A new flag with a
deeper layer of meaning
There are people whose hearts fill spontaneously with a warm feeling whenever they spot 'our tricolour' somewhere in a faraway country. They can almost smell coffee brewing in their own kitchens at home. The flag, inspiring feelings of pride and security: that was the whole idea behind it. White and royal blue were, after all, the colours of the Prince of Orange; the father of our country, 'with undying faith'. The only pity was that in 1850 the orange was replaced by vermillion because it was more of an eye-catcher at sea.
JOINE new Dutch Flag
Design by Maarten Baptist for Van Abbe Museum
Image by JOINE
Such a lot of emotion and such an emotionally charged symbol; not even our national pride The Night Watch can equal that; let alone Victory Boogie Woogie, which was at one time acquired as a present for and by the people of the Netherlands. Our flag is, to put it briefly, the ultimate symbol of cohesion with which we can alleviate our national identity crisis.
Even if - all things considered - our flag is nothing special in itself. 'Our tricolour' consists of the most often-used combination of colours: the USA, Great Britain and even tiny countries such as Iceland and Panama are all content with the same. And then there's the design. Russia and former Yugoslavia also used the same three strips of fabric. And, depending on the angle from which you look at it, we actually have the same flag as France. In any case, it is an exact copy of the flag of Luxemburg. Luxemburg!
Take the flag of Sri Lanka, for instance: a golden lion, armed with a spear, against a blood-red background. As overwhelming as a Brahms symphony or a film by Oliver Stone. In Sri Lanka, they snigger at our lion, clad only in his undershirt. The Brits at least have a nickname for their flag (Union Jack) - as if it is a conceptual work of art.
High time for a new flag. This week an alternative will be presented, designed by Maarten Baptist. In the Van Abbe museum in Eindhoven; as if this concerns a well thought-out work of art, imbued with a deeper hidden meaning. The moment of its presentation is also fraught with symbolism - almost at the same time as the presentation of the national 'canon'; a list of all things historical that every Dutch citizen 'ought to know'.
There is no doubt about it; this is a blue sky hanging above a green polder. There is nothing more Dutch imaginable; although the good old red-white-and-blue has not been thrown completely overboard thanks to the inclusion of a rainbow.
Either way you look at it, the rainbow puts you in a positive frame of mind. After all, once those Dutch downpours have subsided they are always followed by sunshine - and of course, a rainbow. A rainbow with a gamut of colours: isn't that a perfect metaphor for our multi-coloured society? And isn't the same green colour of our polders associated with the colour of Islam as well?
This won't revive the old VOC era, but this flag is a contemporary and hope-filled icon of brotherhood. Now all we need is a suitable nickname.
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