When the Council of Europe in 1955 selected a European flag bearing twelve yellow stars on a blue background, it was also rejecting more than 150 other submitted designs. Ideas came from all over the world and were based on the assumption that European unity was the model for the future; most, however, were drafted by men from West Germany and France.

In this volume, all of the colorful proposals are published here for the first time, accompanied by a text from Marie Rotkopf that with biting irony addresses the EU’s neoliberal political cynicism and Germany’s expansion of power over the years. These (un)imaginative flags reflect the zeitgeist at a decisive period in the development of European unity.

Edited by Jonas Von Lenthe

Designed by We Became Aware (Valentijn Goethals, Tomas Lootens, Louis Desmet, Lore Donckers)

Published by Wirklichkeit Books
Third edition, 2022

Softcover, 191 pages, full color and b&w, 4.4 × 7.1 inches

ISBN: 978-3-94-820003-9