Editing East Flanders (section)

== History ==
During the short-lived [[Napoleonic Empire]], most of the area of the modern province was part of the [[Escaut (department)|Department of Escaut]], named after the [[River Scheldt]]. Following the defeat of [[Napoleon]], the entity was [[Geographical renaming|renamed]] after its geographical location in the eastern part of the historic [[County of Flanders]] (now in the western portion of the current [[Flemish Region]]).

The provincial flag has a black lion with red tongue and claws, on a background of horizontal white and green stripes. This is a recent adaptation; formerly, East Flanders used the [[Flag of Flanders|Flemish flag]], a black lion on a yellow background, as in the current coat of arms. The old flag is still publicly used, e.g. for road signs.