Stars will not come out in Scotland

Date: 09/05/1996

By Rory Watson

THE 12-starred European flag will be much in evidence across Europe this week as supporters of the Union commemorate the birth of a project launched to prevent a further war between the peoples of Europe.

But it will be notably absent from one corner of the EU, an unlikely casualty of the dispute which has erupted over the world-wide ban on British beef exports.

The annual display of European fervour on Schuman Day (9 May) rarely provokes controversy - or at least not until Scottish Secretary of State Michael Forsyth sparked off a storm by announcing that the European flag would not be flown from Scottish Office buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Forsyth declared that flying the flag would be “insulting” to the thousands of Scots whose livelihoods had been put “at risk” by the beef ban.

He also declared it would not be “appropriate” for his department to send out a poster to every school in Scotland drawing attention to Schuman Day, as had been planned.

But the Scottish Secretary's remit does not extend to local authorities and many are likely to stand by their decision - taken before Forsyth made his pronouncement - to fly the flag on the 46th anniversary of former French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman's speech on the pooling of Franco-German coal and steel production.

Scottish Labour MEP Ken Collins also says he has been contacted by constituents asking him for help in obtaining flags to fly in a demonstration of contempt for Forsyth's gesture.

The controversy recalls the difficulties which European countries faced four decades ago as they searched for agreement on an emblem to symbolise their unity. The exercise eventually led to the choice of the simple, but distinctive flag with its 12 gold stars on a blue background.

It was the Council of Europe - and not the EU - which first adopted the flag as its emblem. But it took five years to reach a decision on the most appropriate design.

The Council's drafting team had to examine more than 100 designs sent to Strasbourg from around the world. The British objected to the colour red because of its connotations of Socialism, the Turks vetoed any attempt to include the Christian symbol of the cross on the new flag and one front runner, submitted by a German living in Japan, had to be rejected when it was discovered it had already been registered by the Belgian Congo.

The colour blue was eventually agreed on by a process of elimination on the grounds that Africa was the black continent, Asia yellow, America red and Australia green. A consensus also emerged on the use of golden stars, although the negotiators could not agree whether these should represent the number of founding states (ten) or the number of Council of Europe members at the time (15).

The deadlock was broken when the drafting team settled on 12 and then attached suitable symbolism to the number. It reflected, they said, perfection, the signs of the zodiac, the 12 apostles, the labours of Hercules and the months of the year.

The new flag was formally flown by the Council of Europe 50 years ago, but it is just ten years since its official dedication as the emblem of the European Union as well.

When Forsyth announced his decision not to fly the European flag from Scottish Office buildings, he said the instruction to keep it furled would remain in force until the EU lifted its ban on British beef exports.

But he added that he expected this to happen long before 9 May - a prediction which has turned out to be somewhat over-optimistic, forcing him to carry out his threat.

But while the opportunities for flying the flag may be limited in Scotland, it will be much in evidence in Belgium, the heartland of the EU institutions. Under Belgian regulations, the flag must be flown on official buildings on at least 14 days in the year.