Netherlands

Netherlands
Adopted	February 19, 1937
Proportions	2:3

The Prinsenvlag

Dutch and Flemish neo-Nazi's waving the Prince's flag

A Dutch flag flown with a pennant.

A set of Dutch flag waved at half mast for Remembrance Day.

The flag flown with a school bag attached to it.

A school bag attached to a Frisian flag.

The flag of The Netherlands is a horizontal equal tricolour of red, white, and blue. The flag is used both by the The Netherlands in Europe as by the Kingdom of The Netherlands, which also encompasses Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

Symbolism

The flag was taken from the original orange, white, and blue design, which was the Prince's flag.

Prince's flag

The Prince's flag was made of three equal horizontal stripes of orange, white, and blue. The flag was first hoisted in 1572 in Den Briel, and was since then used as an informal flag for The Netherlands until the Republic of the United Netherlands was formally replaced by Batavian Republic French puppet state.

During almost its entire history it was used side by side with the current Dutch flag, initially the coming into being of the latter was possibly a result of the method of dying, which resulted in a very dark hue of orange, resembling red. Later the red flag was deliberately used by those who opposed the ruling house of Orange, replacing their livery colours with red, white and blue. Despite a short republican intermezzo the two flags remained at status quo for a very long time, only ending with the formal adoption of the current flag in 1937. Though it main seem strange that The Netherlands, being a monarchy, adopted the flag popular among the former republican faction the main reason for this was that the Dutch Nazi party used the orange flag during World War Two and therefore the more neutral republican flag was adopted. Its usage during the war, and the fact that Apartheid South Africa used a replica of this flag make it a highly controversial flag.

Symbolism of the Prince's flag

The orange, white, and blue were the livery colours of William I, Prince of Orange. The colours were put into a horizontal tricolour.

Dutch flag customs

Though Dutch law does not stipulate anything on the actual usage of the national flag, there are some formalised rules attached to flag waving in The Netherlands, which are generally (though not always) obeyed. The current instructions for flag waving were drafted in the 1980s by then prime minister Van Agt, the rules include:

• The Dutch flag is to be treated with respect
• The flag is to be hoisted at sunrise and lowered at sunset. The hoisting and lowering of the flag should not be done either too fast or overly slow.
• The flag is not allowed to touch the ground or bushes.
• The flag is allowed to remain waving at night, on the condition that it be properly lit. The colours of the flags are to be visible at all times.
• The national flag should always be hung from a mast or pole, and is not allowed to be used as decoration (usage as drapery is an exception to this rule).
• The ratio is always 3:2, applying additional decorations to the flag is forbidden.

Flag waving days

Van Agt also stipulated a set of days on which waving the flag is appropriate. Though waving the flag on other days than those found in the regulations, it is often frowned upon or even seen as disrespectful. Should a flag day be on a Christian holiday or a Sunday the date in parenthesis is observed. On days related to the Royal House (marked in orange) it is allowed to fly an orange pennant with the flag.

Date		Occasion	Additional comments
	31 January (1 February)	Birthday of HRH Princess Beatrix	none
	27 April (28 April)	Birthday of HRH King Willem-Alexander	none
	30 April (29 April)	King's Day	none
	4 May	National Remembrance of the Dead	Flag is to be hoisted after 18.00. Flag should be at half-mast.
	5 May	Liberation day.	none
	17 May	Birthday of HRH Queen Maxima	none
	15 August	Japanese capitulation WW II	none
	3rd Tuesday in September	"Prinsjesdag"	Only in The Hague.
	7 December (8 December)	Birthday HRH Princess Catharina-Amalia	none
	15 December (16 December)	Kingdom Day	none

Finishing High School

In The Netherlands it is customary for High School students who successfully passed their exams to wave the national flag with their school bag attached to the flag pole. Though this custom contradicts the official rules for the waving of flags the tradition is held high and followed by universally all graduated High School students. In the month of June, seeing a school bag hanging from a flag post should not be an uncommon sight. In the province of Friesland, the Frisian flag is often used instead of the national flag

Trivia

• Orange is currently the national colour of The Netherlands, although the current flag does not use the colour.
• Many South African flags and flags from the New York region were based off of the Prince's flag.

References

VexiWiki has a design page for:
Netherlands