The flag of

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

is an unofficial flag commissioned by the Committee for Belgian–Dutch–Luxembourgish Cooperation in 1951. It is an amalgam of the flags of the member states:

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. The red stripe is from the

flag of Luxembourg The national flag of Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Fändel; german: Flagge Luxemburgs; french: Drapeau du Luxembourg) consists of three horizontal stripes, red, white and light blue, and can be in 1:2 or 3:5 ratio. It was first used between 184 ...

, the blue stripe is from the

flag of the Netherlands The national flag of the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlandse vlag) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. The current design originates as a variant of the late 16th century orange-white-blue '' Prinsenvlag'' ("Prince's Flag"), evo ...

, and the black stripe and yellow lion rampant are taken from the

coat of arms of Belgium nl, Eendracht maakt machtgerman: Einigkeit macht stark , orders = Order of Leopold , other_elements = The whole is placed on a mantle Gules with ermine lining, fringes and tassels Or and ensigned with the Royal Crown of Belgium. Above ...

. The lion also historically represents

the Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

area as a whole, since each constituent nation possesses a coat of arms featuring a lion rampant facing left (''Leo Belgicus''), which during the 17th century already symbolised the Low Lands as a whole or in part.

References

External links

* {{Flags of International Organization Flags introduced in 1951, Benelux Unofficial flags, Benelux Benelux Flags of international organizations Flags displaying animals