Flags, pennants and coats of arms of the provinces of the Netherlands

This list shows and explains the flags , pennants and coats of arms of the Dutch provinces .

layout

The twelve provinces all have their own flags , which with the exception of Zuid-Holland and Noord-Brabant are all modern designs.

In addition, all provinces have a pennant that is designed in the colors of the respective province.

list

province	coat of arms	flag	pennant	Remarks
Drenthe				White and red are the colors of the former ruler, the Archbishop of Utrecht . The black castle and the red stars remind of the uprising of Coevorden against the archbishop.
Flevoland				Blue stands for the IJsselmeer , from which land was reclaimed for the province. Green stands for the vegetation and yellow for the cornfields. The lily comes from the coat of arms of the hydraulic engineer Cornelis Lely , who drafted the plans for the drainage of the IJsselmeer .
Fryslân				The flag is based on that of the Kings of Friesland in the 15th century, with the colors being the same as on the flag of the Netherlands . The stripes and the sea ​​leaves represent the districts of Friesland.
Gelderland				The colors are derived from the provincial coat of arms, in which the lion coats of arms of Geldern and Jülich are combined.
Groningen				The flag combines the green and white of the city of Groningen with the red and blue of the Ommelande .
Limburg				The red lion comes from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Limburg . White and yellow are taken from the local coats of arms, the narrow blue stripe stands for the Meuse , which flows through the province.
North Brabant				The flag is derived from the colors of the Duchy of Brabant and is similar to the flag of the Belgian province of Antwerp , which has more than two colors.
North Holland				The flag is derived from the colors of the provincial coat of arms, which is composed of the coats of arms of Holland and West Friesland .
Overijssel				The yellow and red stripes are reminiscent of the province's earlier association with Holland. The blue wave in the middle stands for the IJssel , after which the province is named.
Utrecht				The Archbishop of Utrecht had been using a red flag with a white cross since 1528. The archbishop's flag is still in the jack of the modern flag. The underground is in the traditional colors of the province.
Zeeland				The flag of Zeeland has the coat of arms of the province in the middle. The wavy blue and white stripes represent the sea and the efforts to keep it in check. A triumphant lion rises out of the water.
South Holland				The flag is a banner from the coat of arms of Holland and was introduced in this form in 1986 instead of the simple three-band yellow-red-yellow.

See also

• former flag of the Netherlands Antilles (disbanded October 10, 2010)

Special communities

• Flag of Bonaire
• Flag of Sint Eustatius
• Flag of Saba

Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• Flag of Aruba
• Flag of Curacao
• Sint Maartens flag

literature

• Karl-Heinz Hesmer: Flags and coats of arms of the world. History and symbolism of the flags and coats of arms of all states. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh 1992, ISBN 3-570-01082-1 .

Web links

Commons : Flags of provinces of the Netherlands  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Flagchart (English)
• Flags of the World - Provinces and municipalities of the Netherlands (English)