Red, white and blue in three stripes: one of the oldest tricolours in the world, born in the rebellion against Philip II.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil, state and military, on land and at seaFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio and three equal horizontal stripes.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1568 several provinces of the Netherlands rose against Philip II of Spain
In the 1570s those colours passed to the flags of the rebel ships
The oldest known coloured image dates from 1575
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of the Netherlands is three horizontal stripes of the same width: red above, white in the middle and blue below. It looks very simple, but it is one of the oldest tricolours in the world still in use. Flags such as those of France or Russia were modelled on it.
It all began with a rebellion. In 1568 several provinces of the Netherlands rose against Philip II of Spain. A nobleman, William of Orange, put himself at the head of the rebels, and he used the colours orange, white and blue.
In the 1570s those colours passed to the flags of the rebel ships. They called it the Prinsenvlag, “the prince’s flag”. The oldest known coloured image dates from 1575.
The original orange ended up being turned into red, and it has stayed that way.
1570s
The rebel ships carry the colours of William of Orange: orange, white and blue.
1630-1660
The orange is gradually changed for red. It is a political gesture: the republic distances itself from the Orange family.
Late 18th century
Under French rule, the tricolour carries for a few years a figure of a woman with a lion in the corner. The simple design soon returns.
1937
Some groups, among them the Dutch Nazis, call for a return to the orange. To settle the debate, Queen Wilhelmina signs a decree on 19 February: the colours are red, white and blue.
The colours were not chosen for what they symbolise, but for who was wearing them:
Red
it took the place of the orange when the republic wanted to mark its distance from the princes of Orange.
White and blue
they come from the colours William of Orange used.
Orange
it is no longer on the flag, but it remains the colour of the royal family and of Dutch supporters.
The text of 1937 has a single sentence: “The colours of the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are red, white and blue”. The Queen did not sign it at the palace, but on holiday in Zell am See, in Austria.
On King’s Day (27 April) and on the birthdays of the royal family, an orange pennant is hoisted above the flag. It is never put out when the flag is at half mast.
The flag of Luxembourg has the same stripes. The Dutch one is slightly less elongated and its shades of red and blue are darker.
According to the most repeated account, Tsar Peter the Great, who learned to build ships in Holland, took these colours for Russian merchant ships, changing the order of the stripes.
Test what you have read about the flag of Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Text based on the article “Bandera de los Países Bajos” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Zscout370, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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