On 26 May 1986, the blue flag with twelve stars, adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe became the official European Community flag. The stars representing the peoples of Europe are set in a circle as a sign of union. Laid out like the hours on the face of a clock, the unchanging number 12 symbolizes perfection and plenitude.
As the number of stars is not linked to the number of member states, the flag does not need to be changed as new members are admitted.
Each country keeps its own flag.
2. The anthem
The music of "Ode to Joy", prelude to the fourth movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, was adopted as the European anthem by the heads of state and government of the twelve countries of the Community in the June 1985 European Council in Milan.
Each country keeps its own national anthem.
Listening to the anthem (1,4 Mo)
3. Europe Day
At the Milan Summit, in June 1985, the heads of state and government, meeting in European Council, decided to make 9 May Europe Day in memory of the declaration of Robert Schuman.
"Europe will not come about at a single stroke, nor as a seamless construction. It will come about through concrete realizations which create first of all a de facto solidarity. Bringing together the nations of Europe demands an end to the many centuries of conflict between France and Germany."
On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Affairs Minister, proposed in a historic declaration that the coal and steel industries of France and the Federal Republic of Germany be combined into a single organization open to the other countries of Europe.
The Treaty of Paris, signed on 18 April 1951, brought into existence the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) between Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The Frenchman, Jean Monnet, General Commissioner to the Plan from 1946 to 1951, was President of the first Community organization, the ECSC, from 1952 to 1955.