We all know the flag colors of The Hague, but do you also know what the flag of our province looks like? South Holland has a yellow cloth with a red lion on it. Fancy a dive into the world of flags and the reason for the use of color? Then be sure to read on!
The Hague flag
Green-yellow is the most beautiful color combination there is and we see our flag flying everywhere in the city.
Did you only know that since 1985 green and yellow are the official colors of The Hague? Before that time, the Hague’s colors were yellow and black, until an archivist remarked that the black should have been green. Green and yellow are the colors of the peat and sand.
Read more about the Hague flag below and swipe to find out everything about the South Holland flag >>>
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The flag of the province of South Holland
After Flevoland, South Holland has the youngest provincial flag in the Netherlands. The Flag Union writes: “The proposal of the flag for South Holland was made in 1985 and was officially recognized in the following year.”
Before that time, a different flag in our province was waving with three equal horizontal bands in the colors yellow, red and yellow. But apparently we needed symbolism in South Holland and that is why a new flag was designed based on the coat of arms of Holland, which also features the red lion. The colors yellow (actually gold) and red are the historical Dutch colours.
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The Dutch flag
According to the law, the colors of the Dutch flag are officially ‘clear vermilion, clear white and cobalt blue’.
The people, the church and the nobility
The most common theory is that the colors symbolize what people used to see as the ‘ natural structure of the population. The red would stand for the people, the white for the church and the blue for the nobility. For this reason, the same colors were also used in the flag in other countries, such as France, Croatia and the United States. (Source: Quest)
Orange, white, blue
Did you also know that the very first Dutch flag was colored orange, white and blue? Those colors were based on the family colors of the House of Orange-Nassau, according to de Vlaggenunie. “Prince Willem I was the leader of the revolt against the Spaniards. At the relief of den Briel in 1280 the flag was used for the first time. The flag with the orange band is up to 1064 used. From that year on, the current Dutch flag was used.” In 1920 Queen Wilhelmina took a decision by which this flag, which had been used for centuries, formally and officially became the flag of the Netherlands.
Flag days in The Netherlands
The Netherlands has a number of official flag days. The flag must be hoisted on government buildings on those days and strict flag instructions apply to this. Those days are:
Flag days for birthdays of members of the Royal House
31 January: Princess Beatrix’s birthday
17 April: Birthday King Willem-Alexander and King’s Day
December 7: Princess Amalia’s Birthday
Flag days related to the wars in which the Netherlands has been involved May 5: National Liberation Day
Last Saturday of June: Dutch Veterans Day
15 August: Formal End of World War II
Other flag days 17 December : Kingdom Day
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