List of municipal flags of the Netherlands

The list of municipal flags of the Netherlands lists the flags of municipalities of the Netherlands. Most municipalities of the Netherlands have unique flags. Like provincial flags, most of them are with either derived on the corresponding municipal coat of arms, or the flag colours are taken from the corresponding municipal coat of arms. Therefore, the list will also discuss the symbolism of the municipal flags. Please note that some of the flags listed are either de facto flags, flags that are flown for local purposes, or flags that are not yet approved by municipal resolution.

Background
Not every Dutch municipality has or had its own flag. It is the municipal council that decides whether and, if so, which municipal flag to fly. Municipal flags are adopted by the municipal council, after adoption of the municipal coat of arms by the High Council of Nobility (Dutch: Hoge Raad van Adel; HRvA). Thus, the flag is not granted by the king, as is the case with the coat of arms. The High Council of Nobility advises municipalities in choosing the municipal flag and also records municipal flags in the flag register. However, the trend is for many municipalities to replace their flag with a bedsheet - usually white - with a logo and the name of the municipality on it, similar to and barely distinguishable from most corporate flags. These logo flags are not recorded in the flag register.

A municipality may adopt a different flag and/or coat of arms when municipal boundaries change, or when there is a need for renewal for some other reason. After a municipal redivision, the flags of the former municipalities that were merged are often designated by the municipal council as town or village flags for the respective localities. The same happens with village coats of arms.

It is customary in the Netherlands for a municipal flag entered the flag register to have the same colours as the municipal coat of arms, unless there are good reasons to deviate from this, for example when historical research has shown that the original colours of the municipal coat of arms are different from the colours in which the coat of arms was granted. Another reason for using different colours may be when the municipality historically flagged with certain colours that were, for example, associated with local patron saints or historical rulers.

Until around 1960, the High Council of Nobility recommended using strips of bedsheet in the colours of the municipal coat of arms as municipal flags. This enabled citizens to manufacture their own flag at low cost, while manufacturing was inexpensive using methods common at the time. These flags are sometimes referred to as colour flags, as a result of the small number of possible variations, many municipal flags from that period look similar. Later, High Council of Nobility stepped away from this opinion. There was more prosperity in the country and the manufacture of flags changed, allowing flags with symbols to also be manufactured at a reasonable price.

Some Dutch merger municipalities use a logo flag. Many of these logo flags have no official status because they are not adopted by the municipal council. They therefore only represent the municipal organisation and not the citizens or the territory. Even when the municipal council does officially adopt a logo flag, these flags are not included in the flag register of the High Council of Nobility because they do not adhere to the rules of flag doctrine.

History
As early as the Middle Ages, cities had their own flags and banners. Often these were based on the colours of the city's coat of arms. They usually consisted of strips of fabric sewn together in the distinctive colours for the city. The shape and design were not always fixed and could change over time.

Historically, flags were carried at sea since the 16th century, by which boaters could recognise their town or regional counterparts. Municipalities that were home to fishing in the North Sea fishery were asked by the King's Commissioner in 1857 to indicate which flags were flown at sea in addition to the national flag. These were flags of shipowners, but also of the home port municipality. For the sake of compliance with the Fisheries Act, several municipalities adopted their own flags at that time. Later (from 1882), the flags on board were replaced by a letter code. However, the municipal flags remained.

Many Dutch municipal flags came into being only after Queen Wilhelmina's 40th anniversary of her reign in 1938, when each municipality sent a delegation, consisting of young people. Each delegation was preceded by a municipal flag. For municipalities that did not have their own flag, a flag was made in the colours of the provincial flag with the municipal coat of arms on it in the canton. Friesland and Brabant used their current flag. A flag was designed for all other provinces, which did not yet have their own flag. It was only after World War II that the provincial flags were given official status, none of the provincial flags designed for the parade were adopted as official flags. Curiously, some municipalities still used their occasional flag as an unofficial municipal flag for many years. Currently, there are still four municipalities (Eemnes, Epe, Hellendoorn and Oldebroek) that fly a flag derived from the parade flag.

The 1938 parade flags were an extension of the flags made for all Brabantian municipalities in 1935 during a parade to mark the 750th anniversary of the North Brabantian capital 's-Hertogenbosch. These had an identical design and were intended to promote the Brabantian flag. The idea for these came from the Brabantian state archivist J. Smit.