Each star symbolises a Member State of the European Union.

In fact, the flag was designed in 1955 for the Council of Europe which had 15 members in those days: golden stars were intended to form a circle symbolising the unification of Europe.

However, there was great disagreement among the members about the number of stars. The Federal Republic of Germany rejected the American-style solution of choosing 15 stars for 15 members because one star would have symbolised the Saarland, a territory which Germany did not want to be regarded as an independent political unit and which was indeed integrated into the Federal Republic in 1957.

France rejected the number 14 because it did not want to exclude the Saarland. The "unlucky number" 13 was out of the question. The number 10 would have symbolised the ten founding states of the Council of Europe but excluded the subsequent new members.

Finally, the American model was abandoned and the number 12 was chosen as a symbol of perfection which can be associated with the number of Apostles as well as with the months of the year.

In April 1986, the European Community adopted this truly European compromise reached by the Council of Europe in 1955.

(Source: Hermann Schäfer: Sterne und Staaten, in: Koch, Thilo (Ed.), Europa und ich. Persönliche Eindrücke und Erlebnisse, Bonn 1993)

This small example shows how little we actually know about the history of Europe. We should therefore like to take you on a journey to discover Europe's past.