Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,794
30 Years of Bitter Fighting over a Flag!
On May 29, 1986, the newly introduced European flag was hoisted for the first time in front of the Berlaymont building in Brussels to the sound of the European anthem.
The flag consists of a wreath of twelve gold five-pointed stars on an ultramarine blue background. The number of stars, twelve, is traditionally a symbol of perfection, completeness and unity. There was and is no reference to the number of EU member states.
It was pure coincidence that when this flag was adopted in 1986, the EC consisted of twelve countries. Since the enlargement in 1995, the number of member states has grown, but the number of flag stars has remained unchanged - as intended.
Hmmm - that's what it says literally on the EU's official website. But that seemed a bit too softened to me, too unanimous, I don't even know Europe like that - so I did some researches what it really was like ...:
Lo and behold ...:
This was preceded by a decade-long tug-of-war behind the scenes since it was decided in 1950 (!!!) to symbolize Europe, which is growing together, with a common flag.
The first "candidate" was the flag of the Paneuropean Union, designed by Count Coudenhove-Kalergi ...
... which shows a golden sun (symbol for enlightenment) with a red cross (symbol for humanity) on a blue background. It was favored by most of the members, but could not be enforced against the resistance of Turkey (then a candidate for membership and involved as such!), which rejected every draft with a cross ...:
The second "candidate" after the Turks prevailed was the design by Duncan Edwin Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys, Winston Churchill's son-in-law ...:
It showed an originally red ...
... and then a green "E" on a white background. The color "red" fell through because it reminded some state leaders too much of the color of the communists.
The green and white flag was first hoisted at a European economic conference in London in 1949 and was increasingly used as the European symbol and perceived as the official symbol. It was rejected because too little emotional binding power was ascribed to a pure letter symbol.
Moreover, they were referred to by scoffers as "Churchill's underpants", because the white field actually reminded of the man's underwear blowing in the wind ...:
However, this design still had one - even if only indirect - function:
From July 1984 the "Chrchills undertrousers" could be used as a sticker for the windshield of a motor vehicle to indicate that only citizens from the EEC were in the vehicle and that no goods from foreign (non EU) countries were carried...:
The third "candidate" was the draft of a specially appointed committee made up of European politicians and heraldists who - based on the Olympic symbol - opted for eight silver, interlocking rings ...:
This design aroused nothing but mockery! It was satirized as a "chain of all zeros" and a "telephone dial" and fell flat out!
The high committee racked its highly paid heads in vain ...!
The fourth "candidate", a design by by the Czech Carl Weidl Raymon, had really good chances ...:
Weidl Raymond suggested a single gold star on an ultramarine blue background ...:
This proposal met with widespread support - and Europe almost got a "Hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star", as the famous Confederate song from the US Civil War put it ...
The fact that Raymon's proposal did not turn out was due to a single detail:
It looked too similar to the then flag of the Republic of the Congo, which existed between 1960 and 2003 ...:
And the so-called "Hertensteiner Cross", the fifth "candidate", a symbol for federalist movements from Switzerland, failed - again because of Turkey (you know, the crosses ...):
So in 1953 (!!!) the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to introduce a dark blue flag (as suggested by Raymond) - with fifteen gold stars to represent the number of members of the Council of Europe at that time.
However, there was again bitter dispute over the number of stars!
Germany opposed the number 15 with all its might, since it would symbolically have indirectly recognized the Saarland, at that time one of the 15 members of the Council of Europe, as a separate state.
The Saarland and France together, on the other hand, did not want to accept the 14 stars brought into play by Germany under any circumstances, since there were still strong tendencies in the Saarland towards state independence and, as an alternative, to affiliation with France.
The number of 13 stars was ruled out because the 13 was seen by many as an unlucky number.
Ten stars were also ruled out due to the resistance of the later acceded states ...
... because they were viewed as a symbolization of the ten EU founding states, which was also not desired. So it was finally agreed on the number twelve as a purely symbolic sign - and the lowest common denominator!
THIS is the story of the European flag as it really was. Nothing of harmony and unity, but a bitter tug-of-war from the first to the last day!
Finally, on April 11, 1983, it was decided to introduce the European flag as we know it today.
And then it took another three years before she was hoisted for the first time ...
We see: people have fought down to the knife over much less important questions than they are today. And that was probably never different before ...
On May 29, 1986, the newly introduced European flag was hoisted for the first time in front of the Berlaymont building in Brussels to the sound of the European anthem.
The flag consists of a wreath of twelve gold five-pointed stars on an ultramarine blue background. The number of stars, twelve, is traditionally a symbol of perfection, completeness and unity. There was and is no reference to the number of EU member states.
It was pure coincidence that when this flag was adopted in 1986, the EC consisted of twelve countries. Since the enlargement in 1995, the number of member states has grown, but the number of flag stars has remained unchanged - as intended.
Hmmm - that's what it says literally on the EU's official website. But that seemed a bit too softened to me, too unanimous, I don't even know Europe like that - so I did some researches what it really was like ...:
Lo and behold ...:
This was preceded by a decade-long tug-of-war behind the scenes since it was decided in 1950 (!!!) to symbolize Europe, which is growing together, with a common flag.
The first "candidate" was the flag of the Paneuropean Union, designed by Count Coudenhove-Kalergi ...
... which shows a golden sun (symbol for enlightenment) with a red cross (symbol for humanity) on a blue background. It was favored by most of the members, but could not be enforced against the resistance of Turkey (then a candidate for membership and involved as such!), which rejected every draft with a cross ...:
The second "candidate" after the Turks prevailed was the design by Duncan Edwin Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys, Winston Churchill's son-in-law ...:
It showed an originally red ...
... and then a green "E" on a white background. The color "red" fell through because it reminded some state leaders too much of the color of the communists.
The green and white flag was first hoisted at a European economic conference in London in 1949 and was increasingly used as the European symbol and perceived as the official symbol. It was rejected because too little emotional binding power was ascribed to a pure letter symbol.
Moreover, they were referred to by scoffers as "Churchill's underpants", because the white field actually reminded of the man's underwear blowing in the wind ...:
However, this design still had one - even if only indirect - function:
From July 1984 the "Chrchills undertrousers" could be used as a sticker for the windshield of a motor vehicle to indicate that only citizens from the EEC were in the vehicle and that no goods from foreign (non EU) countries were carried...:
The third "candidate" was the draft of a specially appointed committee made up of European politicians and heraldists who - based on the Olympic symbol - opted for eight silver, interlocking rings ...:
This design aroused nothing but mockery! It was satirized as a "chain of all zeros" and a "telephone dial" and fell flat out!
The high committee racked its highly paid heads in vain ...!
The fourth "candidate", a design by by the Czech Carl Weidl Raymon, had really good chances ...:
Weidl Raymond suggested a single gold star on an ultramarine blue background ...:
This proposal met with widespread support - and Europe almost got a "Hurray for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a single star", as the famous Confederate song from the US Civil War put it ...
The fact that Raymon's proposal did not turn out was due to a single detail:
It looked too similar to the then flag of the Republic of the Congo, which existed between 1960 and 2003 ...:
And the so-called "Hertensteiner Cross", the fifth "candidate", a symbol for federalist movements from Switzerland, failed - again because of Turkey (you know, the crosses ...):
So in 1953 (!!!) the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to introduce a dark blue flag (as suggested by Raymond) - with fifteen gold stars to represent the number of members of the Council of Europe at that time.
However, there was again bitter dispute over the number of stars!
Germany opposed the number 15 with all its might, since it would symbolically have indirectly recognized the Saarland, at that time one of the 15 members of the Council of Europe, as a separate state.
The Saarland and France together, on the other hand, did not want to accept the 14 stars brought into play by Germany under any circumstances, since there were still strong tendencies in the Saarland towards state independence and, as an alternative, to affiliation with France.
The number of 13 stars was ruled out because the 13 was seen by many as an unlucky number.
Ten stars were also ruled out due to the resistance of the later acceded states ...
... because they were viewed as a symbolization of the ten EU founding states, which was also not desired. So it was finally agreed on the number twelve as a purely symbolic sign - and the lowest common denominator!
THIS is the story of the European flag as it really was. Nothing of harmony and unity, but a bitter tug-of-war from the first to the last day!
Finally, on April 11, 1983, it was decided to introduce the European flag as we know it today.
And then it took another three years before she was hoisted for the first time ...
We see: people have fought down to the knife over much less important questions than they are today. And that was probably never different before ...
