That's why pink-blue-white flags are flying at the Hofvijver

Flags have always been flying at the head of the Hofvijver, on the Buitenhof. Normally these are the provincial flags and on special days other flags can hang there, such as around Prinsjesdag. This week we see cheerful pink-blue-white flags. What do they stand for? We’ll figure it out.

In 2019, the municipality of The Hague was the first municipality in the Netherlands to fly the transgender flag. You guessed it, that’s the tricolor flag of light blue, soft pink and white.

Transgender flag

The transgender flag is in 1999 designed by the American Monica Helms. In addition to the rainbow flag, she wanted a flag that specifically represents the transgender community. The blue and pink stripes symbolize the traditional colors assigned to boys and girls. The white line represents people who do not want to identify as male or female, are in transition, are intersex or are in the process of gender reassignment.

Why this week?

The colorful flags are flying this week in The Hague because on Friday 31 March is the International Day of Transgender Visibility. Since 1999 conscious attention is given to this day the discrimination that transgender people regularly face.

Read also…

That’s why the gay monument in The Hague has such a strange shape

On the lawn opposite The Hague Central Station is the Homomonument in The Hague commemorating all lesbian women and homosexual…