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The number of original members of the EU is 6, the present number of members (as of 2005) is 25. Why, then, does the EU flag have 12 stars?
Question
#58021. Asked by author. (Jun 28 05 8:38 AM)
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gtho4
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This is one plausible explanation:
In 1953, the Council of Europe had 15 members and the flag should have had one star for each member. However Germany objected to the number 15 because one of the members of the Council war 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.
The question of how many stars appear on the European Flag has arisen before. When Sweden, Finland and Austria were admitted in 1995, the number of member states increased from 12 to 15. Several cases exist where people assumed that the number of stars would also increase. A graphic with 15 stars appeared on BBC News for some days. I wrote and told them it was wrong and they reverted to the correct pattern. Despite this, the 15-star version still appeared occasionally. I eventually suggested that the incorrect graphic be destroyed so that it could not appear even by accident. They may have done so as it has not appeared since then.
The other, more lasting case, has been with car stickers. There are car stickers available, oval with the blue of the European flag and the stars and the white letters "GB" in the centre. Most of them have 12 stars, but there are some with 15. I have not yet discovered which company manufactures them.
 http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/eun.html
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author
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This is interesting, but why did the EU adopt the flag of the European Council? They have nothing to do with each other.
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baconator74
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Because, actually, the original number of memebers was 12: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Ireland.It was created by them in 1992.
Hope that helps!
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