Living in North America, I don’t seem to hear enough about European news, especially about the European Union. So it’s very interesting to me to learn that recently there was an installation of possibly the world’s largest flag in Strasbourg, the European Union flag, in celebration of its 50th year. My first reaction reading this was – “50th?”

“The November celebration in Strasbourg was about the 50 years of the existence of the Flag of Europe, which consists of 12 yellow or white stars in a circle on a blue background. The flag was chosen by the Council of Europe for their own symbol on 8 December 1955.”

“The European flag was accepted as the symbol of the European Parliament in 1983 and finally of the European Union on 26 May 1986.”

And this: “The official motto of Europe is: United in diversity, which in Euro-speak, means that ‘Europeans are united in working together for peace and prosperity, and that the many different cultures, traditions and languages in Europe are a positive asset for the continent.'”

Do read “Europe, a State, a Nation, a what?”, an excellent article and check out the great links, especially the EU pages at Spring of Dionysos in English, or at Dionysoksen kevät in Finnish (where I first read this article).

Author “hanhensulka” (a goose feather) is a Finn living in Brussels, at the very heart of the European Union.

This is a fascinating and exciting period in history for Europe, don’t you think!?