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European symbols
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Council of Europe (COE) has developed a series of European symbols for the continent of Europe, and these have since been shared with the European Union (EU). They are intended both as symbols of the organisations themselves, and as a focus for a form of Pan-European identity. Later, the EU has created further symbols for itself.
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The Flag of Europe consists of a circle of twelve golden (yellow) stars on a blue background. It is most commonly associated with the European Union (EU), formerly the European Communities, which adopted the flag in the 1980s. However it was first adopted by the Council of Europe (CoE), which created it in 1955.
The EU and CoE are separate organisations; while the EU has 27 members, the CoE has 47 members and 5 observers comprising not only all 27 EU members but also all European countries except Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Vatican City. When adopted by the CoE, it was to represent not just itself, but the whole of Europe. Since both the EU and the CoE represent European unity, the two organisations are using the same flag.
Every Presidency of the Council of the European Union has its own logo and visual expression. These sets of colours and designs follow the politics of the EU as a whole for the six months length of the presidencies. The EU has no official coat-of-arms, so in a sense the presidency logo fills lack of symbols for the Union.[citation needed] It is always commented in the media when launched.
The Portuguese 2007 presidency logo is called "the flowerflag", highlighted in the colours of the flags of the member states in Presidency video idents.
Every institution, body and agency of the EU has an individual symbol:
The European anthem is based on the prelude to "The Ode to Joy", 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th symphony. Due to the large number of languages in Europe, it is an instrumental version only with the original German lyrics having no official status. The anthem was announced on 19 January 1972 by the Council of Europe after being arranged by conductor Herbert von Karajan. The anthem was launched via a major information campaign on Europe Day, 5 May 1972.
It was adopted by European Community leaders in 1985. It does not replace national anthems, but is intended to celebrate their shared values.[1]. It is played on official occasions by both the Council of Europe and the European Union.
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The Council of Europe has celebrated its founding on 5 May 1949 as "Europe Day" since 1964.
What is now the European Union adopted 9 May as "Europe Day" at the Milan summit in 1985, to celebrate that Robert Schuman presented his proposal on the creation of an organised Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations, on 9 May 1950. This proposal, known as the Schuman declaration, is considered by many to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
9 May is now the more commonly observed date, though some Europeans still prefer 5 May, since the Council of Europe was designed to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law, while the Schuman speech was simply proposing a sharing of French and German coal and steel. Incidentally, May 9 is also celebrated in many former Soviet Union countries as Victory Day, the end of World War II. This is celebrated on May 8 in most Western European countries, but is celebrated on May 5 in Denmark and the Netherlands.
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It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss) |
An EU motto, In varietate concordia (Latin for united in diversity), was first established through an unofficial process in 2000. It was selected from entries proposed by school pupils submitted to the website www.devise-europe.org, and then accepted by the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine. The modified version, United in diversity, has been written into the English-language version of the currently stalled Constitution for Europe, and now appears on official EU websites. See www.eurominority.org for the motto in many languages not listed below.
Interestingly, the proposed change would make the motto essentially the same as the South African motto officially adopted in 2000-04-27: "!ke e: /xarra //ke" in /Xam, an extinct Khoisan language. "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika", translated as "Unity in Diversity", is also the national motto of Indonesia. It is also similar to "E pluribus unum" (Latin for "out of many, one"), one of the mottos of the United States of America (although this refers to the fifty states comprising the Union and not the diversity of its population.) Unity in diversity is the present official motto of Papua New Guinea.
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In the current draft of the Treaty of Lisbon, the euro is written to be the official currency of the Union, being the only "survivor" of Article IV-1 (The symbols of the Union) of the rejected constitution.
- "The symbols of the EU", Europa website.
- Council of Europe Logo and the European Flag
- European Flag and Insignia
- Why the European flag has been chosen : European Navigator
- Original choir version
- The European Anthem and downloads - Council of Europe website
- The European Anthem - European Commission website
- European anthem European Navigator
- Good background by the European Commission Representation in the United Kingdom
- An article on Europe Day and the European Union by Mark Steyn
- European commission poster: European Navigator
- Draft European constitution, 18 July 2003, Article IV-1, The symbols of the Union. (It's on top of p222 in all languages but Swedish.)
- Une devise pour l'Europe
- The EU at a glance (official EU site)
- The European motto (Eurominority site)
