The Orange Pennant: The Dutch Response to a Flag Dilemma

On certain days of the year the Dutch celebrate their royal family, the House of Orange, by flying an orange pennant above their national flag. The Netherlands is the only country in the world which extends its flag with such an added stripe. It is a reminder of the unsolved question; what is the correct colour of the top stripe of the national flag—red or orange? Orange was the original 16th-century colour, to represent Willem of Orange. About fifty years later the top stripe changed to red—and ever since, the Dutch have been divided on this question. The orange pennant, in Dutch a ‘wimpel’, came into use after the Netherlands regained independence in 1815. The ‘old’ republican red, white, and blue flag was reinstated by the newly formed Kingdom of the Netherlands. Half a century later, it became fashionable to show allegiance to the royal family by adding an orange stripe as a pennant attached to the flag. The orange pennant started a new Dutch flag tradition, as nowadays other things fly with the flag as well.

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