Flag of the navy of the Batavian Republic

The Batavian flag (contemporaneous Dutch: ''Bataafsche vlag''; also called ''Nationale vlag'', "National flag") is a Dutch historical flag. It was designed by

Dirk Langendijk Dirk Langendijk (Rotterdam, 8 March 1748 – Rotterdam, 15 December 1805), written as Langendyk in his day, was a Dutch draughtsman, painter and etcher. He produced mainly depictions of land and sea battles and other military scenes from the ...

in January 1796, and introduced in March 1796 as the official flag of the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

of the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

, replacing the

Statenvlag The ''Statenvlag'' ("States Flag") is the name of the flag of the States_General_of_the_Netherlands#Dutch_Republic, States-General of the Dutch Republic, the red-white-blue Tricolor (flag), tricolour flag replacing the older orange-white-blue Pr ...

(itself originating from the Prince's Flag).

Description

Jack on the navy flag of the Batavian Republic

The flag's colours and rows remained exactly the same (although the red and blue appear to have grown darker), but an important alteration was done by adding a jack in the upper left corner, several thumbs from the flagpole. This constituted a white rectangle, containing:Publicatie der Staaten Generaal, bij welke de nationaale vlag van deezen staat voor het vervolg bepaald wordt. Geärresteerd den 14. februarij 1796. *the Dutch, Batavian or Freedom Maiden; *the Dutch or Batavian Lion or ''Leo Belgicus''; *a spear, held by both the Maiden and the Lion; *a liberty hat on top of the spear; *a shield with a

fasces Fasces ( ; ; a ''plurale tantum'', from the Latin word ''fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbo ...

, held by the Maiden; *some green and

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

as base and background.

History

By resolution of 1 March 1796, the Batavian flag was introduced for the Dutch fleet. The flag was also used in the early days 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 Emperor ...

(since 5 June 1806). The Statenvlag's replacement at the fleet led some sailors to uproar, as they were used to the old flag under which they had won many sea battles. In August 1806, as the Dutch navy was fighting losing battles against Britain, especially in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, a riot broke out amongst the crew of the Texel squadron and the warships of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, stating they no longer wished to sail under the new flag. A few of them refused to take the oath of loyalty to King

Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...

, and declared they did not want to take orders from royals officers. This revolt was severely punished, one of the

mutineers Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

was even shot through the head on the spot by vice admiral

De Winter De Winter is a Dutch surname.http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nfb/detail_naam.php?gba_lcnaam=de%20winter&gba_naam=de%20Winter&nfd_naam=Winter,%20de&operator=eq&taal= Notable people with the surname include: De Winter or de Winter: *Alfons De Winter (19 ...

. To calm the rioters down, the Statenvlag was hoisted, bringing the uproar to an end. Since the revolt, the Statenvlag was ''de facto'' in use again. Over a year later, this was affirmed by Royal Decree on 1 December 1807. However, its name was changed to ''Koninklijke Hollandsche Vlag'' ("Royal Flag of Holland").

References

{{Dutch flags Batavian Republic

Flags of the Netherlands Flags introduced in 1796 Flags displaying animals