30 Years of the European Flag

The EU flag as a symbol bringing peoples and cultures together around shared ideals and visions for a better future. Twelve stars take on human form to welcome the birth of a new Europe. Along the upper right of the coin ring, the issuing state 'ΚΥΠΡΟΣ KIBRIS' and the years '1985–2015'. The initials of designer Georgios Stamatopoulos appear at the lower right.

Fourth joint issue of the European Union. All 19 eurozone states issued a coin with the same design on varying dates. The coins differ only in their inscriptions, which appear in the respective national language.

The European flag, with its twelve gold stars on a blue background, dates back to a design adopted by the Council of Europe in 1955 — long before today's European Union existed. The Council of Europe, at the time a political assembly promoting democracy and human rights, sought a shared symbol for post-war Europe; the number twelve did not represent a specific number of members but was meant to embody completeness and unity. The European Communities did not officially adopt the flag until 1985 — a decision by the European Council that gave it the supranational significance it still carries today. For Cyprus, which joined the European Union in 2004, this symbol carries a particular weight: the island is politically divided, with the north under de facto Turkish control while the Republic of Cyprus, as the EU member state, governs the south. For the Republic of Cyprus, commitment to the European community is therefore always also a statement about its own national identity.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the flag's official adoption by the European Communities, all euro states jointly issued a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2015 — a so-called European joint issue, in which the same design is minted by all participating countries, though each coin still identifies its national issuing state. Cyprus took part as one of the then 19 euro countries in this issue. Joint issues of this kind are rare within the Eurosystem; the 2015 European flag series, alongside the 2012 euro cash introduction issue, is one of the few occasions on which every euro state agreed on a single, unified coin design.