A flag is a piece of fabric with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging. Many flags fall into groups of similar designs called flag families. The study of flags is known as "vexillology" from the Latin vexillum, meaning "flag" or "banner".
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours and symbols, which may also be used separately from the flag as a symbol of the nation. The design of a national flag is sometimes altered after the occurrence of important historical events.
The national flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. The current design originates as a variant of the late 16th century orange-white-blue Prinsenvlag, evolving in the early 17th century as the red-white-blue Statenvlag, the naval flag of the States-General of the Dutch Republic, making the Dutch flag the oldest tricolour flag in continuous use. As a flag that symbolises the transformation from monarchy to republic, it has inspired both the derivative Russian flag, and after the French Revolution in 1789, the vertically striped French tricolour; both flags in turn influenced many other tricolours. During the economic crisis of the 1930s, the old Prince's Flag with the colour orange gained some popularity among some people. To end the confusion, the colours red, white and blue and its official status as the national flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were reaffirmed by royal decree on 19 February 1937.
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the de facto national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. The flag continues to have official status in Canada, by parliamentary resolution, where it is known as the Royal Union Flag. However, it is commonly referred to in Canada as the Union Jack.
Orange is the colour between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light. The human eyes perceive orange when observing light with a dominant wavelength between roughly 585 and 620 nanometres. In traditional colour theory, it is a secondary colour of pigments, produced by mixing yellow and red. In the RGB colour model, it is a tertiary colour. It is named after the fruit of the same name.
The national flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, during South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the previous flag used from 1928–1994.
Greater Netherlands is an irredentist concept which unites the Netherlands, Flanders, and sometimes Brussels. Additionally, a Greater Netherlands state may include the annexation of the French Westhoek, Suriname, formerly Dutch-speaking areas of Germany and France, or even the ethnically Dutch and/or Afrikaans-speaking parts of South Africa. A related proposal is the Pan-Netherlands concept, which includes Wallonia and potentially also Luxembourg.
The Order of Orange-Nassau is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
A triband is a type of flag which consists of three stripes arranged to form a flag. These stripes may be two or three colours, and may have an emblem in the middle stripe. All tricolour flags are tribands, but not all tribands are tricolour flags, which requires three unique colours.
The flags of New York City include the flag of New York City, the respective flags of the boroughs of The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, and flags of certain city departments. The city flag is a vertical tricolor in blue, white, and orange and charged in the center bar with the seal of New York City in blue. The tricolor design is derived from the flag of the Dutch Monarchy—the Prince's Flag—as used in New Amsterdam in 1625, when that city became the capital of New Netherland.
The flags of the Dutch royal family are a set of flags used to identify a member of the royal family. The current system of flags for the Dutch monarch, princes, and princesses was introduced in 1908.
The flag of the Orange Free State was officially used from 1857 to 1902. It was superseded by the flag of the Orange River Colony.
The flag of Sint Maarten consists of a white triangle situated at the hoist charged with the constituent country's coat of arms, along with two horizontal bands of cherry red and navy blue. Adopted in 1985 shortly after the territory was granted a coat of arms, it has been the flag of Sint Maarten since 13 June of that year. Since the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, it has been the sole flag used in the constituent country.
The Flag of New Holland, also known as the flag of Dutch Brazil, was the flag used by the Dutch West India Company for the territories that were under its control in Brazil from 1630 until 1654. In this period, Brazil was not granted its own flag, and only the flags of its colonizers or rulers were used.
The Statenvlag is the name of the flag of the States-General of the Dutch Republic, the red-white-blue tricolour flag replacing the older orange-white-blue Prince's Flag in the mid 17th century. The modern national flag of the Netherlands, the exact colours of which were confirmed in 1937, is based on this historical flag. It also resembles the modern Flag of Luxembourg.
The flag of South Africa from 1928 to 1994 was the flag of the Union of South Africa from 1928 to 1961 and later the flag of the Republic of South Africa until 1994. It was also the flag for South West Africa under the former's administration. Based on the Dutch Prince's Flag, it contained the flag of the United Kingdom, the flag of the Orange Free State, and the flag of the South African Republic (respectively) in the centre. A nickname for the flag was Oranje, Blanje, Blou.
Anti-fascist research group Kafka, commonly abbreviated to Kafka, is a Dutch anti-fascist and far-left research group. Its name was said to be an acronym for Kollektief Anti-Fascistisch/-Kapitalistisch Archief before 1994, but the research group has since indicated that they had named themselves after the writer Franz Kafka.
Oranje boven is a Dutch pro-monarchy folk song which represents Dutch fondness for its royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. It is a contrafact, sharing the same melody as the children's song "We zijn er bijna ".
