Rejected - Designs for the European Flag

Rejected - Designs for the European Flag - All the proposals graphics for the European flag rejected by the Council of Europe in 1955 for the benefit of the twelve yellow stars on a blue background, published for the first time times, with a text by the Franco-German artist and writer Marie Rotkopf who addresses with biting irony the neoliberal political cynicism of the EU. \n \n When, on 8 December 1955, the Council of Europe chose as its new flag of europe a design with twelve yellow five-pointed stars arranged in a circle on a blue background, he rejected more than 200 proposals. Each of these proposals refers to a specific idea of ​​Europe: while Some charge existing symbols with new meaning (the sun, E, star, key, tiger...), others use shapes abstract to create new symbols. Together, they carry the spirit of the time and self-perception in Europe at a time when fundamental steps towards European unification are about to be crossed. On the level Visually, they refer to a comprehensive vision of the current state of Europe, of its problems as well as its mission and its potential. \n \n \nThe rejected proposals for the European flag – all kept in the archives of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg – are published in this book for the first time. The book includes a text by the artist and writer Franco-German Marie Rotkopf who critically examines nationalisms current events in Europe. "This little trilingual book (French, English, German) exhumes from the archives the projects rejected [by the Council of Europe] and the present by author or object (color, geometry, etc.). Marked by the “more never that”, graphic designers [...] seek symbols of unity and progress, convinced that European construction constitutes the ultimate in the world future. The sun appears in several projects, but also the triangle, the fleur-de-lys or… a tiger [...]. This humorous book ends with a cyanide-soaked article by Franco-German writer Marie Rotkopf, who highlights the contrast between the values ​​permeating the various versions of the flag and reality." Anne-Cécile Robert, Le Monde diplomatique \n \n