Dutch Flag

The Flag of the Netherlands

The Netherlands, is a country located in Northwestern Europe with some overseas territories in the Caribbean. In Europe it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the East, Belgium to the South and the North Sea to the NorthWest. The official language is Dutch, although English is widely spoken as a second language, and there are minor official languages such as West Frisian and Low German. The word "Netherlands" literally means "lower countries" in reference to its low elevation and flag topography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre above sea level and 17% falling below sea level.

The Netherlands were originally settled by Hunter-gatherers as they got more and more sophisticated with tools and eventually were replaced by the Indo-Europeans and then by the Celts and Germanic tribes. The Germanic culture in the Netherlands eventually gave the people there the Dutch language and various other related languages. The Netherlands fell under control of the Habsburgs and eventually declared independance in the mid 16th Centuary due to Religious tensions. This eventually led to the Netherlands becoming a global sea trading power, due to its connections with Europe and allowing its citizens to do whatever they wanted (in terms of free enterprise). Since then, the Dutch have almost always had a high standard of living compared to the rest of Europe.

The flag of the Netherlands, the latest variation adopted in 1949, is a tricolour flag, actually, it is the first tricolour flag. The horizontal fesses are bands of equal size in the colours from top to bottom: red, white and blue. The tricolour design inspired countries such as France and Russia to implement the same design for their flags.

On the flag, the colours are based on the coat of arms of Prince William of orange, who was a leading fighter in the freedom for the Dutch. But where is the orange on the flag??? Well, the Dutch flag was originally orange-white-blue but the orange dye used to make the flag was unstable and would eventually turn red, leading the nation to change the official colour to red. This is why orange is worn during Kings Day (a national celebration in the Netherlands) and is also worn by their sports teams.

Click on the flag(s) to reveal an animation.

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