Netherlands Flag And Its History

By Adam Sirvestry


The national flag of Netherlands comes in three colors. It has horizontal colors of blue, white and red. It was introduced in the year 1572 but was officially adopted only on the 19th day of February 1937. This flag is known to be the first flag to three colors. Until today, this three-color flag is considered to be the official national flag of the Netherlands.

When Philip II of Spain suppressed political liberties and the growing Protestant movement in the Netherlands, a revolt led by William of Orange broke out in 1568. Under the Union of Utrecht (1579), the seven northern provinces became the United Provinces of the Netherlands. the war between the United Provinces and Spain continued into the 17th century but in 1648 Spain finally recognized Dutch independence.

It was an appropriate time to omit orange from the flag because in 1654 a defense treaty between the Dutch and the English permanently excluded members of the house of Orange from being heads of state in theNetherlands. In the 20th century many right-wing Dutch supported orange-white-blue as the "authentic flag" of the Netherlands, but the national flag was not changed.

In the early to mid-17th century, the orange stripe was changed to red but the reason is unclear. One theory is because red is more visible than orange when viewed from a distance. Red, white and blue were officially announced as the colors of the flag in 1796. The flag was banned for a short period at the turn of the 19th century after France occupied the Netherlands. The Netherlands was again independent in 1813 and the flag was reinstated.

When Napoleon's brother, Louis, became ruler of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806, no change was made in the national flag. The Netherlands was annexed by France from 1810 to 1813, but, after independence was regained, the new Kingdom of the Netherlands again recognized the red-white-blue flag.

It is the main reason why it was replaced by red. Red was then referred to as one of the official colors of the flag. It was in the year 1937 that the flag was officially adopted by the people of Netherlands. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Netherlands flag for the future.




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