International and other Special Flags
of Organizations and Groups

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After extensive research on the internet, the following seems to be a consensus as to what the EU flag means:

• The European Union flag is the symbol not only of the European Union but it is supposed to also represent Europe’s unity and identity in a wider sense.
• The circle of gold stars represents “solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe”.
• The number of stars has nothing to do with the number of member states.
• There are twelve stars because the number twelve is traditionally the symbol of “perfection, completeness and unity”.
• The flag will therefore remain unchanged regardless of future additions to EU membership members.
• The history of the flag goes back to 1955. At that time, the European Union existed only in the form of the European Coal and Steel Community, with just six Member States.
• A separate body with a larger membership, the Council of Europe, was set up several years earlier and was busy “defending human rights and promoting European culture”.
• The Council of Europe was considering what symbol to adopt for its own use.
• The question of how many stars appear on the European Flag has arisen before.
• When Sweden, Finland, and Austria were admitted in the 1990’s, the number of member states increased from 12 to 15.
• Several cases exist where people assumed that the number of stars would also increase.
• After much discussion, the present design was adopted, a circle of twelve gold stars on a blue background.
• In various traditions, twelve is a symbolic number representing perfection.
• It is also the number of months in a year, the number of hours shown on a clock face, and a symbol of unity. So the European flag was born, representing the ideal of unity among the peoples of Europe.
• The blue background represents freedom that spans Europe without borders; much like the blue sky that is over all of the courntries.
• The wheel turns full circle; just like the twelve digits on the clock and the twelve months a year.
• The Council of Europe encouraged other European institutions to adopt the same flag and, in 1983, the European Parliament took up the call.
• Finally, in 1985, the flag was adopted by all EU heads of states and governments as the official emblem of the European Union; which, at that time, was called the “European Communities”.
• The numerical system for the stars ruled out thirteen for superstitious reasons.
  
  Again, twelve was considered a “good” number because it had no political innuendo, and it could also represent the
  
  
  • Twelve signs of the zodiac
  • Twelve hours on a clock
  • Twelve months in a year
  • Twelve apostles
  • Twelve tables of Roman Law
  • Twelve starry crowns of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse
  
  
  The current number of members of the European Union, as of 2004, are the following:
  
  
  • Austria (January 1, 1995)
  • Belgium (March 25, 1957)
  • Denmark (January 1, 1995)
  • Finland (January 1, 1995)
  • France (March 25, 1957)
  • Germany (March 25, 1957)
  • Greece (January 1, 1981)
  • Ireland (January 1, 1995)
  • Italy (March 25, 1957)
  • Luxembourg (March 25, 1957)
  • The Netherlands (March 25, 1957)
  • Portugal (January 1, 1986)
  • Spain (January 1, 1986)
  • Sweden (January 1, 1995)
  • United Kingdom (January 1, 1995)
    
    There are thirteen “applicant countries” that are presented in the order of their dates of applications to the EU:
    
    
  • Turkey
  • Cyprus
  • Malta
  • Hungary
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Slovak Republic
  • Lativia
  • Estonia
  • Lithuania
  • Bulgaria
  • Czech Republic
  • Slovenia

Information about the world flags in this unit will be provided in the future so you can enjoy knowing more about them in additions to enjoying the beauty of the flags.

Information about the world flags in this unit will be provided in the future so you can enjoy knowing more about them in additions to enjoying the beauty of the flags.

NATO

Information about the world flags in this unit will be provided in the future so you can enjoy knowing more about them in additions to enjoying the beauty of the flags.

United Nations

Information about the world flags in this unit will be provided in the future so you can enjoy knowing more about them in additions to enjoying the beauty of the flags.

Vexillological Association

German Flag Society (DGF)

Information about the world flags in this unit will be provided in the future so you can enjoy knowing more about them in additions to enjoying the beauty of the flags.

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