Netherlands
From VexiWiki
| Flag of The Netherlands | |
| |
| Adopted | February 19, 1937 [1] |
|---|---|
| Designed by | (unknown) |
| Proportions | 2:3 [2] |
The flag of The Netherlands is a horizontal equal tricolour of red, white, and blue. The flag is used both by the The Netherlands in Europe as by the Kingdom of The Netherlands, which also encompasses Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.
Contents |
[edit] Symbolism
The flag was taken from the original orange, white, and blue design, which was the Prince's flag. [3]
[edit] Prince's flag
The Prince's flag was made of three equal horizontal stripes of orange, white, and blue. The flag was first hoisted in 1572 in Den Briel, [4] and was since then used as an informal flag for The Netherlands until the Republic of the United Netherlands was formally replaced by Batavian Republic French puppet state.
During almost its entire history it was used side by side with the current Dutch flag, initially the coming into being of the latter was possibly a result of the method of dying, which resulted in a very dark hue of orange, resembling red. [5] Later the red flag was deliberately used by those who opposed the ruling house of Orange, replacing their livery colours with red, white and blue. Despite a short republican intermezzo the two flags remained at status quo for a very long time, only ending with the formal adoption of the current flag in 1937. [6] Though it main seem strange that The Netherlands, being a monarchy, adopted the flag popular among the former republican faction the main reason for this was that the Dutch Nazi party used the orange flag during World War Two and therefore the more neutral republican flag was adopted. Its usage during the war, and the fact that Apartheid South Africa used a replica of this flag make it a highly controversial flag. [7]
[edit] Symbolism of the Prince's flag
The orange, white, and blue were the livery colours of William I, Prince of Orange. The colours were put into a horizontal tricolour.
[edit] Trivia
- Orange is currently the national colour of The Netherlands, although the current flag does not use the colour.
- Many South African flags and flags from the New York region were based off of the Prince's flag.
[edit] References
- ↑ the netherlands flag and description at WorldAtlas.Com
- ↑ Dutch Flags (The Netherlands) from the World Flag Database
- ↑ The Princevlag at Flags of the World
- ↑ History of Holland - Chapter IV: The Revolt of the Netherlands (by George Edmundson)
- ↑ Princevlag at Flags of the World
- ↑ the netherlands flag and description at WorldAtlas.Com
- ↑ Nederlandse Vereniging voor Vlaggenkunde on the Dutch flag (nl)
| Subdivisions of the Kingdom of The Netherlands |
|---|
| Landen: Aruba ● Netherlands ● Netherlands Antilles |
| Provinces of The Netherlands: Drenthe ● Flevoland ● Friesland ● Gelderland ● Groningen ● Limburg ● North Brabant ● North Holland ● Overijssel ● Utrecht ● Zeeland ● South Holland |
| Islands of the Antilles: Bonaire ● Curaçao ● Saba ● Sint Eustatius ● Sint Maarten |
