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The value of these euro coins left as a tip at the bistro, tavern or tapas bar has fluctuated in the 17 years since their circulation, as for all currencies. The difference between the euro is that its ultimate value has always been more than monetary. Indeed, it is difficult to think of another currency endowed with such high ambition and political idealism, and with the Brexit dramas and the internal tensions that attach themselves, this remains more true than ever.
One of the most recent currencies in the world, gestation and the prolonged birth of the euro have been meticulously documented. It's a story of meetings, negotiations, treaties and more meetings. Its actors were almost exclusively politicians and officials. The kind of thread, in other words, is likely to give only the pulse of a historian of the economy in the race. The way in which the euro has acquired the sign by which it is known in the world is even more mysterious and disputed.
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The name of the new currency was chosen in Madrid in 1995. According to the allegation of a Belgian teacher and an Esperanto lover, "the euro" would have triumphed over a series of contenders, including the "Ducat" Irresistibly Shakespearian. A crucial element to be taken into account was that the name had to be identical in all the official languages of Europe and that uniformity was considered essential for the sign which would also represent it.
Unlike the older monetary signs that have evolved organically over the centuries, the sign of the euro was designed by a committee. The mandate included three key elements: it had to act as a highly recognizable symbol of Europe, it had to echo the well-known existing currency symbols, and had to be aesthetic and simple to write to the hand. The services of the European Commission had to draw up a list of more than 30 possible models. These were then reduced to 10 and submitted to the public. Two projects appeared before the others and it was left to Jacques Santer, then President of the European Commission, and Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Commissioner in charge of the economic and financial affairs, to choose between them.
Accurate and confident, like a post-modern pretzel
When the chosen symbol was unveiled in December 1996, it was applauded by the now-defunct newspaper. L & # 39; European as "precise and confident, like a post-modern pretzel". Elsewhere, this has caused confusion. A "C" divided in half by two horizontal bars? Well, no, she was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon. Reference to the cradle of European civilization, he emphasized historical continuity – as would the design of banknotes themselves – while also evoking an 'E' for Europe. The classic connection became ironic when, in 2010, Greece's bailout crisis threatened the stability of the entire euro area. These two parallel lines that cross its center also mean stability.
Curiously, it is now almost impossible to find the symbol that was finalist in the popularity contest. It must exist in a Brussels safe, but look online and it's as if the symbol of the euro was destined to take its current form. A fog of vagueness also surrounds the public consultation. How many EU citizens have been consulted? And what nationalities? Regarding the identity of the designers behind the winning image – an image that became globally recognizable overnight – there would be four.
What is specified is the geometric construction of the sign. The proportions must be exact, with foreground and background color hues also specified. When officials decided to patent it, the euro became the world's first copyright-protected currency sign. None of these typography experts were thrilled, who were suddenly faced with the incorporation of a new typographic symbol, or glyph, into existing fonts. Computer applications also experienced difficulties, which resulted in conversion errors that often showed an interrogation point instead of the required symbol.
The euro was introduced as a non-monetary currency, for example in wire transfers, on 1 January 1999 at midnight. In 2001, with 14.25 billion banknotes and 50 billion coins flooding eleven Member States the following year, two strange challenges arose. the official story of the EU. The panel had already been criticized for its resemblance to the former logo of the US electronics company Commodore, but the British foreign exchange marketer, Travelex, went even further. Stating that she was using a surprisingly similar sign in correspondence between a subsidiary and its trading partners since 1989, he sued the European Commission for infringing the mark. (The court finally ruled in favor of the EC, leaving Travelex facing a hefty bill in euros.)
No matter who actually conceived it, this symbol of Europe is in many ways exactly what the sign has become.
A few months later, Arthur Eisenmenger, from his retirement home in southern Germany, announced that he had created the symbol more than 25 years ago, while working as a chief graphic designer for what was then the European Union. Economic Community. Eisenmenger is supposed to have overseen the creation of the European Starry Flag and the CE Quality Control Mark for European consumer goods. He created the sign of the euro, emblem of Europe in general. "I did not think of the euro at the time, but something that symbolizes Europe," he said. The Guardian.
No matter who actually designed it, this symbol of Europe is in many ways exactly what the sign has become. Alongside the Union Flag and the Ode to Joy anthem, it has exceeded its practical goals and has become an icon of the European project. The ultimate proof of its success is perhaps this: with the versatility of a truly lasting symbol, it can even now be spotted on pro-Brexit signs.
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