The European Union （EU）and its Emblem 1.1 The Flag of Europe The Flag of Europe is the flag and emblem of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (COE) (it is also used to indicate the euro or eurozone countries). It consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on a blue background. The blue represents the west, the number of stars represents completeness while their position in a circle represents unity. The stars do not vary according to the members of either organisation as they are intended to represent all the peoples of Europe, even those outside European integration.

The flag was designed by Arsène Heitz and Paul Lévy in 1955 for the COE as its symbol, and the COE urged it to be adopted by other organisations. In 1985 the EU, which was then the European Economic Community (EEC), adopted it as its own flag (having had no flag of its own before) at the initiative of the European Parliament. The flag is not mentioned in the EU's treaties, its incorporation being dropped along with the European Constitution, but it is formally adopted in law.

1.2 Symbol of the Flag The number of stars on the flag is fixed at 12, and is not related to the number of member states of the EU. This is because it originally was the flag of the Council of Europe, and does not have a relationship with the EU. In 1953, the Council of Europe had 15 members; it was proposed that the future flag should have one star for each member, and would not change based on future members. West Germany objected to this as one of the members was the disputed area of Saarland, and to have its own star would imply sovereignty for the region. Twelve was eventually adopted as a number with no political connotations and as a symbol of perfection and completeness because of the ubiquity of the number for groups in European cultures and traditions such as:

12 stars crowning the head of the Virgin Mary in the book of Revelation, Chapter 12 12 hours on a clock 12 sons of Jacob 12 tribes of Israel 12 Biblical minor prophets 12 ounces in a troy pound 12 semitones in an octave 12 days of Christmas 12 Caesars chronicled by Suetonius 12 Olympian gods 12 labours of Hercules 12 tables of Roman Law 12 books of Paradise Lost and the Aeneid 12 hues in the colour wheel, star or sphere (western art)

1.3 Monetary union 16 EU countries have introduced the euro as their sole currency. The creation of a European single currency became an official objective of the EU in 1969. However, it was only with the advent of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 that member states were legally bound to start the monetary union no later than 1 January 1999. On this date the euro was duly launched by eleven of the then fifteen member states of the EU. It remained an accounting currency until 1 January 2002, when euro notes and coins were issued and national currencies began to phase out in the eurozone, which by then consisted of twelve member states. The eurozone has since grown to sixteen countries, the most recent being Slovakia which joined on 1 January 2009.

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