English: reconstruction of Madariaga's "constellation" proposal for the flag of the Council of Europe.

elements derived from File:Flag of Europe.svg, placement of capitals based on File:Europamithaupstaedten.pdf

This is a reconstruction based on a verbal description and should be revised if a graphical representation of the historical proposal can be found.

The sixteen stars represent the fifteen capitals of the members of the CoE at the time (1953), with a larger star for Strasbourg as the seat of the Council.

The fifteen members at the time are represented by: Brussels (Belgium), Copenhagen (Denmark), Paris (France), Dublin (Ireland), Rome (Italy), Luxembourg, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Oslo (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), London (UK), Athens (Greece), Ankara (Turkey), Reykjavik (Iceland), Bonn (West Germany), Saarbrücken (Saar Protectorate).

Distribution of the stars is already dodgy with the sixteen-star setting, especially the proximity of Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Saarbrücken and Mainz. This would have become more awkward with the accession of more members, especially

Bratislava and Vienna could probably not be resolved properly.