Editing Flag of the Netherlands (section)

==History==

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg|thumb|[[File:FIAV historical.svg|23px]]The [[Cross of Burgundy flag]]|border]]
At the end of the 15th century, when the majority of the Netherlands provinces were united under the [[Duke of Burgundy]], the [[Cross of Burgundy flag]] of the [[Duke of Burgundy]] was used for joint expeditions, which consisted of a red [[saltire]] resembling two crossed, roughly-pruned (knotted) branches, on a white field. Under the later [[House of Habsburg]] this flag remained in use.

===Prince's Flag===
[[File:Vroom Hendrick Cornelisz Dutch Ships Ramming Spanish Galleys off the Flemish Coast in October 1602.jpg|thumb|''Dutch ships ramming Spanish galleys off the English coast, 3 October 1602'' ([[Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom]], 1617)]]
[[File:Prinsenvlag.svg|thumb|[[File:FIAV historical.svg|23px]]The [[Prince's Flag]] (1570s–1652)|border]]
{{main article|Prince's Flag}}
In 1568 provinces of the [[Low Countries]] [[Dutch Revolt|rose in revolt]] against King [[Philip II of Spain]], and [[William the Silent|Prince William of Orange]] (1533–1584) placed himself at the head of the rebels. The etymology of the [[House of Orange-Nassau|House of Orange]] is unrelated to the name of the fruit or the colour. Usage of the colours orange, white and blue (Dutch: ''Oranje, Wit, Blauw'', from French ''Orange, Blanc, Bleu'') was based on the [[livery]] of William and was first recorded in the [[siege of Leiden]] in 1574, when Dutch officers wore orange-white-blue [[brassard]]s.<ref name="Rey515" /> The first known full colour depiction of the flag appeared in 1575 (see image). In [[Ghent]] in 1577, William was welcomed with a number of theatrical allegories represented by a young girl wearing orange, blue and white.<ref name="Rey516">Jean Rey, ''Histoire du drapeau, des couleurs et des insignes de la Monarchie française'' vol. 2, 1837, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zb5SAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA516 p. 516].</ref> The first explicit reference to a naval flag in these colours is found in the ordonnances of the [[Admiralty of Zeeland]], dated 1587, i.e. shortly after William's death.<ref name="Rey515">Jean Rey, ''Histoire du drapeau, des couleurs et des insignes de la Monarchie française'' vol. 2, 1837, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zb5SAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA515 p. 515].</ref>

The colour combination of orange, white, and blue is commonly considered the first Dutch flag.<ref name=":0" /> The 400th anniversary of the introduction of the Dutch flag was commemorated in the Netherlands by the issue of a postage stamp in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ontwerp, postzegels Nederland 1972 Nederlandse vlag – Geheugen van Nederland |url=https://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/nl/geheugen/view?coll=ngvn&identifier=MVC01%3A55618 |website=www.geheugenvannederland.nl |access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref> That was based on the fact that in 1572 the ''[[Geuzen|Watergeuzen]]'' (''Gueux de mer'', "Sea Beggars"), the pro-Dutch [[privateer]]s, [[Capture of Brielle|captured Den Briel]] in name of William, Prince of Orange. However, it is uncertain whether they took an orange-white-blue flag with them on the event, although they certainly started using an orange-white-blue tricolour somewhat later in the 1570s. It became later known as the [[Prince's Flag|Prinsenvlag]] ("Prince's flag") and served as the basis for the [[Flag of South Africa (1928–1994)|former South African flag]], the flags of [[flag of New York City|New York City]] and the [[Coat of arms of Albany, New York#Uses|Flag of Albany, New York]], all three former dominions of the [[Dutch Republic]].

===Statenvlag===
[[File:Statenvlag.svg|thumb|[[File:FIAV historical.svg|23px]]The {{lang|nl|[[Statenvlag]]}} (1652–1795)|border]]
{{main article|Statenvlag}}
Red as replacement for orange appeared as early as 1597, but more often after about 1630, as indicated by paintings of that time. Red gradually replaced orange (1630–60) as a sign of political change and growing dissociation of the Republic from the House of Orange.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scHXHTkRmZcC&pg=PA23 |title=Flag, Nation and Symbolism in Europe and America |last1=Eriksen |first1=Thomas Hylland |last2=Jenkins |first2=Richard |date=18 October 2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134066964 |pages=23 |language=en }}</ref> It appears that prior to 1664, the red-white-blue tricolour was commonly known as the "Flag of Holland" ({{lang|nl|Hollandsche Vlag}}); named after one of the revolting provinces. In 1664, the [[States of Zeeland]], one of the other revolting provinces, complained about this, and a resolution of the [[States General of the Netherlands|States-General]] introduced the name "States Flag" ({{lang|nl|Statenvlag}}), which the red, white and blue tricolour will be known hereafter.<ref>JC de Jonge, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse zeewesen, deel 1. 's Gravenhage, 1833, p. 75.</ref> The Dutch navy between 1588 and 1630 had always displayed the Prince's Flag, and after 1663 always the States Flag, with both flag variants being in use during the period of 1630–1662.<ref>C. de Waard, "De Nederlandsche vlag" in: ''Het Vaderland'' (1900).</ref>

The red-white-blue triband flag as used in the 17th century is said to have influenced the designs of both the seminal [[Flag of Russia|Russian flag]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt450XgGd1kC |title=The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry and Associations |last=Hulme |first=Frederick Edward |date=1 January 1897 |publisher=Library of Alexandria |isbn=9781465543110 |language=en}}
{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xWdOBAAAQBAJ&q=russian+flag+dutch+flag&pg=PA228 |title=Foreign Correspondent: A Memoir |last=Greenway |first=H. D. S. |date=19 August 2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781476761329 |pages=228 |language=en }}</ref> and the [[French flag]].<ref name=":4"/> In turn, these two flags would later influence many others.

===Flag of the Batavian Republic===
[[File:Flag of the Batavian Republic.svg|thumb|[[File:FIAV historical.svg|23px]]Flag of the [[Batavian Republic]]  (1796–1806)|border]]
With the [[Batavian Revolution]] in the Netherlands in the last decade of the 18th century, and the subsequent conquest by the [[First French Republic|French]], the name "Prince's Flag" was forbidden and the red-white-blue of the [[Statenvlag]] was the only flag allowed, analogous as it was to [[Flag of France|France's own tricolour]], chosen just a few months earlier, ironically influenced by that same Statenvlag.<ref name=":4" /> In 1796 the red division of the flag was embellished with the figure of a Netherlands maiden, with a lion at her feet, in the upper left corner. In one hand she bore a shield with the [[fasces|Roman fasces]] and in the other a lance crowned with the [[cap of liberty]]. This flag had a life as short as that of the [[Batavian Republic]] for which it was created.
[[Louis Bonaparte]], made [[Kingdom of Holland|king of Holland]] by his brother the Emperor [[Napoleon]], wished to pursue a purely Dutch policy and to respect national sentiments as much as possible.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/napoleonbiograph00nich|url-access=registration|title=Napoleon: A Biographical Companion|last=Nicholls|first=David|date=1999|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780874369571|pages=[https://archive.org/details/napoleonbiograph00nich/page/34 34]|language=en}}</ref> He removed the maiden of freedom from the flag and restored the old tricolour. His pro-Dutch policies led to conflicts with his brother, however, and the Netherlands were incorporated into the French Empire. In 1810 its flag was replaced by the imperial emblems.

===Modern flag===
In 1813, the Netherlands [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands|regained its independence]] and the [[William I of the Netherlands|Prince of Orange]] returned from exile and contemporary newspapers report that the red-white-blue flag was flown decorated with an orange [[Pennon]]/pennant and solid‐coloured orange flags were displayed in many places in the country as a sign of allegiance of the people to the House of Orange.<ref name=":0" />

Just before the outbreak of World War II, the Prince's Flag resurfaced again. Some people were convinced that orange, white, and blue were the true colours of the Dutch flag, particularly members of the [[National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Poels |first=Jos |date=August 2011 |title=The Orange Pennant: The Dutch Response to a Flag Dilemma |url=https://nava.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/icv24poels.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Vexillology, Washington, D.C. |pages=892 }}</ref> To end the discussion, a [[royal decree]] established the colours of the Dutch flag as: 'The colours of the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are red, white and blue' ({{langx|nl|De kleuren van de vlag van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden zijn rood, wit en blauw}}).<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Poels |first1=Jos |date=28 April 2000 |title=Rood-wit-blauw of oranje boven |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2000/04/28/rood-wit-blauw-of-oranje-boven-7492209-a1334331 |journal=NRC |language=nl |access-date=28 January 2019 }}</ref> It became the shortest decree in history, and was issued by Queen Wilhelmina on 19 February 1937.<ref>Wilhelmina en De Minister van Staat, Minister van Koloniën, Voorzitter van den Raad van Ministers (19 februari 1937): [https://web.archive.org/web/20170905235449/http://www.koenigsbanner.de/fotw/flags/nl.html Koninklijk Besluit nr. 93, Zell am See].</ref><ref>[http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=anp:1937:02:24:3:mpeg21:image ANP-bericht 24 februari 1937]</ref>

It was only on 16 August 1949 that the exact colour parameters were defined by the Ministry of the Navy<ref name=":2" /> as bright vermilion (red), white and cobalt blue. The pennant is usually added on [[Koningsdag|King's Day]] ({{langx|nl|Koningsdag}}, 27 April) or other festive occasions related to the Royal Family.