In one my previous post dealing with basic data about the European federation I described also state symbols of the European federal state. I took over symbols of the present intergovernmental European Union without change or only with small changes because the symbols seemed well chosen to me and appropriate also for a future European federation. But I realized later that it will not be so simple. The symbols described by me in the relevant part of the suggested constitution of the European federal state should be connected with a future European federation but they are at the same time already today used as the symbols of the intergovernmental organization called the European Union. And it is just the problem. International organizations work primarily on the basis of governmental diplomacy, a federal state should be grounded on as directly as possible expressed will of its citizens themselves. The symbols of the present intergovernmental European Union so could be used only if the present international organization as its first stage would continuously pass to a federal state. It was indeed so planned in the beginning. Robert Schuman presented in his memorable speech in 1950 among other: The pooling of coal and steel production should immediately provide for the setting up of common foundations for economic development as a first step in the federation of Europe. In the first decades, all steps of the unification process certainly followed this final goal but I do not know whether it still stands. Politicians speak about “deepening of integration” but only expanding spheres of the topics that the governments of the member states deal in their “European” meetings with is a case in practice; progress towards true federal arrangement is not visible, not to speak about committing especially essential matters of all-European significance to the hands of the people. Decision making of the European Commission and the Council of the EU is a bit similar to the method of governance in east-European totalitarian states before 1990 – the ruling party organized a congress, a plan for following years adopted at it, the mass media obligatorily exalted it and the rest of the society got the task to apply the plan in its doings; there was a zero scope for activity and decisions of the people. Apart that the people can almost only watch decisions of the present EU, the EU authorities promote more and more such policy that injures citizens of the member states and alienates them from the whole organization. Trust in the present European Union rapidly falls, also in countries traditionally inclined towards unification of Europe.
For we have a crisis and it is necessary to placate the financial markets. Prosperity of banks is more important then lives of citizens and the European Union became an instrument of help for banks and great firms at the expense of citizens of the member states. Also common solidarity rapidly decays, a common objective in followed no more, every state acts almost only at its own; the mark of the European Union is left almost only for Germany that however by means of it also is in pursuit of its own aim, namely preserving of prosperity of the German economy, even at the cost of devastation of lives of other Europeans. I do not wonder at all that hate against the EU grows in Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal and somewhere else where Germany shielded by the name of the EU comes to “cut”.
Especially the euro (currency) crisis shows considerable lack of democracy in the European organization because important economic (and social following them) questions were taken from the power of the member states where their citizens so so could influence them in the European level where they are outside reach of the citizens, especially those from the states that are mostly afflicted by the crisis. Organizations preceding the present European Union were established after the war as first degrees of Europe's unification but the current quasi union demonstrates rather an image of disintegration than unity. Generally, it can be said that the current intergovernmental organization of 27 European states discredit the idea of Europe's unification in minds of many Europeans and the same can be said about its symbols. Therefore I decided that a flag of the European federation that should already now represent the future federation should be different form the flag of the current European Union which ceases to be a symbol of a hope for the future; and just the flag is the most used of all symbols of the current EU, the most known and the most frequent target of dissent to the organization. Simply: let use of the present blue flag with yellow stars indicates only the current international organization (whose heading towards a democratic federation is extremely uncertain) and let use of the flag of the European federation symbolizes solely the European federation and unambiguous heading towards it.
So how should look the flag of the European federation? My first precondition is that the present flag symbolism of the international European Union should not be entirely rejected because some progress on the course towards Europe's unification on the federal basis was achieved also in the intergovernmental field. My second precondition nevertheless proceeds from the fact that explicit heading of the current European Union towards the federal state is unclear, its “leaders” (that is the national politicians) do not speak about it and some of them do everything so that it stays unchanged. Therefore I want to supplement the flag symbol of the present EU with a symbol unequivocally expressing heading to federal arrangement. The only symbol whose interpretation is undoubtedly such as this is according to my knowledge the symbol of Pan-Europa.
A symbol of the Pan-European movement constituted by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi was slightly transforming during decades. It had only two colours initially, yellow and red arranged in the form of a red cross on a yellow circle. “A sign in which Europeans of all states connect together is a sun cross: a red cross on a golden sun, a symbol of humanity and sense.” (Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi: Pan-Europa).
After having specified these two preconditions I was faced with a question how to combine the named two symbols in one. A first and most natural possibility is to maintain composition of both source symbols, that is the flag of the present EU and the original circular symbol of pan-European movement. Then it is natural to insert the yellow circle with the cross inside the ring of yellow stars in (dark) blue flag.
This symbol is however already in use, it is a current symbol of the pan-European movement.
But that is not only reason why this form not suits me; because it visually too resembles the flag of the current EU with all its mentioned above. I decided therefore to swap the colours in order that yellow prevails in the flag. In that case blue remains represented only in the form of a blue background under the circle of yellow stars (otherwise yellow stars would blend in with the yellow background of the flag). By simple swap of the blue colour for the yellow according to that told above with preservation of composition of the current pan-European movement's flag arises a flag as follows. I selected greater width so that the area of yellow comes to the fore.
This flag can however be further modified in the way that the limbs of the red cross are lengthened from outside the stars circle up to borders of the flag. The modified form actually adjusts the original circle-shaped symbol of Pan-Europa to rectangular shape of a flag whose all area it fills and the blue circle with yellow stars is added like in the previous variant.
In the just presented flag, the blue circle with yellow stars is optically on top and the red cross under it. This optical foreground and background (besides the yellow background of the whole flag itself) can be swapped so that the red cross is optically on top and the blue circle with stars is under it. Four stars however would so end up hidden under the cross, in that case they have to be depicted just in the cross, outside the blue circle.
No other composition crossed my mind, so it remains to select one of these variants now. I prefer from the three presented flags with prevailing yellow flag the two ones in which the red cross along with the yellow background fills the whole area of the flag; and that ground is then completed with yellow stars on a blue circle in two ways. I chose from these two variants only on the basis of an aesthetic impression which is, I admit, subjective. I like more the flag with the blue circle under the red cross; that four stars are outside the blue circle I hold not objectionable.
So the conclusion of my reflection is a flag of the European federal state in the form of a yellow field with a red cross in it and a circle of twelve yellow five-angled stars round the cross' center on a blue circle put under the cross' limbs.
For we have a crisis and it is necessary to placate the financial markets. Prosperity of banks is more important then lives of citizens and the European Union became an instrument of help for banks and great firms at the expense of citizens of the member states. Also common solidarity rapidly decays, a common objective in followed no more, every state acts almost only at its own; the mark of the European Union is left almost only for Germany that however by means of it also is in pursuit of its own aim, namely preserving of prosperity of the German economy, even at the cost of devastation of lives of other Europeans. I do not wonder at all that hate against the EU grows in Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal and somewhere else where Germany shielded by the name of the EU comes to “cut”.
Especially the euro (currency) crisis shows considerable lack of democracy in the European organization because important economic (and social following them) questions were taken from the power of the member states where their citizens so so could influence them in the European level where they are outside reach of the citizens, especially those from the states that are mostly afflicted by the crisis. Organizations preceding the present European Union were established after the war as first degrees of Europe's unification but the current quasi union demonstrates rather an image of disintegration than unity. Generally, it can be said that the current intergovernmental organization of 27 European states discredit the idea of Europe's unification in minds of many Europeans and the same can be said about its symbols. Therefore I decided that a flag of the European federation that should already now represent the future federation should be different form the flag of the current European Union which ceases to be a symbol of a hope for the future; and just the flag is the most used of all symbols of the current EU, the most known and the most frequent target of dissent to the organization. Simply: let use of the present blue flag with yellow stars indicates only the current international organization (whose heading towards a democratic federation is extremely uncertain) and let use of the flag of the European federation symbolizes solely the European federation and unambiguous heading towards it.
So how should look the flag of the European federation? My first precondition is that the present flag symbolism of the international European Union should not be entirely rejected because some progress on the course towards Europe's unification on the federal basis was achieved also in the intergovernmental field. My second precondition nevertheless proceeds from the fact that explicit heading of the current European Union towards the federal state is unclear, its “leaders” (that is the national politicians) do not speak about it and some of them do everything so that it stays unchanged. Therefore I want to supplement the flag symbol of the present EU with a symbol unequivocally expressing heading to federal arrangement. The only symbol whose interpretation is undoubtedly such as this is according to my knowledge the symbol of Pan-Europa.
A symbol of the Pan-European movement constituted by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi was slightly transforming during decades. It had only two colours initially, yellow and red arranged in the form of a red cross on a yellow circle. “A sign in which Europeans of all states connect together is a sun cross: a red cross on a golden sun, a symbol of humanity and sense.” (Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi: Pan-Europa).
After having specified these two preconditions I was faced with a question how to combine the named two symbols in one. A first and most natural possibility is to maintain composition of both source symbols, that is the flag of the present EU and the original circular symbol of pan-European movement. Then it is natural to insert the yellow circle with the cross inside the ring of yellow stars in (dark) blue flag.
This symbol is however already in use, it is a current symbol of the pan-European movement.
But that is not only reason why this form not suits me; because it visually too resembles the flag of the current EU with all its mentioned above. I decided therefore to swap the colours in order that yellow prevails in the flag. In that case blue remains represented only in the form of a blue background under the circle of yellow stars (otherwise yellow stars would blend in with the yellow background of the flag). By simple swap of the blue colour for the yellow according to that told above with preservation of composition of the current pan-European movement's flag arises a flag as follows. I selected greater width so that the area of yellow comes to the fore.
This flag can however be further modified in the way that the limbs of the red cross are lengthened from outside the stars circle up to borders of the flag. The modified form actually adjusts the original circle-shaped symbol of Pan-Europa to rectangular shape of a flag whose all area it fills and the blue circle with yellow stars is added like in the previous variant.
In the just presented flag, the blue circle with yellow stars is optically on top and the red cross under it. This optical foreground and background (besides the yellow background of the whole flag itself) can be swapped so that the red cross is optically on top and the blue circle with stars is under it. Four stars however would so end up hidden under the cross, in that case they have to be depicted just in the cross, outside the blue circle.
No other composition crossed my mind, so it remains to select one of these variants now. I prefer from the three presented flags with prevailing yellow flag the two ones in which the red cross along with the yellow background fills the whole area of the flag; and that ground is then completed with yellow stars on a blue circle in two ways. I chose from these two variants only on the basis of an aesthetic impression which is, I admit, subjective. I like more the flag with the blue circle under the red cross; that four stars are outside the blue circle I hold not objectionable.
So the conclusion of my reflection is a flag of the European federal state in the form of a yellow field with a red cross in it and a circle of twelve yellow five-angled stars round the cross' center on a blue circle put under the cross' limbs.
whydidn't you pro-europeans took the oportunity the financial cryisys exported by the United states to fight against it and in favour of the european people? are you weak or blind? if you had, europeans would not probably want to return to the idiotic ideas of the past - fragmentation, balcanization, dividing europe in tiny specs of land hating each other... why are you still? no one ever hears of you. we only hear about the anti-europeans that want to use the crisys to dismantle any kind of europe..and the neo-liberals that hijacked europe and that are stil there..! please, answer me why.
ReplyDeletewuat are you waiting ffor to educate the oeople, to stop europe of repeating the same mistakes of the past...AGAIN?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what do you want to hear from me. As far as European federalism is concerned, its voice is still minority in Europe-wide public discourse. Observing politicians one could maybe say that all of them speak about unification but nobody wants it in fact. And ordinary people? You know that European were persuaded in the 19th and 20th century that their respective particular nation stands above all in the world and its state independence is the highest value and all of a sudden they should welcome Europe-wide federal state. It is a great turn and far from majority got already it. Simply, everything is about education and publicity. We did not live in an ideal world, so what remains but to continue to persuade people in small steps towards?
ReplyDeleteAnd as for neo-liberalism, people certainly are sick of it but they do not know for now how to depose it and replace with any convincing alternative.