Europe Facts

Interesting Facts about Europe

DENMARK

Odense, Hans Christian Andersen birthplace is a popular Danish destination, as is Helsingor ( Elsinore) , the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet

FRANCE

There are thousands of megaliths, or menhirs throughout Brittany, France. Some date back to 5000 BC making them older than Stonehenge

PORTUGAL

Before the 1755 earthquake , Lisbon was known as Sodom and Gomorra of Europe, because of the extreme luxurious living, Churches were covered with gold from America.

Number of stars on the flag of the European Union

The number of stars on the flag of the European Union is definitively 12.

In 1953, the Council of Europe had 15 members and its flag should have had one star for each member.
The number of stars was not to alter if the number of members changed.

However Germany objected to the number 15 because one of the members of the Council was Saarland, and 15 stars would imply "star" sovereignty for that region.
France would not agree to 14 stars as that number would acknowledge the absorption of Saarland into Germany.
13 was ruled out for superstitious reasons.
12 was reckoned to be a "good" number because it had no political innuendo, and there are

• 12 signs of the zodiac;
• 12 hours on a clock;
• 12 months in a year;
• 12 apostles;
• 12 tables of Roman Law;
• and 12 starry crowns of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

David Prothero, 12 December 1996

The question of how many stars appear on the European Flag has arisen before. When Sweden, Finland and Austria were admitted in 1995, the number of member states increased from 12 to 15. Several cases exist where people assumed that the number of stars would also increase. A graphic with 15 stars appeared on BBC News for some days. I wrote and told them it was wrong and they reverted to the correct pattern. Despite this, the 15-star version still appeared occasionally. I eventually suggested that the incorrect graphic be destroyed so that it could not appear even by accident. They may have done so as it has not appeared since then.
The other, more lasting case, has been with car stickers. There are car stickers available, oval with the blue of the European flag and the stars and the white letters "GB" in the centre. Most of them have 12 stars, but there are some with 15. I have not yet discovered which company manufactures them.

Michael Faul, 5 October 2001

On 16 April 2003, the editorial placed on the front page of La Nouvelle République was entitled Le drapeau aux 25 étoiles (The 25 star flag).
This very unfortunate title is confirmed by the very unfortunate body of the article (paragraph 2):

A compter du 1er mai 2004, tous ces états seront intégrés àà l'Union,[...]. Le drapeau européen comptera alors 25 étoiles. (On 1 May 2004, all those States shall be incorporated to the [European] Union, [...]. The European Union flag will have 25 stars.)

The last paragraph of the editorial mentions L'Europe à 25 étoiles (The 25 star Europe).

Ivan Sache, 17 July 2004

The symbols of the Union

The flag of the Union shall be a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background.
The anthem of the Union shall be based on the Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The motto of the Union shall be: United in diversity.
The currency of the Union shall be the euro.
9 May shall be celebrated throughout the Union as Europe day.

EUROPE'S SECOND LANGUAGE

English has become Europe's dominant second language. For 30 years most official forms and menus came in French, German, English, and Italian or Spanish. Things have changed. Now, throughout Europe, signs are in only two languages: the local language and English. Woe to the traveler who doesn't speak English.