Raise the Flag for the European Union Boundary Ballads Understanding Disasters Activity Index

<< Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat shake hands after signing the Israel-PLO peace accord of 1993. Photograph by Richard T. Nowitz

Create a new flag that represents the European Union.

The chairperson of the European Union (EU), an organization of 15 Western European countries, is about to call a meeting to order. But wait! Where's the EU's flag? Turns out they forgot to design one. Can you help them out?

You're familiar, of course, with the red, white, and blue national flag of the United States, with its 50 white stars—each representing a state—against a blue background and its 13 red-and-white stripes, which stand for the 13 original colonies. The Stars and Stripes, as it is popularly known, has changed over the years, but it still stands for the land, the people, the government, and the ideals of the United States.

As you start to think about designing a flag for the EU, you'll probably want to consider some of the physical and cultural characteristics of the member countries. You can find maps of each of these countries in the Xpeditions atlas, background information about each member country at the NGS MapMachine, and information about the EU at the European Union Web site.

Think about what symbols you might want to use to represent different features of the EU member countries. Squiggly lines might "flag" the importance of rivers in many of these countries; a crown could represent royalty in the history of EU countries.

Let your creativity flow, and before you know it you'll be waving the new EU flag!

Younger Xpeditioners: Create a "flag map" that illustrates the relative location of the EU member countries. With your parent's or an older person's help, if need be, download and/or print the detailed version of the political map of Europe from the Xpeditions atlas. Then download and/or print the EU members' flags from the attached page on this site. Using electronic or traditional cut-and-paste methods, cut out the flags and glue them into their correct relative positions.

Are there colors, symbols, and patterns that are used by a number of the countries? How are some flags similar? How are they different? Is there a flag you like best? Why?

Older Xpeditioners: Review your family tree and create a family flag that symbolizes past and/or present characteristics of your family. How is your family like the European Union? What are the benefits of standing together as a union as opposed to going it alone? What things do you like doing as a group? What things do you like doing alone?

Parents: This activity helps kids better understand the concepts of unions and of symbols as they apply to physical and cultural regions. Have kids start off by considering the idea of standing alone as opposed to standing together—playing a sport alone versus playing on a team, for example. They could then reflect that states join together as countries and that sometimes countries unite for military, economic, or cultural purposes. What advantages are there in approaching tasks as a group rather than alone? Are there any disadvantages?

By studying symbols, kids have an opportunity to explore how and why we use colors, icons, words, and sounds to represent other things. Have them think of familiar symbols, such as a skull and crossbones, the yucky face on a bottle of poisonous liquid, or a red circle with a diagonal line through it. Kids might want to design a flag for a make-believe country, using symbols to stand for particular physical or cultural features of their imaginary country.

If possible, find a resource that illustrates flags of the world, such as the NGS MapMachine's Flags and Facts section. Encourage kids to note the color and diversity of these flags. Ask them if there are any flags (besides those of EU member countries) that they recognize (i.e. Canada's, with the red maple leaf; Israel's, with the Star of David; Japan's, with the rising sun; Australia's or New Zealand's, with the Southern Cross constellation). Have kids note symbols and representations of natural history, such as Lebanon's cedar tree and Dominica's parrot. Are there any similar designs? How are they alike? How are they different?