a blue background as an emblem.

On 8 December 1955 the Committee of Ministers adopted this as the European flag. The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly repeatedly expressed the desire that other European institutions should adopt the same symbol in order to strengthen the idea of solidarity between the different organizations in a united and democratic Europe.

It was the European Parliament which took the initiative for a flag to be adopted for the European Community. In 1979 a draft resolution was presented, shortly after the first European elections held by universal suffrage. In a resolution adopted in April 1983 the Parliament decreed that the Community's flag should be that adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955.

The European Council, meeting at Fontainebleau in June 1989, stressed the importance of promoting the European image and identity in the eyes of its citizens and the world. Then, in Milan in June 1985, it gave its approval to the proposal of the Committee on a People's Europe (Adonnino Committee) that a flag should be adopted by the Community. The Council of Europe agreed to the use by the Community of the European flag that it had adopted in 1955 and Community institutions have been using it since the beginning of 1986.

Thus the European flag and emblem represent both the Council of Europe and the European Community (and the European Union, since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty). It has now become the symbol par excellence of united Europe and European identity. The Council of Europe and the institutions of the European Union have expressed satisfaction with the growing awareness of the European flag and emblem among European citizens. The European Commission and the Council of Europe are responsible for ensuring that all uses of this symbol respect the dignity of the European flag and emblem, and for taking whatever measures are necessary to prevent misuse.

David Crowe, 6 November 1998