One Star to Rule Them All

A few years ago we had fun playing around with EUSSR iconography, as represented by images such as these:

This was all in good fun, but not to be taken seriously. Not that it wasn’t true, mind you — the European Union really is a totalitarian superstate, albeit with more of an emphasis on the velvet glove than the iron fist — but it hardly seemed likely that the EU would ever adopt overtly Communist symbols as its own.

Well, that was then, and this is now.

As pointed out today by Daniel Hannan, and commented on by numerous others, the EU has now elevated the beloved hammer-’n’-sickle to the very apex of its all-inclusive multiculti star of ever-closer union.

Here’s the celebratory poster, with the foreshortening removed and some of the glare muted:

Obviously, the paladins of Brussels find the paramount symbol of Soviet Communism acceptable, and possibly even to be held in high esteem. It doesn’t remind them of a brutal jack-booted repressive ideology that has left more than a hundred million corpses in its wake. Or, if it does, they’re not bothered about such trivialities. Petty people like me think about the eggs, but they’ve got their eyes fixed on all those lovely omelets.

There are a number of other things about this delightful poster that are worth observing…

First of all, the person who designed it seems to consider the hammer and sickle a religious symbol. Now, that’s perfectly appropriate. It’s what we right-wing extremists have been saying all along, but it’s nice to see the Powers That Be acknowledge the fact.

The other symbols are vaguely reminiscent of those ubiquitous Soros-funded “COEXIST” bumper stickers, but with a few additional religions thrown into the mix. The hand icon is a symbol of Jainism, for example. The little wheel is for Buddhism, and the yin-yang is for Taoism.

Funnily enough, there seem to be two symbols for Hinduism, and none for Sikhism. The Om icon is familiar to most people, but the Trishula, which looks like a trident, is less well-known. I tend to think that the designer — who perhaps skipped a few lectures in his Comparative Religions course — mistook the Trishula for the well-known Sikh icon with its crossed swords surrounding a double-edged blade.

Finally, there is the plain star. What is that supposed to represent? Communism again, perhaps, but the Maoist variety this time?

Or does it stand for paganism? If so, I would expect it to be a pentagram rather than a regular five-pointed star.

In any case, all of these wonderful faiths are going to COEXIST ecstatically in a perfect, brand-new society, the Europe4All:

One Star to rule them all,
One Star to find them,
One Star to bring them all,
And in the darkness bind them.

Hat tip: JP.