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Memorandum on the Role of Irish Chief Herald Slevin
in the Design of the European Flag
The European Flag
A man's got to know his limitations. - Harry Callahan.
The year 2005 saw the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the European Flag by the Council of Europe, which organisation held celebrations to mark the event on 16 November of that year. (1) The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 to defend human rights and democracy and to promote awareneness of a European identity across different cultures. The familiar twelve-starred flag of the Council has become the most familiar symbol of Europe, particularly since its adoption in the 1980s by the European Union. For a number of years it has been confidently asserted that the European flag was designed by a Chief Herald of Ireland, Gerard Slevin. The present writer has tended to doubt that Slevin was primarily responsible for the design of the European flag, preferring instead to state that he 'helped design' it. (2) A reported address in October 2005 by Tony McCarthy, the incoming President of the Genealogical Society of Ireland, which overturned that Society's former acceptance of the received account of Slevin's prime role in the design of the flag, led me to take a closer look at the matter. (3)
The earliest traced reference to the claim that Slevin was the designer of the flag is found in a 1997 obituary tribute:
Si
monumentum requiris, circumspice. If what you seek is a memorial
to
Gerard Slevin, who died on January 18th, simply look around you. He was
one of a trio of European heralds who in the mid 1950s were tasked with
devising a symbol for the Council of Europe, and it was his suggested
design of the now ubiquitous circle of 12 golden stars on a deep blue
background that finally found favour with the establishment in
Strasbourg. This achievement received scant recognition in Ireland,
although it was widely acclaimed in heraldic circles in Europe, winning
for him membership of the prestigious Academie Internationale d'Heraldique the only Irish person, to
my knowledge, to be so honoured. (4)
This tribute
was written by Donal Begley,
who served as Chief Herald from 1982 until
his sudden retirement in 1995, and who played a controversial role in
the Mac
Carthy Mór
affair.The account of Slevin's alleged prime role in the design of the European flag was repeated in an official history of the Genealogical Office/Office of the Chief Herald by historian and archivist Susan Hood, which was commissioned by National Library Director and Chief Herald Brendan O Donoghue and published in 2002. The author stated that when a vexillological committee was established by the Council of Europe in September 1954 to advise on the design of a flag, 'it was Slevin's concept that found favour'. Hood concluded that the fact that the European flag 'originated in the mind of Ireland's longest-serving Chief Herald is a powerful symbol not only of the significance of the Irish heraldic authority internationally, but also Ireland's integral role in European affairs'. (5) In an article published in a tourism magazine in 2003, Hood expanded on what she claimed was Slevin's 'central input to the design of the Euopean flag', citing and reproducing documents from a file she had discovered in the Genealogical Office during research for her book. Hood noted that the papers she had used remained 'inaccessible to the public until they have been fully catalogued'. (6) As access to such files had been refused the present writer in the past, it was decided to refer firstly to the archives of the Council of Europe, many of which are conveniently available online.
It was noted almost immediately that the Council's official account makes no specific mention of Slevin, stating that the flag had been designed in the 1950s by a member of its staff, Arsène Heitz. The symbolism of the flag is explained as follows:
The
circle of twelve golden stars against a blue background symbolises the
peoples of Europe, with the circle representing their union. The number
of stars never changes - it is always twelve, symbolising the ideals of
unity and harmony and bringing to mind the months of the year and the
twelve signs of the zodiac. (7)
It is
a common misconception that the
number of stars on the European flag represents states, but this is not
the case.A selection of Council of Europe documents online shows that the matter of choosing a flag to represent the European ideal had been under serious consideration since 1949. The personalities to the fore in these deliberations are all identified, including in particular Paul Levy, the Council's Director of Information, who co-ordinated proceedings, Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, who particularly favoured employing a cross in the design, Salvador Madariaga, a Spanish diplomat, and the aforementioned Arsène Heitz, an employee in the Council's mail room and a talented draughtsman who produced sketches of his own and others' ideas. By the early 1950s objections from the Islamic Turks had effectively ruled out the incorporation of a cross. In January 1952 Madariaga proposed gold stars on a blue background, and while these were dispersed to represent European capitals, this basic design began to find favour. By September 1953 a design had crystallised composed of a circle of fifteen gold stars on a blue background, representing each of the states then members of the Council of Europe. One of these states was the then autonomous Saar region, but Germany objected to this on the grounds of its claim on the territory. (8)
An early flag design featuring 15 stars
In the light of the failure to agree on a flag design, it was obviously considered that expert advice was needed, so an 'ad hoc' vexillological committee was established in September 1954, comprising three Council of Europe representatives, and three heraldic experts nominated by Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. It is here that Slevin makes his first appearance as the Irish representative, travelling to Strasbourg in November 1954 to join in the deliberations of the committee. At this point in my investigations I considered it essential to attempt to view the file in the Office of the Chief Herald referred to above, and was pleasantly surprised to be granted access (it had clearly already been released not only to Hood, but to others interested in the history of the European flag). This file contains Slevin's own notes of the ad hoc committee's work, which show that he sensibly advised that the basic flag design already proposed should be adhered to, but that there should be a fixed number of stars. However, the committee tended to favour a new design, composed of eight interlinked rings to represent unity, and again Slevin made the obvious point that this was too like the emblem of the Olympic Games. Most members of the committee tended to favour the rings design, and despite his misgivings, Slevin supported the majority decision, as a good public servant might be expected to do. (9)
One can imagine the disappointment of the Council of Europe when the experts produced such an obviously inadequate design, which was unsurprisingly rejected. Minds were however now concentrated on the stars motif, and by March 1955 two versions were under particular consideration: one was a circle of twelve gold stars on a blue background, credited to Arsène Heitz, the second was Salvador Madariaga's dispersed stars again on a blue background. On 8 or 9 December 1955 (there is an unresolved conflict over the date) the Committee of Ministers decided to adopt Heitz's design as the emblem of the Council of Europe. The heraldic description of the flag was given as 'On a field azure a circle of twelve mullets or their points not touching'. (10)
Thus was born the familiar European flag, which in 1986 was also adopted by the European Community, now the European Union, thus ensuring its development as the premier symbol of the Continent. We have seen that many individuals were involved in the long process of designing the flag, but the co-ordinating role of Paul Levy was crucial, the basic idea of gold stars on a blue background was that of Salvador Madariaga, and the design eventually accepted featuring a fixed number of twelve stars was attributed to Arsène Heitz. The Irish Chief Herald Gerard Slevin did indeed play a role, but it was a relatively late and minor one, and despite personally favouring a design close to that finally accepted, he officially supported a design that was rejected.
How did the idea that Slevin played a central role in designing the European flag gain such widespread acceptance? A superficial reading of the file in the Office of the Chief Herald, and without reference to the broader Council of Europe archives, might tend to give an exaggerated impression of Slevin's contribution. The perceived authority and expertise of those who promoted Slevin as the flag's designer created an aura of incontrovertible truth which was alas illusory. Those misled into believing that Slevin designed the European flag included not only the Genealogical Society of Ireland, but Arts Minister John O'Donoghue and Cork County Council, all of whom indicated that they wished to commemorate Slevin's supposed achievement. (11) Of course, we can all make mistakes, for no-one is infallible, and it is whether and how we correct our errors that is most important. It is recommended therefore that an erratum slip relating to the statement on Chief Herald Slevin and the design of the Eurpean Flag should be placed in any future reprints of Hood's book, particularly in view of the fact that it was commissioned by a National Library of Ireland Director and Chief Herald, and published in association with the Library. (12)
Postscript: The Marian Symbolism of the European Flag
The Virgin Mary, with halo of twelve stars
Before we leave the question of the European flag, there is another and indeed much more controversial matter deserving of mention. For some years fundamentalist Protestant critics in particular have alleged that the design of the European flag was derived from the familiar halo of twelve stars which surrounds the head of the Virgin Mary as portrayed in Roman Catholic iconography. A quote from the Apocalypse, Chapter 12:1, is cited to explain the symbolism: 'A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars'. (13) I was inclined to dismiss this theory of Catholic symbolism in the European flag as entirely Da Vinci Code-style conspiratorial nonsense, and to regard coincidence as the most likely explanation. Unfortunately, Arsène Heitz, the accredited designer of the flag, has been reported as admitting, or rather proudly declaring that the flag was indeed intended to symbolise Mary. (14) Even more disturbingly, there is in the online archives of the Council of Europe a transcript of an interview in French with Paul Levy conducted as recently as February 1998, in which he claims that he contrived with Léon Marchal, then Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, to have the European flag adopted on 8 December 1955, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Levy commented as well that the above quotation from the Apocalypse forms the Introit to the Mass for this feast day. (15) It is not impossible that old men reminiscing may have allowed piety to colour their recall of events to a certain extent. Harder to explain away is the fact that there is in Strasbourg Cathedral a Marian stained glass window surmounted by the same circle of twelve gold stars as appears on the European flag. (16) The upshot of all this is that for at least some individuals the European flag has particular Roman Catholic connotations which make it an unsuitable emblem for those not of that denomination.