FLAG OF THE NETHERLANDS: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The flag of the Netherlands represents one of the oldest nations in the history of Europe. Its composition consists of three horizontal stripes of the same thickness and of three colors: red, white and blue, from top to bottom.

It has maintained its sovereignty for almost six centuries, with a short period of just over a decade of French rule. The flag, therefore, has not been altered to a great extent during the nation's history, not even during periods of external rule.

However, since the adoption of the tricolor design with horizontal stripes in the 16th century, the flag has only had a few not so significant changes; even during the stage of the Batavian Republic. Thus, with a validity of more than 200 years (uninterruptedly), this flag is one of the best known national banners at European and world level.

History

- Flag of the Netherlands During the Middle Ages - Cross of Burgundy (14th century - 1574)

Although the flag of the Burgundy Cross is often closely related to the Spanish crown, this cross was used by many Dutch expeditions during the Middle Ages. The Duke of Burgundy and his troops had, for more than a century, control of most of the provinces of the Netherlands.

This dominance meant a lack of autonomy in many aspects of the Netherlands, including the free use of a national banner. Although the rule of the Duke of Burgundy did not last long after the end of the 14th century, the House of Habsburg later took control of the territory of the Netherlands.

During Habsburg rule, the standard of the Burgundy Cross continued to be used as the official flag of the region.

- The flag of the Prince or flag of the Duke of Oranje (1574 - 1630)

The Prince's flag has its current origin in 1568, when a revolt was formed within the provinces of the Netherlands against King Felipe II of Spain. William, the Prince of Oranje, was the one who put himself at the head of the rebel movement. He was in charge of leading the revolution against Spanish control.

It was during this uprising that the tricolor flag similar to the one used today was adopted for the first time. The only variation on the flag was the first upper stripe, which was orange instead of red.

The Prince of Oranje's troops wore clothing consisting of three colors: white, blue, and orange. It was from the way the Dutch troops dressed that the banner they used in the war against Spain was created. The Dutch officers were the ones who mainly dressed in these colors.

First official flag of the Netherlands

Although this flag did not present the red color that characterizes that of the Netherlands today, the Prince's flag is considered the first official use of the Dutch flag today. In fact, in the early 1970s, the Netherlands officially commemorated the 400-year existence of its flag.

The use of this banner became the inspiration for other regional and national flags worldwide. Interestingly, the flag of the mayor of New York, in the United States, is based on the design of the Dutch flag. Additionally, one of the earlier South African flags also featured a similar design.

These inspirations were due to the fact that all these territories belonged to the Netherlands, at some point in history, although they became independent, their flags took concepts from the Dutch for their design.

- Statenvlag or flag of the States (1630 - 1795)

The flag of the States began to be used long before 1630. In fact, the first official records of the use of the 'Statenvlag' date from the end of the 16th century, 20 years after the official use of the Prince's flag. However, it is not known exactly why the change from orange to red in the upper band of the flag.

It is presumed that, given the nature of orange ink to turn reddish over time, many flags were simply adapting the new color on their own.

Originally the Statenvlag was associated with the province of Holland only. It had carried out several revolts and its flag began to be associated only with those who protested. However, many other provinces in the Netherlands used this flag as the country's official flag.

This caused inconveniences between the Dutch dominions, which caused that the government had to intervene in an official way to give a level of legitimacy to this flag.

In 1664, the government of the Netherlands issued a resolution in which the red, white and blue flag was considered the official flag of the country. It was also in this communiqué that it was given the name Statenvlag, or "flag of the States", alluding to the fact that the flag was representative of all the states of the Netherlands and not only of the Netherlands.

- Flag of the Batavian Republic (1795 - 1813)

By the end of the 18th century, the Netherlands was in a severe economic and social crisis. The country was in a precarious state after the war against the English, and the social divisions between rich and poor were very marked in the country.

By this time, Dutch banks owned almost half of the world's economic capital, which represented a great source of wealth in the country.

However, the lower classes did not have access to money. It was the nobles who benefited the most from this. The social division and the postwar economic crisis caused a group of rebels to rise up against the government of the Netherlands.

These rebels, who called themselves "patriots", were seeking a change in the social structure of the country. The nation entered a conflict between those who supported the government and those who sought to oppose it.

Establishment of the Republic and creation of the flag

This period of instability coincided with the French Revolution. The patriots looked favorably on a French invasion of the Netherlands, a vision that was also shared by most of the country's population. Almost all the Dutch were against the government.

Therefore, when the patriotic armies allied with the French, most of the Dutch towns opened their doors to the troops and France took control of the Netherlands. The Dutch saw this as a release from the government yoke.

Thus the Batavian Republic was established. The country was allowed to use the tricolor flag of red, white, and blue because it resembled the French one, and a warrior with a lion was placed at the top left of the banner.

- Current flag of the Netherlands (1813 - present)

In 1813, the Netherlands again declared independence from French rule and the Batavian Republic was dissolved to re-establish the government of the House of Oranje.

At this time, the king, who had been exiled during the revolution, returned to his throne again. The Dutch displayed tricolor flags accompanied by an orange banner, again demonstrating their loyalty to the government of the House of Oranje.

It was in that year that the red, blue and white flag began to be used extensively, but without the upper shield that existed during the Batavian Republic.

However, shortly before the start of World War II, the variation of the flag with orange instead of red began to be used again. To avoid further confusion, the government officially decreed that the flag of the Netherlands was red, white and blue, putting an end to uncertainty among its inhabitants.

Although the current flag of the Netherlands was already in use before this date, it was officially decreed in 1937. However, the exact parameters of the flag's colors became official after the end of World War II.

Meaning

The colors of the flag of the Netherlands have no specific meaning. They simply represent the colors used by Prince William's generals during the independence movement against the Habsburgs. The meaning of the colors is an allusion to the clothing of the Dutch troops of the time.

The change of the upper band from orange to red was done merely because orange used to fade over time and changing the color to red simplified the manufacture of the flag in the long run.

References

1. Netherlands Flag, World Population Review, (nd). Taken from worldpopulationreview.com
2. The Dutch Flag, Holland Official Website, 2019. Taken from Holland.com
3. Dutch Flags, I Am Expat Website, (nd). Taken from iamexpat.nl
4. Batavian Revolution, Wikipedia, 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org
5. Flag of the Netherlands, Wikipedia, 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org