Circle of stars all EU leaders as the official emblem of the European Communities, and in 1993 inherited by the successor organisation, the European Union. All European institutions now use an emblem of their own. The Zodiac is an ancient "circle of stars" where some stars are symbolically combined into 12 Star signs also known as constellations. The etymology of the term Zodiac comes from the Latin zōdiacus, from the Greek ζῳδιακός [κύκλος], meaning "[circle] of animals", derived from ζῴδιον, the diminutive of ζῷον "animal". The Crown of Immortality is a separate and earlier motif (and metaphor) which also uses a circle of
Regina Coeli recited in place of the "Angelus" during the Easter season, from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. As with many Christian prayers, it takes its name from its incipit or first word(s). The Latin word "coelum", meaning "heaven" (hence the English word "celestial"), was a common medieval and early modern spelling of "caelum", which was the only form in Classical Latin. In medieval Latin, "ae" and "oe" were both pronounced [eː]; the form was also influenced by an extremely dubious etymology from Greek "koilos", "hollow". While the authorship of the "Regina Caeli" is unknown, the hymn has been traced back to the