Netherlands · 30 years of the EU flag

Issue date16 Oct 2015

Total mintage1,000,000

EU maximum1,000,000

Editions5

Edge letteringGOD ★ ZIJ ★ MET ★ ONS ★

InscriptionNEDERLAND / 1985-2015

DesignerGeorgios Stamatopoulos

mintKoninklijke Nederlandse Munt, Utrecht

Issue occasion

The commemorative coin marks the 30th anniversary of the EU flag. The design by Georgios Stamatopoulos depicts the flag as a symbol of the connection between peoples and cultures with shared ideas and ideals; twelve stars take the form of people and welcome the birth of a new Europe. Also shown are the inscription “NEDERLAND”, the years “1985-2015” and the designer’s initials.

The design

The design depicts the EU flag as a symbol that brings together peoples and cultures with shared views and ideals to shape a better future. Twelve stars take the form of people and welcome the birth of a new Europe. The issuing country “NEDERLAND” is inscribed at the top. The years “1985-2015” are shown on the right. The mintmaster’s mark and the mint mark are located between the flag and the date. The designer’s initials (Georgios Stamatopoulos) are shown at the bottom right.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

The European flag, known today as the EU flag, was initially created in the Council of Europe, an organisation founded in 1949 that is independent of the European Union. In December 1955, its Committee of Ministers adopted the blue field with twelve gold stars arranged in a circle as its emblem. The number twelve did not refer to the number of member states. From the outset, it was intended as a fixed number and represented unity and completeness. For this reason, the design remained unchanged even after subsequent enlargements of the European organisations.

In 1983, the European Parliament advocated using this emblem for the European Communities of that time as well. In 1985, their heads of state and government agreed to this. At the beginning of 1986, the flag was officially raised for the first time at the European institutions. The period stated on the coin therefore refers to its adoption by the European Communities, not to its original introduction by the Council of Europe. The designation “European Union” was only introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht, which entered into force in 1993.

The flag is used by both organisations, although the Council of Europe and the European Union have different tasks and memberships. The Council of Europe is primarily concerned with human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The European Union developed from the European Communities into a political and economic union of states with common institutions and legislation.

The anniversary was chosen for a joint commemorative issue of the euro area because the flag is associated across national borders with the European institutions and was therefore suitable as a common coin design. Similar joint issues had already been released for other stages of European integration. Each participating country issued its own coin with the same main design; national details identified the respective issuing country. The Dutch issue was therefore part of a coordinated series and not an exclusively national commemoration.