Q The European Union flag has 12 stars. What do these stars signify and who designed the flag? - K Young, Sydney, Australia.

A The flag has been used by the European Union since 1986 but it was in fact adopted from the Council of Europe which still uses the flag and has done so since 1955. The Council of Europe, which has 42 member states (originally ten) was formed in 1949 and is concerned with strengthening political, social, legal and cultural co-operation between its member states. The council is based in Strasbourg and its members are drawn from national parliaments. By comparison, the European Union based in Brussels aims to achieve European integration and its members are directly elected to the European Parliament.

The Assembly of the European Council unanimously voted to adopt the flag in October 1955 and consistently encouraged other European institutions to adopt the flag as a symbol of unity. This seems to have been one of the main reasons it was adopted by the European Union, with whom it is now most closely associated.

The European flag consists of twelve golden 'pentagram' stars that form a circle against an azure blue background. Twelve was seen to be a good number and non-political, reflecting the unity expressed by the twelve hours of the clock, twelve months of the year and twelve signs of the Zodiac. Arsene Heitz, who designed the flag, later claimed that his design was influenced by a traditional 'iconographic' representation of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Interestingly, the Virgin Mary's Crown is often depicted with twelve stars in church stained glass.

It is often assumed that the stars represent the 12 member states of the European Union at the time in which the flag was adopted. However, since the flag was originally used by the Council of Europe this does not seem to be the case. It is officially stated that the number of stars is fixed and that they actually represent a symbol of perfection and unity. The European Union states that they represent the "union of the peoples of Europe". However it does seem more than a little coincidental that the 12 member states of 1986 should choose a flag with twelve stars. It does seem like an emulation of the American Stars and Stripes where each star represents a state of the US. If this was the case then the European flag effectively became obsolete in 1995 when three new member states joined, bringing the total number of members to 15. The flag still only has 12 stars.

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