Flag of Antwerp (Province)

The flag of the province of Antwerp (Belgium) is a chequerboard: twenty-four squares arranged in four rows of six, in four colours —red, white, yellow and blue—. It looks like a game, but it is a political map: each square keeps the colours of one of the cities of the province.

How it came about

Antwerp belongs to the old family of the duchy of Brabant, the land of chequered flags: the neighbouring Dutch province of North Brabant uses the same chequerboard, only in red and white. The province’s first flag of its own dates from 26 October 1928, and was a vertical yellow-red-white tricolour recommended by the Council of Heraldry; Turnhout, one of the district capitals, was missing its blue, and the flag was never accepted: it was forgotten, although it remained official until 1997. The current chequerboard was approved by the provincial council on 18 October 1996 and by the Flemish Government on 7 January 1997.

How it has changed

1. 

   1928-1997

   Vertical yellow-red-white tricolour adopted in 1928: official but never accepted, because it left out Turnhout’s blue.

2. 

   1996

   From 18 October 1996, the chequerboard of 24 squares that brings together the colours of the three district capitals.

What it means

• Red and white

  the colours of the city of Antwerp, which occupy the middle rows of the chequerboard.

• Yellow and red

  those of Mechelen, capital of the other district.

• White and blue

  those of Turnhout, the third capital.

• The squares

  the tradition of chequered flags of the duchy of Brabant.

Fun facts

1. A heraldic scandal that lasted 69 years

   The 1928 flag was never liked —it lacked Turnhout’s blue— and fell into oblivion; all the same, it stayed official until the current one was approved in 1996.

2. The same chequerboard as the Netherlands

   The flag of the Dutch province of North Brabant follows the same Brabantine chequered model: the two Brabants, separated two centuries ago, wear twin chequerboards.

3. Diagonals of one colour

   The squares are arranged so that each one matches in colour the ones above-left and below-right: the chequerboard forms diagonal stripes of colour, not columns.

Location

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