Belgium
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| Flag of Belgium | |
| |
| Adopted | January 23, 1831 |
|---|---|
| Designed by | Lucien Jottrand and Edouard Ducpétiaux |
| Proportions | 13:15 [1] |
The flag of Belgium is a vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red.
[edit] Symbolism
The colours of the Belgian flag derive from the historical coat of arms of the duchy of Brabant, which comprised of a golden lion with red claws and tongue on a black field and stretched from the modern Dutch province of North Brabant, through Antwerp and Flemish Brabant and Brussels to modern day Walloon Brabant. They were first used during a revolution against the Austrian Habsburgers in 1792, with the establishment of the short-lived United Belgian States in the Austrian Southern Netherlands (roughly the equivalent of modern day Belgium).[2]
When Belgium revolted against the United Kingdom of The Netherlands in 1830 the Brabantic colours were again used, albeit in a horizontal tricolour of red, yellow and black. When actual independence was achieved a year later the colours were placed in the contemporary vertical pattern, inspired by the vertical French tricolore, which represented liberty and revolution[3], and possibly to differentiate from the horizontal tricolour of the Dutch.[4]
[edit] Trivia
- The rather odd proportion of the Belgian flag are of unknown origin. For simplicity sake the Belgian flag for civil use has the more common 2:3 proportion.
[edit] References
- ↑ Belgium at Flags of the World
- ↑ Grote geïllustreerde vlaggengids by William Crampton (nl)
- ↑ Complete Flags of the World
- ↑ 'Sire er zijn geen Belgen' at Belgische Politiek (nl)
