Flag of the Netherlands

Netherlands

Name	Flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Use	National flag and ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	Officially adopted on 19 February 1937, variants in use since the Middle Ages.
Design	A horizontal triband of red (Bright Vermilion), white, and Cobalt blue.
Variant flag of Netherlands
Name	The "Prinsengeus", the naval jack of the Netherlands.
Use	Naval Jack
Proportion	2:3
Variant flag of Netherlands
Name	Royal Standard of the Netherlands
Proportion	1:1
Adopted	27 August 1908.
Design	A square orange flag, divided in four quarters by a nassau-blue cross with the small coat of arms of the Kingdom, surmounted by a royal crown and surrounded by the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of Willem. Each quarter shows a bugle-horn which originates in arms of the Principality of Orange.

The flag of the Netherlands (Dutch: Vlag van Nederland) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Variants of the flag have been in use since 1572, and in 1937 the flag was officially formalized as the national flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is the oldest tricolour flag still in national use and has influenced both the French (1794) and Russian flag (1693), both of these flags have in turn influenced many other European and African flags. The Dutch flag is distinguished from the flag of Luxembourg which has a lighter shade of blue. The resemblance of the Luxembourgish flag with the Dutch flag has given rise to a national debate in Luxembourg to change the flag.

The national flag of the Netherlands is a tricolour flag. The horizontal fesses are bands of equal size in the colours, from top to bottom, red (officially described as a "bright vermilion"), white (silver), and blue ("cobalt blue"). The flag proportions (width:length) are 2:3. The first stadtholder of the Dutch Republic was William I of Orange, who joined with Dutch nationalists and led the struggle for independence from Spain. Partly out of respect for him, the first flag adopted by the Dutch was a horizontal tricolour of orange, white, and blue. It became known as the Prinsenvlag ("Prince's flag") and was based on the livery of William of Orange. The orange dye was particularly unstable and tended to turn red after a while, so in the mid-17th century, red was made the official colour. The flag has flown since then, but was confirmed by Royal Decree only in 1937, at the same time the colour parameters were exactly defined. As the first revolutionary flag, it has had a seminal influence throughout the world, particularly on the Pan-Slavic colours of Russia. Until about 1800, in the case of both the orange- and the red-striped versions, the number of stripes and their order frequently varied.