The euro currency symbol was officially introduced to the public on December 12, 1996. A year earlier, the European Council made a final decision on its name: EURO. Although, the history of the coin began with a long waiting list, in the mid-1940s.
History of the euro sign
With the new universal currency, all European countries saw a way to preserve the pea on the continent, and governments began to think about it in the 40s of the last century. It was believed that strong financial, social, and political relationships would nullify the threat of war.
These high hopes for the new currency also required a unique graphic expression. The European Commission took the matter seriously and ordered a contest with several rounds.
This story was not without its mysteries. It is not yet 100% known who became the winner of the contest and the author of the world-famous poster. The only thing that is known for sure is that the jury chose the winner from more than 30 options.
There are several versions of the author. Some believe that this is the chief designer of the European Community, Arthur Eisenmenger, who led the development of the EU flag symbol. Others believe that the author is Robert Kalina, the chief designer of the Austrian Central Bank. Some attribute authorship not to a specific person, but to a whole group of developers.
It is surprising, but the European Commission refrains from commenting. So everyone knows the author of, for example, the design of the banknote itself, but not the author of the graphic mark of the euro, one of the most famous symbols in the world.
The official description of the brand, prepared by the European Commission, describes the image as a combination of the following components:
- The Greek epsilon is a reference to Greece, the cradle of European civilization;
- The letter E – is the symbol of Europe;
- The parallel lines cross the sign and represent the stability of the currency.
In addition to the official interpretation, theories and interpretations multiply. For example, if Arthur Eisenmenger is considered an author, we can assume that it is the first letter of his last name. The two lines parallel to each other and crossing the arc of the sign make it look like the letter “Is” from the Old Slavic alphabet.
Some inconvenience is associated with the fact that the euro symbol is not a sign, but a logo, created by the efforts of consultants on visual identification standards. That is, it should look the same in all encodings and sources. The specimen is a fairly specific sign that has fixed parameters. However, there are different variants of writing.
