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Flanders

 

The historical Flanders is today separated in four regions, respectively it exists within other borders:

State-Flanders, since 1648 part of the Netherlands, the mainland of the Dutch Province of Zeeland
Belgian Flanders, today separated in the Belgian provinces of East Flanders, West Flanders and parts of Hainaut
Flanders, since 1980 one of the two components of federal Belgium (Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south)
French Flanders, since 1659 to France, today the Department Nord

 

Contents

Flag

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge, Fahne, flag, Flandern, Flanders, Vlaanderen, Flandre
Flag of Flanders,
Source, by: Flags of the World




Flagge, Fahne, flag, Flandern, Flanders, Vlaanderen, Flandre, Alt-Flandern, Altflandern
Flag of Ancient Flanders,
Source, by: Flags of the World




Flagge, Fahne, flag, Flandern, Flanders, Vlaanderen, Flandre, Staatsflandern, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
Flag of State-Flanders,
Source, by: Wikipedia (NL)



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Coat of Arms


Wappen coat of arms Flandern arms crest Flanders blason de Flandre Vlaanderen
Coat of arms of Ancient Flanders,
Source: Wikipedia (D)


Wappen coat of arms Flandern arms crest Flanders blason de Flandre Vlaanderen
Coat of arms of New Flanders
Source: Wikipedia (D)

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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Flanders knows today two flags, both of which go back to historical coat of arms of the country:

1) The coat of arms of Ancient Flanders how it since 15 Century was known: yellow and blue gestural changes, with a red heart tag. The Belgian province of West Flanders still used a flag with the image.
2) The coat of arms of New Flanders. Probably during the reign of the Habsburgs became the County of Flanders gave a different symbol. It showed a black, red armored lion on gold, a heraldry that is still very common and widely known, not least as a symbol of Flanders as a federal unit of the present-day Belgium.

The in 1960 created region "Nord - Pas - de - Calais", uses an unofficial flag modeled on the coat of arms of New Flanders. The same flag is used in Belgian Flanders.

In Dutch State-Flanders (Zealand-Flanders, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen) an own flag is in use since the year 2009. It is the common symbol of the three municipalities of Terneuzen, Sluis and Hulst and shows nine stripes in red-white-red-yellow-blue-white-blue in a ratio of 1:1:1:6:1:1:1. In the yellow stripe, moved towards the mast, appears the black lion of Flanders, which also appears in the coat of arms of Hulst. The traditional red reinforcement (tongue and claws) of the lion was deliberately omitted in order to make the lion look "younger, more robust and more dynamic". The upper red stripes come from the flag of Sluis, while the lower blue stripes come from the flag of Terneuzen.

Source: Volker Preuß, Wikipedia (NL)

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Map

Landkarte, Map, Flandern, Flanders, Vlaanderen, Flandre
Source: Volker Preuß

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Numbers and Facts

Area: at the time of its greatest expansion, the County of Flanders covers an area of about 7.700 square miles

Capital: Gent and Bruges

Language: Flemish (Dutch dialect)

other Languages: French

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Wikipedia (D)

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History

58–51 B.C. · Roman conquest

3rd century A.D. · settlement by Franks and Frisians

481–843 · to the Frankish Empire

8th century · formation of the County of Flanders

880 · Treaty of Verdun and Ribbemont, at the division of the Frankish Empire comes West Flanders (now known as Crown Flanders) to the West Frankish Kingdom (France) and East Flanders (now known as Imperial Flanders) to the East Franconian Empire (German Empire)

1007 · the Margrave of West Flanders gets East Flanders as a fiefdom by the German Emperor

1050 · Flanders expands by wars to the east from the Scheldt River to Dender River, in the south acquisition of Cambrai and Tournai

1045 · cede of Valenciennes to the County of Hainaut

1170 · acquisition of Vermandois

1180 · cede of Artois to France

1191 · vanish of the Counts of Flanders, Flanders comes as heir to the House of Dampierre of Hainaut

1205 · the County of Flanders becomes transferred to a Dampierre at the division of an estate

1345–1384 · war between France and Flanders

1385 · Burgundy acquires Flanders by marriage of the heir to the throne

1555 · the House of Habsburg inherits the Burgundian territories

1648 · State Flanders comes to the Netherlands (until today part of the Netherlands)

1659 · France conqueres the western parts of Flanders (until today part of France)

1792–1794 · French troops conquer Flanders

1797 · Flanders is annexed by France

1815 · Congress of Vienna, Flanders becomes a part of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands

1830 · creation of the Belgian State (Belgium), Belgian-Flanders is initially divided in the two départements Escault and Lys, later the two provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Wikipedia (D)

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Origin of the Country's Name

The name "Flanders" goes back the old word "Fladmari", what means "shallow marshes" and it stated at the beginning only the area around the city of Bruges.

Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen

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