In Germany we NEVER got "thingy's" for our certificates, poo colored or otherwise, we always had to buy our own, which I prefer anyway.
And it's not the CAA to decide what size the certificate is but the EU regulators (in the future EASA)... they decide on the size and how it's supposed to look.
The old (=former JAA) ones used to have a picture on them, and the FAA didn't. Then along came JAR-FCL and the picture was removed. And now the FAA is going to add it.
