In Varietate Concordia
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''In varietate concordia'' ( en, United in
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
) is the official motto of the European Union (EU), adopted in 2000. Its translations in the other 24 official
languages of the EU The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, of which threeEnglish, French and Germanhave the higher status of "procedural" languages of the European Commission (whereas the European Parliament accepts all official languages as working lan ...
have equal standing. It is inspired by its Latin-language version coined by the Italian Nobel prize winner Ernesto Teodoro Moneta: ''In varietate concordia'' or ''In varietate unitas'', which is also used as a compromise. It is one of the newest symbols of the European Union, alongside the
European flag The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...
and anthem but, unlike most, it is specific to the EU rather than originating from the Council of Europe. According to the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
, "The motto means that, via the EU, Europeans are united in working together for peace and prosperity, and that the many different cultures, traditions and languages in Europe are a positive asset for the continent." This amounts to the embracement of
multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
as the goal of European integration, as opposed to the goal of an emerging European identity which had been advocated in the 1990s.


History

The European motto was first adopted in May 2000 as "Unity in diversity" through a non-official process since it was a contest involving 80,000 students from the 15 countries that were members of the European Union at the time (a.k.a. "
EU-15 The 1995 enlargement of the European Union saw Austria, Finland, and Sweden accede to the European Union (EU). This was the EU's fourth enlargement and came into effect on 1 January of that ...
"): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden & United Kingdom.


La Prairie's project (1998–1999)

In April 1998, French newspaper ''
Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régio ...
s Patrick La Prairie proposed the organisation of a European mottoes contest for the, then 15, EU members' secondary education students. This event was meant as a 50-year celebration of Founding father of the European Union Robert Schuman's famous declaration about a supranational Community which eventually led to the creation of the actual European Union.Students give a name to Europe (Les élèves donnent une devise à l'Europe)
Congrès Newropeans, 5 October 2000. Patrick La Prairie.
Back in 1998, the European Union had already a
flag of Europe The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...
, and
anthem of Europe "Anthem of Europe" is the anthem of both the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe. It is used to represent both the European Union and the whole of Europe; its purpose is to honour shared European values. The EU describes it as expressi ...
and was about to launch the
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, its currency; it lacked a
motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
, hence, the contest proposal. Journalist La Prairie was in charge of ''Ouest-France''s Press-School mission and found two sponsors,
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
French museum Memorial de Caen and
France Telecom Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
, then a state-owned company. 40 newspaper partners were found in France as well as in the remaining countries of EU-15; with at least a newspaper per country, ''e.g.'' ''
La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...
'' in Italy, ''
Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...
'' in Belgium,"A compromise motto for Europe"
from Le Soir (5 May 2000) archived in CVCE, accessdate:2010.01.20
''
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' in Ireland, ''
Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' in Germany and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in UK. The project was officially launched on 31 March 1999 with the opening of th
''une devise pour l'Europe''
contest's official website managed by France Telecom. The website featured pedagogic files, created by the operation's general Office located at the Caen Memorial, and teachers oriented pitches and registration forms available in the eleven official European languages (plus Catalan). The English-language version, called "A motto for Europe", had a website. The contest's slogan was "The only prize will be to write a page of Europe's History" (''La seule récompense sera d’avoir écrit une page d’histoire de l'Europe'').


A motto for Europe (1999–2000)

In September 1999, a contest was held at the start of the 1999–2000 school year to invent a motto for the European Union. 2,575 classes were involved, with students ranging from ages ten to nineteen. The main rule was that the motto had to consist of a sentence of no more than twelve words, with an accompanying explanation of no more than 1,500 characters written in the class's local language. An English version of the explanation was also required, since the teachers used this language to communicate between themselves. National and European winners were selected the following year. By the contest
deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
, 15 January 2000, 2016 mottoes had applied. A lexical analysis of this 400,000-word ''
corpus Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to: Linguistics * Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts * Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files * Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics Music * ...
'' was done by
Taylor Nelson Sofres Kantar TNS is a global market research and market information group with offices in over 80 countries. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the firm was acquired by WPP Group for £1.6 billion in O ...
to reveal the most popular terms used by the young Europeans, which were: "Europe", "
peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
", "
unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...
", "
union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
", "
together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...
", " future", "
difference Difference, The Difference, Differences or Differently may refer to: Music * ''Difference'' (album), by Dreamtale, 2005 * ''Differently'' (album), by Cassie Davis, 2009 ** "Differently" (song), by Cassie Davis, 2009 * ''The Difference'' (al ...
", " hope", " solidarity", "
egality Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
", "
liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
", "
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
", and " respect". This study was later used by the jury during the national selection. In February 2000, each member of EU-15's media partner managed a top 10 national mottoes selection to later submit it to a second jury in charge of the European selection. These 142 mottoes were all translated in the 11 official European languages. On 11 and 12 April 2000, the European Media Jury based at the Memorial of Caen, chose 7 mottoes among the late February selection (one voice per country). Those were next submitted to a final European Grand Jury in Brussels.


Proclamation at the European Parliament (2000)

On 4 May 2000 almost 500 schoolchildren from fifteen classes of the EU-15 (top class of each national selection) were gathered at the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
in Brussels to assist the proclamation of the motto chosen that day by the 15-member Grand Jury including former
Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the Aus ...
Franz Vranitzky Franz Vranitzky (; born 4 October 1937) is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997. Early life and career As the son of a foundryman, Vranitzky was born in ...
, former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Susanna Agnelli Susanna Agnelli, Contessa Rattazzi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (24 April 1922 – 15 May 2009) was an Italian politician, businesswoman and writer. She was the first woman to be appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Italy. Early life Born ...
, former Belgian astronaut
Dirk Frimout Dirk Dries David Damiaan, Viscount Frimout (born 21 March 1941 in Poperinge, Belgium) is an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency. He flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-45 as a payload specialist, making him the first Belgian in ...
, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
of Denmark
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (, informal: ; 1 November 1941 – 18 June 2022) was a Danish politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Conservative-led Poul Schlüter Administration from 1982 to 1993. He was leader of the Da ...
, Luxembourgian historian Gilbert Trausch, former German
President of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag (german: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or ) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German orde ...
Rita Süssmuth Rita Süssmuth ( ''née'' Kickuth; ; born 17 February 1937) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She served as the 10th President of the Bundestag. From 1985 to 1988, she served as Federal Minister for Youth, Family ...
, Irish Senator Mary Henry, former British President of the European Commission Roy Jenkins, and former French President of the European Commission
Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry (France), Minister of Finance of Fran ...
. The motto was displayed on a blue background located behind the 24th
President of the European Parliament President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...
Nicole Fontaine. ''Unité dans la diversité'', French for ''Unity in diversity'' was translated in the eleven official languages of the EU plus Latin, ''In varietate concordia'', as read out by Fontaine. The motto had been devised by Luxembourgian youngsters and prefaced by chairman Delors who added "Europe:" to it. Probably by coincidence, the same motto had been used in the title of a Workshop held in the European Centre for Modern Languages (Graz) on 23–25 April 1998
"East meets West: Unity in Diversity".
The title was chosen by Dónall Ó Riagáin, on behalf of the organizers, the European Bureau for Lesser-Used languages (EBLUL). He attributes the expression to
John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the recent political history of Ireland, as one of the architects of the Northern Ire ...
, the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland when he first used it, in about 1983, perhaps basing it on the text "E pluribus unum"’ on the Seal of the USA. Since it had to be submitted for official approval by the fifteen Chiefs of State of the European Council at
Santa Maria da Feira Santa Maria da Feira () is a city and a municipality in Aveiro District in Portugal, 23 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 139,309, The six rejected mottoes were "Peace, Liberty, Solidarity", "Our differences are our strength", "United for peace and democracy", "United in liberty", "An old continent, a new hope", and "All different, all Europeans!" "
Unity in diversity Unity in diversity is used as an expression of harmony and unity between dissimilar individuals or groups. It is a concept of "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation" that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance ...
" has been the national motto of Indonesia since 1945 (''Bhinneka Tunggal Eka'', in ancient Javanese) and on 27 April 2000 post-
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa adopted a similar motto (''ǃke e꞉ ǀxarra ǁke'') in ǀXam (a
sleeping Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...
San language), which also translates in English as "Unity in diversity".


European Council speech (2000)

On 19 June 2000, at Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, 24th President of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine concluded her official opening speech with the introduction of the European Union motto (''Unité dans la diversité''): Since then this motto was used by several European officials during their speeches at Strasbourg, including President of European Commission
Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
on 4 July 2001 « ''our real strength lies in "unity in diversity"'' », Italian
rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro ...
Giorgio Ruffolo on 4 September 2001 « ''Therefore, the expression 'unity in diversity' has been chosen as the motto of the report'' », Austrian member of the European Parliament
Paul Rübig Paul Rübig (born 6 May 1953) is an Austrian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1996 until 2019. He is a member of the Austrian People's Party, part of the European People's Party. Rübig became a Member o ...
on 10 April 2002 « ''Europe is, after all, about unity in diversity'' » or Spanish Member of the European Parliament
Raimon Obiols Josep Maria "Raimon" Obiols i Germà (born 5 August 1940, in Barcelona) is a Spanish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), part of the Party of European Socialists. He is a high-ranking-m ...
on 4 September 2003 « ''Yesterday the President of the European Convention ended his speech by evoking the future European motto: united in diversity'' ».


European Constitution (2004)

In 2004, the motto was written into the failed
European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
's Article I-8 about the EU's symbols. The motto translations were slightly modified since 2000, including the English-language version becoming « United in Diversity ». Though this constitutional treaty was eventually rejected by the French and
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
voters on 29 May and 1 June 2005.


Europe Day (2005)

On 9 May 2005, the European Commission issued promotional items such as a postcard featuring the symbols of Europe: the European flag, the European anthem, the European motto (now "United in diversity") and the
Europe Day Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the Council of Europe and on 9 May by the European Union. The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Un ...
.Postcard showing the symbols of the European Union (2005)
Only lacked the European currency which was in the Treaty of 2004 but not yet constitutional. The official Europe Day poster also used the modified motto "United in Diversity". The same day the new motto (''Unie dans la diversité'') was proclaimed by 1,000 youngsters at the Memorial of Caen as a 5-year celebration. These words were now written in the European Constitution project that was though rejected through
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
few days later.


Treaty of Lisbon (2007)

The
Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
, concluded in 2007, does not contain any article dedicated to symbols of the European Union. It retained much of the 2004 treaty but omitted the articles defining the European symbols, namely the flag, anthem and motto. It does however contain a declaration by 16 member states who affirmed their recognition of the symbols. In response to the omission of the symbols from the main treaty text, the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
took the ''
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
'' in using the symbols as it had done in adopting them in the first place. Parliament changed its internal rules to make more use of the symbols. In the case of the motto, it would be printed on all Parliamentary documents.


Official translations


The first 11 official EU languages and Latin (2000)

The original French motto ''Unité dans la diversité'' was translated in the other ten official EU languages plus Latin when it was proclaimed the motto for Europe on 4 May 2000.


24 official EU languages (2013)

The motto was translated into the 23 languages in which there were official translations of the
European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
on 29 October 2004.European motto In varietate concordia
, Eurominority
The treaty, and hence the motto, was officially translated into Bulgarian and Romanian despite the fact they would not join for a further three years. Irish was not included but is on the list here as it became an EU language in 2007. Croatian has been included since 1 July 2013. The following are the official translations as of March 2017: }
() * hr, Ujedinjeni u različitosti * cz, Jednotná v rozmanitosti * da, Forenet i mangfoldighed * nl, In verscheidenheid verenigd * en, United in diversity * et, Ühinenud mitmekesisuses * fi, Moninaisuudessaan yhtenäinen * french: Unie dans la diversité , valign=top, * german: In Vielfalt geeint * el, Ενωμένοι στην πολυμορφία
() * hu, Egység a sokféleségben * ga, Aontaithe san éagsúlacht * it, Unità nella diversità * lv, Vienota dažādībā * lt, Suvienijusi įvairovę , valign=top, * mt, Magħquda fid-diversità * pl, Zjednoczona w różnorodności * pt, Unida na diversidade * ro, Uniți în diversitate * sk, Zjednotení v rozmanitosti * sl, Združena v raznolikosti * es, Unida en la diversidad * sv, Förenade i mångfalden


Unofficial translations

There exist translations of the motto into languages other than the 23 official languages of the EU.


Languages of EU member states


Languages of EU membership candidates

Further translations in the EU candidates' official languages were elaborated by the European Union or the candidate States themselves:


Languages of former EU members


See also

* ''
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika ''Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'' is the official national motto of Indonesia, inscribed in the National emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garuda's claws. The phrase comes from the Kawi language, Old Javanes ...
'' * ''
E pluribus unum ''E pluribus unum'' ( , , ) – Latin for "Out of many, one" (also translated as "One out of many" or "One from many") – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal along with ''Annuit cœptis'' (Latin for "he ...
'' * Symbols of Europe *
Unity in diversity Unity in diversity is used as an expression of harmony and unity between dissimilar individuals or groups. It is a concept of "unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation" that shifts focus from unity based on a mere tolerance ...


References


External links


« United in diversity »
European Union official website

translation of Carlo Curti Gialdino's ''I Simboli dell'Unione europea'', 2005, p. 130–132

* ttp://www.epf.lu/foto/ude/dveuro.htm A motto for Europe contest {{DEFAULTSORT:Motto of the European Union Latin mottos