Flag of Flanders

History

History of the lion

The Flemish lion derives from the arms of the Counts of Flanders. Their first appearance is on a seal of Count Philip of Alsace, dating from 1163. As such they constitute the oldest of the many territorial arms bearing a lion in the Low Countries. Still, Count Philip was not the first of his line to bear a lion, for his cousin, William of Ypres, already used a seal with a lion passant in 1158; and the shield on the enamel effigy of about 1155 from the tomb of his maternal uncle, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, bears numerous lions rampant.

When the county of Flanders was inherited by the Dukes of Burgundy in 1405, the Flemish lion was placed on an escutcheon in their dynastic arms. It passed with the rest of the Burgundian inheritance to the House of Habsburg in 1482. The Habsburgs would bear the title and arms of the county of Flanders until 1795. As part of the claims and counterclaims resulting from War of the Spanish Succession, the Flemish lion likewise featured in the arms of Kings of Spain until 1931 and in the arms of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies until 1860.

Symbol of the Flemish Community

In 1816 the Flemish lion became part of the coats of arms of the modern Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders that administer most of the territory of the former county.

After gaining cultural autonomy in 1972, the then Cultuurraad van de Nederlandse Cultuurgemeenschap (Cultural Council of the Dutch Cultural Community) voted the decree of 22 May 1973 adopting the Flemish lion as its official coat of arms. Shortly afterwards, the Cultuurraad also adopted a flag, which is the same as the coat of arms. The arms and flag were adopted by the Flemish Community (Decree of 30 March 1988) when it took over the attributions of the Cultuurraad.

Historic flags

Graafschap Vlaanderen

The flag of the County of Flanders was the flag of what was then Flanders. The Lion was first used by Philip of Alsace in the 12th century as his personal coat of arms as Count of Flanders and was later also used by the County of Flanders itself, both as a coat of arms and as a flag/armorial banner.

The flag is described as: "Or, a lion rampant armed and langued Gules"

In the early years of the county, the lion was sometimes depicted as a completely black lion, without red accents, which is what the Flemish battle flag is derived from, but in later and more detailed versions, the Flemish lion was (almost) always depicted with red claws and tongue.

County of Flanders (old version)

The first coat of arms of the County of Flanders wasn't a lion, but a popular background, featuring the colors blue and yellow with a red shield in the center. It was attributed to the legendary Liederik van Buc. It may have been derived from a misinterpreted decorative mount on the shield of the Flemish Count Willem Clito. This symbol was used until the 12th century, from which time onward, the Flemish lion increasingly became the symbol of the county.

The arms is described as: "Desired of twelve pieces of gold and azure, with a heart shield of gules"

Today, this coat of arms is the symbol of the Belgian province of West Flanders. It is identical to the province's flag, to demonstrate its historical ties with the County of Flanders, was introduced on May 27, 1997, and approved by the Flemish Minister of Culture.

Variants

Flemish Community Commission

The Flag of the Flemish Community Commission is the flag of the Flemish Community within the Brussels-Capital Region. It was adopted as the official flag of the Community Commission on December 4, 1992.

The flag is described as: "Yellow with a black lion, red clawed and tongued, with a blue vertical stripe along the trousers with a yellow iris with a white edge in the top of the trousers"

The Flemish flag is combined with the (old) flag of the Brussels Capital Region, to form that of the Flemish Community Commission.

Color of the Claws and tongue

There is discussion within the Flemish movement whether the tongue and claws of the Flemish lion should be red or black.

Like many other nationalist movements, the Flemish movement sought and appropriated historical symbols as an instrument for rallying support. The choice of the Flemish lion was primarily based on the popular historical novel De leeuw van Vlaanderen (1838) of Hendrik Conscience, that forged the Battle of the Golden Spurs of 11 July 1302 into an icon of Flemish resistance against foreign oppression. It was enhanced even further when Hippoliet van Peene wrote the anthem De Vlaamse Leeuw in 1847. By the late nineteenth century it was customary for supporters of the Flemish movement to fly the Flemish lion on 11 July.

But the controversy over the color of the claws and tongue originated when part of the Flemish movement started to take an increasingly anti-Belgian stand after the First World War and even more after the second world war, after the Flemish SS promoted the use of the full black lion and after the war was seen as the symbol of collaboration with the Nazis. The radicalized resented that the colours of the Flemish lion echoed those of the Belgian flag (black, yellow and red) and therefore propagated a black lion with black tongue and claws. The divide has remained ever since. Officially and historically the Flemish lion should have a red tongue and claws, and while both flags used to be more or less interchangeable until 1973 the entirely black lion has come to stand for the separatist or otherwise radical sections of Flemish nationalism in the eyes of many.

Flemish collaboration

The Nazis and collaborators in various occupied countries used national symbolism to stir up the sympathies of the population. This was also done in Flanders, for example, to recruit new soldiers for the SS, among others. All of this was a key element in Nazi propaganda. The Belgian flag, as well as the Dutch and French flags, was used. Because a significant portion of the Flemish Movement at the time decided to collaborate with the Germans, they decided to use the Flemish Lion. The Germans considered the Flemish people their brothers in the people, the so-called Flamenpolitik. Since a majority of the collaborators were Flemish nationalists, the German occupiers therefore decided to use a completely black version of the Flemish Lion, just like the Flemish Movement.

Belgian flags with Flemish lion

Differen Belgian provinces have the Flemish lion within their flag or armorialbanner

West-Flanders

The banner of arms of West Flanders was the old unofficial flag of the province West-Flanders and was the coat of arms of the province in flag form (or banner form).

The flag is described as: "Divided, on the left a coveted background of blue and yellow in twelve pieces, with in the center over the whole a heart shield of red and on the right in yellow a black lion with red tongue and claws"

The design of the old (unofficial) West Flanders armorialbanner refers to the historical coat of arms of the County of Flanders, which still used both sides of the coat of arms as its shields. The armorialbanner was previously (unofficially) used as the flag of West Flanders, but was later dropped when the official provincial flag was adopted in 1997.

East-Flanders

The flag of East-Flanders, and the old armorialbanner of the province both have the Flemish lion on them.

The flag is described as: "In green, six white stripes and a black lion with four red claws and a red tongue"

The flag of East Flanders has a green background with four white stripes and a Flemish lion. The green background refers to the province's environmental friendliness, the four white stripes refer to the province's four major rivers, and the Flemish lion refers to the province's historical ties with the region (and county) of Flanders.

Hainaut

The flag of Hainaut has the Flemish lion on it, as the County of Hainaut used to have an identical flag to Flanders.

The flag is described as: "Four quarters, each with a lion. A black lion sable (top left and bottom right), a red lion gules (top right and bottom left)"

The flag of the County of Hainaut was a combination of the flag of Hainaut (identical to the flag of Flanders, the black lion with red claws and tongue) and the flag of Holland (the red lion with blue claws and tongue). This was because the Count of Hainaut was also Count of Holland. Later it became the (unofficial) flag of the province of Belgium in 1831.