Sunday marked the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the European Union flag, which in 1985 was adopted by the then European Community in the form we know it today: with a blue background and 12 stars arranged in a circle.

Among the various posts celebrating the anniversary, there was also one by the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who reiterated a false interpretation of its symbolism that has long been circulating in conservative circles: “Blue like the Madonna’s cloak, with the 12 stars of the tribes of Israel arranged in a circle. A symbol of our values of freedom, of our Judeo-Christian roots.”

In reality, the design of the European flag is inspired by entirely secular values, as the official page on the history of the flag on the European Commission’s website recalls.

“The stars represent the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. The circle is also a symbol of unity, but the number of stars does not depend on the number of member countries”: 12, says the Commission, was chosen as a symbol of perfection and wholeness.

The flag had already been chosen in 1955 by the Council of Europe, an independent body from the European Union that deals with democracy and human rights.

Then in 1983 during the first legislature of the European Parliament – the first in which it was elected by universal suffrage – the official adoption was decided, which became effective on 29 June 1985.

It was designed by the Franco-German designer Arsène Heitz, who worked at the Council of Europe, was Catholic and very devoted to the Madonna: hence the common belief that there are religious reasons behind the symbolism of the drawing, but there are no concrete elements to believe so, such as studies or declarations from the time. Tajani’s post received a lot of criticism, and on X it was subjected to a so-called community note , that is, the system with which users can correct or add information and context to false information shared by someone else.

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