Why, then, does the EU flag have 12 stars?
This is one plausible explanation: In 1953, the Council of Europe had 15 members and the flag should have had one star for each member. However Germany objected to the number 15 because one of the members of the Council war 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. 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 appear
