10. March 2010
The Political and Cultural Narrative of the European Union
This flag has been designed as part of the design competition of Design The Hague. It tells about the political and cultural narrative of the European Union.
- Assignment: The current European flag with its twelve identical yellow stars placed in a circle on a blue field, was designed in 1955. Since then Europe has changed. About 30 million people from Middle Eastern, African and Asian origins are living and working in Europe. Besides these new cultures, the inter European immigration creates a new mix of cultures as well. In the last 50 years Europe has become a very fine maze of identities. What is the identity of this cultural, economical and dynamic Europe with its diversity in cultures, languages, traditions and believes? And what is the perception on Europe, from within and from the outside? How would a new symbol for Europe look like? Should it be one symbol? Or more?
- Occasion: The call for entries is organised by Foundation Design Den Haag 2010-2018 in the context of the biannual Design and Government 2010.
- Design research and design: Evert Ypma & Associates: Evert Ypma (Zurich/Amsterdam) in cooperation with Metahaven: Vinca Kruk, Daniel van der Velden, Gon Zifroni (Amsterdam/Brussels).
Commentary
This flag represents the historical expansion of the European Union. In ’57 the precursor of the current EU started off with six countries; in ’73 three; in ’81 one; in ’86 two; in ’95 three; in ’04 ten; and the last two countries joined the EU in’07; and possibly more will follow in the near future.
The open design concept articulates the political and cultural narrative of an incremental and evolving civic identity of the European Union. It shows the intervals and it has an open end. There is no logo, but a visual language instead. Knowing about the story of the past is essential to develop perepectives for the narrative that lies ahead.
Black and white version