Saturday 20 April 2013

European Parliament Coat of Arms.

After watching the daily Politics Program on the BCC on which they done a section on EU politics, I thought that the European Parliament apart from the EU flag has no official badge or coat of arms or any other emblem. I find this surprising giving the size and influence of the European Union. So I had a go today at designing my own.
Wanting to use something more original than a shield with an EU flag, I thought about making one which incorporates the arms of all the member states. Yes All 27 of them! This was no easy task, not just because of the huge scale, but it is was made more difficult by the fact that some of these nations don't even have a coat of arms! Although most do have some form of heraldic badge that I was able to use. Anyway here is the result:

the crest features a mural cornet or crown as is normal when representing a community or settlement. It has a globe and a dove representing peace.
I would like to use animals for the supporters but as one animal would mean more to one country than another (eg a lion would represent Britain, and eagle Germany etc) I decided to keep it neutral. The supporters are in the form of  two EU flags and a laurel wreath, with the Nobel Peace Prize (which was of course awarded to the European Union). The peace symbolism reflecting the fact that the EU was originally founded after WW2 with the aim of preventing another European conflict that could effect the world.
The motto is Latin and translates as "Unity through Diversity."
For those of you that are interested in the arms on the shield, they are from the top and moving left to right:
Slovenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, The Czech Republic, Germany, The Netherlands, Estonia, Greece, Spain, The United Kingdom, Croatia, Finland, France, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Slovakia and Cyprus. 
As interesting as this is, I think you will agree there is far too much going on. So as much I hate to say it after making all that, I think the best way is to put an EU flag on a shield, but still adding a crest and supporters:
Apart from the shield most of the stuff has stayed the same except the supporters. As the flag is now on the shield I think you will agree, that there is no need for flag supporters, so I replaced them with symbols of Liberty and Justice, which was inspired by the New York coat of arms. Although as the Liberty figure has connections with the French Revolution I am not sure it is completely neutral. 

Your Comments are welcome. 

2 comments:

  1. I'd suggest to remove the globe and put the dove settled on mural crown; currently it seems very imperialist.

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    1. Yes you might have a point. I originally wanted a globe that had Europe as its focus point so the dove would be over Europe (notice how only the northern hemisphere is visible) But this was the best I could get, which shows a little of North America and Africa so it could easily be misinterpreted as Imperial or Empire like which does defeat the point of the EU, (although some anti EU parties might disagree but its best to keep politics out of the subject ;). )

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