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The Netherlands

Nederland

Zeljko Heimer, 1996-JAN-26

Naval Jack
Differences between the flags of the Netherlands and Luxembourg
Batavian Republic

See also:

Naval Jack

The naval jack is a gironny of 12, blue, white, red. [bro68]

Pascal Vagnat, 1996-MAY-02

Differences between flags of Netherlands and Luxembourg

The two are quite identical. According to "holy texts" Netherlands' flag has a 2:3 ratio while the classical ratio of Luxembourg's one is 3:5. The problem arises because Luxembourg's flag is also used with 1:2 ratio and (worse) 2:3 one, the same of Netherlands' flag! Moreover, the nuance of blue is defined as "cobalt blue" for both the flags, even if in Luxembourg's flag is often lighter than Netherlands'.

Giuseppe Bottasini

Until 1890, the king of the Netherlands and the grand-duke of Letzeburg were one person. I'd guess that the flag colors come from the coat-of-arms of Letzeburg: barry argent and azure, a lion gules.

Anton Dasher

The flags are of the Netherlands and of Luxembourg (as they are known internationally) are similar, but not the same, and it's just a coincidence, nothing to do with having any common origin. As Anton Sherwood pointed out the colours of Luxembourg are derived from the coat of arms. Recently the blue has been defined as 299 in the Pantone Matching System, unlike the 286 blue in the flag of the Netherlands. It was laid down some time ago that the proportions of the flag would be 3:5 or 1:2, unlike the Dutch flag, which is always 2:3. However, because the flags still look similar at a distance, the Luxemburgers have a distinct flag for use on civil vessels on the Rhine and elsewhere. It is a banner of the arms. There is no international system for avoiding flag similarities, and indeed at the United Nations itself there are two pairs of identical flags: Chad and Romania and Monaco and Indonesia.Chad and Romania are absolutely identical, and whilst Monaco and Indonesia have different proportions, this refinement is lost at the UN, where all flags are rendered equal.There have been several occasions in the past when different countries have had similar flags. Until the establishment of the World Vexillological Authority we have to put up with it!

William Crampton

Batavian Republic

I have seen an illustration of the flag of the Batavian Republic (the former United Provinces of the Netherlands) which was the Dutch tricolour with a small white canton (to the depth of the red stripe only) bearing a charge of Liberty (represented by an identical classically-draped female figure) being defended by a lion.

Roy Stilling, 1996-JAN-26

Most of the time under French occupation (1795/1813) Holland, called the Batavian Republic, had the same flag as during the "Dutch Republic" (end 16th c. /1795), and the "Kingdom of the Netherlands"(1813/1940 and 1945/now): horizontal red-white-blue. Even Louis Napoleon, King of Holland 1806-1810, maintained this flag, and Dutch history says he did a good job and tried his best. Only in the early days of French occupation a horizontal red-white-blu flag existed with a canton showing the "Virgin of Holland", and during incorporation in France (1810-1813) the French tricolore (vertical blue-white-red) predominated.

Gerard van der Vaart, 1996-JAN-26

You can can see the flag of the Batavian Republic and a detailed image of the canton (called "jack") at my website at Batavian Republic.

Technically it was not a national flag, but flag of the navy. When Louis Napoleon was king (1806/1810) he tried to add the arms (quartered; I and IV Dutch lion, II and III French eagle) in the plain Dutch flag, but withdrew his proposal when it was clear to him it wouldn't be accepted by the navy.

Source: Derkwillem Visser in "De Nederlandse vlag in heden en verleden" ("The Dutch flag in past and present")

Note: during WWII the red-white-blue was still the national flag, but its use was restricted by the German occupiers.

Source: Jos Poels in Vexilla Nostra no. 198, may/june 1995.

Mark Sensen, 1996-JAN-27