The Flag of Belgium Consists of a banner with three vertical bands of equal dimensions with the colors black, yellow and red, alluding to the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant. Its ratio is 13:15.
Its origin dates from 1831, being one of the oldest active official flags of the world.
In addition, the first flag is the first country that includes yellow and black as the main colors of its flag.
Its colors are reminiscent of the ensign with horizontal bands that were used in the battles of 1789. They also allude to the province of Brabant, of the old Netherlands.
History of the flag of Belgium
During the Belgian revolution, it was common to see French flags raised in protest against the king of the Netherlands, Willem van Oranje-Nassau.
These flags of the Gallic country were replaced by others with horizontal stripes of red, gold and black as the colors of the duchy of Brabant, whose tongue lion and red claws, is of gold and is located on a black background.
Since that revolutionary era, the country adopted that flag and included it in its National Constitution, without specifying the orientation of the fringes.
The flag that is currently used in Belgium, with vertical stripes, was established as an official on January 23, 1831, after achieving Belgian independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In fact, it was designed to commemorate the independence of Belgium.
Nevertheless, already in 1830 had been hoisted in the mayoralty of Brussels, during the revolts in the opera of that locality.
In October of 1831, the order of the colors changed, happening to locate the black color right next to the flagpole.
It is believed that this change was due to a desire to differentiate the Norwegian teaching from that of the Netherlands and to make it more similar to that of France, a country allied during the revolution.
Curious facts
- Marie Abts was the name of the seamstress who made the first flags of Belgium showing the horizontal stripes.
- Belgium accustoms to raise its flag starting in the black and finishing in the red although its constitution indicates a different order. The Belgian constitution, in its article 193, describes the order of the colors in red-gold-black (red in the side of the pole).
- In 2016, the colors of the flag of Belgium illuminated the Eiffel Tower as a form of solidarity with that country after several people died and as many were injured in the bombings at the airport and the subway in Brussels.
References
- Blog of flags (2012). The oldest flags in the world. Retrieved from: blogdebanderas.com.
- Clabots, Veronique (2015). Why is the Belgian flag similar to the German flag? Recovered from: quora.com.
- The Nation (2016). The Eiffel Tower lit up with the colors of the flag of Belgium. Recovered from: lanacion.com.ar.
- Rosconi, Sofia (2011). Flag of Belgium. Retrieved from: belgica.org.