1955: Connection between the European Flag and the Blessed Virgin Mary

Interestingly, the flag of the European Union was not originally designed for that organization, but the Council of Europe. It adopted a flag with 12 yellow stars on a blue background on this day in 1955. There were many design proposals for the flag, but the one submitted by Arsène Heitz, one of the Council employees, was accepted. He stated that his inspiration for the 12 stars design came to him from the biblical Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), which shows a woman wearing a crown of 12 stars (Rev 12:1: “A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”) It is interesting that the day the flag was accepted coincided with the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1985, the European Union adopted the flag of the Council of Europe as its own. It is often mistakenly thought that the 12 stars of the European flag signify the original 12 EU member states. This is not true, because that flag is, as noted, much older. In addition, the number of stars has never changed depending on the number of member states.