Anonymous The Noord-Nieuwland in Table Bay, 1762

The Prince's Flag ( nl, Prinsenvlag) is a

Dutch flag 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"), evolvi ...

, first used in the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Ref ...

during the late 16th century. The Prince's Flag is based on the flag of Prince William of Orange-Nassau, hence the name. The colours are orange, white and blue. On the basis of the French names of these colours, ''orange-blanc-bleu'', the flag is also referred to by the Dutch rhymes ''oranje-blanje-bleu'' and ''ranje-blanje-bleu''. This flag is controversial in the Netherlands due to its usage in the past by the pro-Nazi NSB. The flag is now mostly used in the Netherlands by far right activists and in historical re-enactment in equivalence to the usage of the

Confederate battle flag The flags of the Confederate States of America have a history of three successive designs during the American Civil War. The flags were known as the "Stars and Bars", used from 1861 to 1863; the "Stainless Banner", used from 1863 to 1865; and ...

in the United States.

History

The colours orange, white and blue (Dutch: ''Oranje, Wit, Blauw'' or ''Oranje, Blanje, Bleu'', from French ''Orange, Blanche, Bleu'') are associated with William Prince of Orange (1533–1584). William is reported to have used these colours as early as 1577, as part of his procession entering

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

. Jacob Duym also reports that in the siege of Leiden in 1574, the Dutch officers wore orange-white-blue

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

s. From this, Rey (1837) concludes that the combination of orange-white-blue was certainly used by the Prince of Orange in the 1570s. The first reference to a naval flag in these colours dates to 1587, when the

Admiralty of Zeeland The Admiralty of Zeeland was one of the five admiralties of the navy of the Dutch Republic. One of its famous admirals was Joost Banckert. The Admiralty of Zeeland was disestablished in 1795, alongside the other admiralties. Board of the Zeeland ...

ordered these flags to fly on their warships.Jean Rey, ''Histoire du drapeau, des couleurs et des insignes de la Monarchie française'' vol. 2, 1837
p. 515f
The naval flag was used by the '' Watergeuzen'' (''Gueux de mer'', "Sea Beggars"), the pro-Dutch

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s during the Dutch Revolt. According to de Waard (1900), the Dutch navy between 1588 and 1630 always displayed the Prince's Flag, and after 1663 always the red-white-blue ''

Statenvlag The ''Statenvlag'' ("States Flag") is the name of the flag of the States-General of the Dutch Republic, the red-white-blue tricolour flag replacing the older orange-white-blue Prince's Flag in the mid 17th century. The modern national flag of ...

''. The latter was introduced gradually during the 1630s to 1650s, and named "States' Flag" in 1664. During the 17th century the Prince's Flag was hoisted on the

Castle of Good Hope The Castle of Good Hope ( nl, Kasteel de Goede Hoop; af, Kasteel die Goeie Hoop) known locally as the Castle or Cape Town Castle is a bastion fort built in the 17th century in Cape Town, South Africa. Originally located on the coastline of T ...

and saluted by incoming ships. The orange-white-blue flag formed the basis for the

South African flag The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) ...

of 1928. It is also the basis for the flags of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

. After the republican Patriots, aided by the French, seized control over the Netherlands in 1795, the Prince's Flag was forbidden and the red-white-blue flag became the only official flag in order to dissociate from the House of Orange, to the content of the French, analogous as they were to their own tricolour, chosen just a few months earlier. In the following period of the

Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Empero ...

, there was also no place for Orange and the

Bonapartist Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

King

Louis I Louis I may refer to: * Louis the Pious, Louis I of France, "the Pious" (778–840), king of France and Holy Roman Emperor * Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia (ruled 1123–1140) * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois ...

chose red. In 1813, when the French were expelled and the Netherlands regained its independence, the Prince of Orange returned to the country from England. The Prince's Flag saw a short revival; to demonstrate the attachment of the people to the House of Orange, both this flag and the red-white-blue flag fluttered on the roofs. In the same year, for the first time, the red-white-blue flag was flown with an orange pennant, which has remained the custom in the Netherlands. Whether the Prince's Flag or the red-white-blue flag should be the national flag was left undecided, although the Prince of Orange, later King

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, preferred the latter. In the 1930s, the supporters of the

National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands ( nl, Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland, ; NSB) was a Dutch fascist and later Nazi political party that called itself a " movement". As a parliamentary party participating in legisl ...

(NSB) chose the orange-white-blue and the Prince's Flag as their symbol.

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

in 1937 signed a

Royal Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

that the colors red, white and blue are set as the official colors of the

Usage

The Prince's flag was raised from the old Matthias church tower in

Warmond Warmond () is a village and former municipality in the Western Netherlands, north of Leiden in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of 14.42 km² (5.57 mile², 30.7%) of which 4.42 km² (1.71 mile²) is water; ...

in 2013 as part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The flag is also used as a symbol of the

Greater Netherlands Greater Netherlands () is an irredentist concept which unites the Netherlands, Flanders, and sometimes including Brussels. Additionally, a Greater Netherlands state may include the annexation of the French Westhoek, Suriname, formerly Dutch-spea ...

and Dutch pan-nationalist movements. It is frequently used by extreme right-wing groups such as the

Dutch People's Union The Dutch People's Union ( nl, Nederlandse Volks-Unie, , NVU) is a Dutch Neo-Nazism, Neo-Nazi political party. The party supports a merger between the Netherlands and Flanders. History The party was founded as a political party on 27 May 1971 ...

(NVU) and '' Voorpost'', as well as the (now defunct) Nationalist People's Movement (NVB). In 2011, two members of parliament for the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nin ...

(PVV) had the Prince's flag hanging in their offices in the parliament's building. When this was received with scrutiny, the flags were removed. Former Dutch MP

Wim Kortenoeven Robert Frank Willem "Wim" Kortenoeven (born 29 May 1955) is a Dutch author, journalist and former politician. Kortenoeven engages in political developments in the Middle East, focusing on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He also writes about Jewish h ...

said he was perturbed by the negative connotations the flag carries as he believes the flag was "hijacked" by the NSB. At a PVV protest on 21 September 2013 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, several attendants were carrying Prince's flags. When

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

was speaking in

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

the same week, Alexander Pechtold referred to the flags as 'NSB-flags', to which Wilders called Pechtold a "sad, measly, hypocritical little man." In protest of Pechtold's remark, at least five PVV members of the House of Representatives, Martin Bosma,

Reinette Klever Reinette Joanne Klever (born 21 July 1967) is a Dutch politician and former asset manager. She was a member of the House of Representatives for the Party for Freedom between 20 September 2012 and 23 March 2017. She was a member of the Senate ...

Machiel de Graaf Machiel de Graaf (; born 26 June 1969) is a Dutch politician and physical therapist. As a member of the Party for Freedom (PVV) he was a member of the Senate as well as Senate group leader from 7 June 2011 to 20 September 2012. He has been a ...

, Harm Beertema and

Barry Madlener Barry Madlener (born 6 January 1969) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives since 2012. A member of the Party for Freedom (PVV), he was first elected to the House of Repr ...

wore a Prince's flag lapel pin.

Legacy

The Prince's Flag served as the basis for the flag of the Union of South Africa. This flag was adopted in 1928 and was inspired by the former Dutch flag. In the white part of the flag are the flags of (left to right) the United Kingdom, the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

and Transvaal, representing the Union's British colonial and republican predecessor states. In 1994, the flag was replaced by the post-apartheid

flag of South Africa The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) ...

. In 2004, the

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cast ...

town of Orania adopted a new flag based on the colours of the Prince's Flag. The flag is divided vertically (symbolizing a fresh beginning) with the white stripe replaced by a picture of a boy rolling up his sleeves (symbolizing going to work). As a consequence of its beginnings as the Dutch colony of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

, several places in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

use variants of the Prinsenvlag as their official flags. These places include New York City,

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, Albany, and Nassau County. File:Flag_of_South_Africa_(1982–1994).svg,

Flag of South Africa (1928–1994) The flag of South Africa from 1928 to 1994 was originally used by the Union of South Africa from 1928 to 1961 and later the Republic of South Africa until 1994. It was also used in South West Africa (today Namibia) until 1990 when the territor ...

File:Orania_flag.svg, Flag of Orania File:Flag_of_New_York_City.svg, Flag of New York City File:Flag_of_Albany,_New_York.svg, Flag of Albany, New York File:Flag_of_The_Bronx.svg, Flag of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

File:Flag of Jersey City, New Jersey.gif, Flag of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

References

External links

{{Dutch flags Dutch Republic Historical flags Flags of the Netherlands Flag controversies

History

Usage

Legacy

See also

References

External links