Cette sélection de dessins de drapeaux reflète le désir, exprimé par de nombreux mouvements pro-européens dès la fin de la première guerre mondiale, de doter le continent d'une organisation politique.

The establishment of the Council of Europe in 1949 led to proposals from several individuals for a European flag, following the example of Camille Manné in August of the same year.

En novembre 1949, ce document du directeur de l’Information et de la Presse du Conseil de l’Europe, Paul M.G. Lévy, adressé à son secrétaire général traite de la nécessité d’un emblème pour l’organisation ainsi que du calendrier prévu pour son adoption.

In this memorandum, dated July 1950, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, President of the Paneuropean Movement and Secretary-General of the European Parliamentary Union, proposes the adoption of his movement’s flag as the flag of the Council of Europe.

In 1950, the President of the Paneuropean Movement, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, proposes the adoption of his Movement’s flag, blue with a red cross on a gold disc, used since 1923, as the flag of the Council of Europe.

In an article published in 1950 in the French quarterly publication Saisons d’Alsace, the Director of the Information and Press Service of the Council of Europe, Paul M. G. Lévy, and the assistant curator of the Museums of the City of Strasbourg, Paul Martin, submit their proposal for a new emblem for the Council of Europe: a white flag with a green cross, with the coat of arms of the City of Strasbourg in the centre.

In this memorandum, dated 16 July 1951, the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe outlines the various proposals for emblems for the organisation on which the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges is required to make a choice and to draw up a report to be submitted to the Consultative Assembly.

On 1 December 1951, Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish statesman and founder of the College of Europe in Bruges, proposes an azure European flag with a constellation of stars representing the various European capitals. The City of Strasbourg, seat of the Council of Europe, is represented by a larger star.

In 1951, 12 proposals for flags are submitted by the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe to the representatives of the Consultative Assembly so that an emblem may be selected for the organisation.

In this letter dated December 1951, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Filippo Caracciolo, seeks the opinion of the Representatives to the Consultative Assembly on the 12 flags proposed as the symbol of the European organisation.

Several dozen proposals for flags were submitted to the Secretary-General and the Director of Information of the Council of Europe by Arsène Heitz, an employee in the Council’s postal service and designer of the blue flag with 12 gold stars adopted in 1955 by the organisation’s Committee of Ministers. In this letter dated January 1952, he proposes a flag based on the standard of Charlemagne and the flags of the Scandinavian countries.

In this letter dated 15 February 1952, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe notifies the results of the enquiry carried out among the Representatives to the Consultative Assembly into the 12 flags proposed as the symbol of the European organisation.

In the early 1950s, several dozen proposals for flags were submitted to the Council of Europe’s Secretary-General and to the Director of Information by Arsène Heitz, an employee in the Council’s Mail Service and the designer of the blue flag with 12 gold stars adopted in 1955 by the organisation’s Committee of Ministers.

This selection of designs for flags for the Council of Europe, dating from the 1950s, includes the amended proposal from Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, inspired by the Paneuropean flag, together with proposals from graphics experts and individuals.

These 12 proposals for flags for the Council of Europe were submitted by Alwin Mondon, a cartographer in Bad Godesberg.

On 25 September 1953, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe decides to adopt as its emblem a blue flag with a circle of 15 gold stars.

On 25 September 1953, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe recommends that the Committee of Ministers adopt, as an emblem for the organisation, a blue flag with 15 gold stars. It also proposes that the emblems chosen by the other European institutions bear a close resemblance to this flag.

Description of the first flag, blue with 15 gold stars, adopted by the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on 25 September 1953.

On 26 September 1953, during a press conference held in Strasbourg, François de Menthon, President of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, presents the first flag adopted as its emblem by the Assembly the previous day. The flag is blue with a circle of 15 gold stars, representing the number of member States of the organisation (including the Saar).

On 25 October 1955, having been requested by the Committee of Ministers to reconsider the question of the choice of a Council of Europe emblem, the Consultative Assembly recommends to the Committee the adoption of the blue flag with a circle of 12 gold stars rather than the constellation of stars devised by Salvador de Madariaga. The Assembly also proposes that the emblems chosen by the other European institutions bear a close resemblance to the new flag.

On 8 December 1955, the Committee of Ministers decides to adopt for the Council of Europe an emblem in the form of a blue flag with a circle of 12 gold stars.

Description of the European flag adopted in 1955, together with a note from the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe on its use.

The European flag, adopted by the Council of Europe on 8 December 1955.

This booklet, produced by the Directorate of Information of the Council of Europe, outlines and recounts the history of the European flag.

In 1975, this Council of Europe postcard celebrates the 20th anniversary of the blue flag with 12 gold stars. The flag was designed by Arsène Heitz, an employee in the Council’s Mail Service, and adopted as the European organisation’s emblem by the Committee of Ministers on 8 December 1955.

In this recommendation dated 3 October 1984 relating to European cooperation, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe requests confirmation from the Committee of Ministers that the organisation’s symbols — the flag and anthem — may be used by the European Communities (see Section A: ‘On complementarity with the European Community’).

In this work, published in 1985, Robert Bichet, rapporteur to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for a European Emblem, recounts the history of the European flag.

In 1996, the Council of Europe and the European Commission jointly publish a graphics guide about the use and reproduction of the European flag.

Adopted as part of an information strategy seeking to improve the visibility of the Council of Europe, the resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 April 2000 emphasises the need to supplement the common European symbols (the blue flag with the 12 gold stars and the European anthem) by distinctive symbols which are proper to the organisation.

In this film clip, the Belgian Paul M. G. Lévy, former Director of the Information and Press Service of the Council of Europe, gives an account of the origins and the symbolic meaning of the blue flag with a circle of 12 gold stars which was adopted as an emblem, on 8 December 1955, by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and, in June 1985, by the 10 Member States of the European Community at the Milan European Council.