Last modified: 2015-07-28 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Oud-Turnhout]](../images/b/be-vanot.gif)
Municipal flag of Oud-Turnhout - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 7 January 2008
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The municipality of Oud-Turnhout (12,633 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,880 ha) is located in Kempen, east of Turnhout.
The origin and meaning of the name Oud-Turnhout are still a research question. The name appeared in the XIV-XVth centuries as Vetus Tuenholtum (1333), Oud-Tuernout (1405-1406) and Viès-Tournout (1414). hout means "a wood" but the meaning of turn is more disputed. turn can be considered as coming from the Germanic word turn or torn, "a tower". Such a tower could have been built on the wood edge to watch possible invaders. turn could also have been derived from Germanic turnum, "a throny tree". An other possible etymology is "Tuerenhoutervoort", "the ford on the road to Turnhout", today the bridge over the Aa. oud most probably means "old", referring to the oldest settlement in Turnhout, but could also come from Middle Dutch ouwe, "a field crossed by water".
Oud-Turnhout was once a hamlet of Turnhout. Its inhabitants fought from 1835 to 1858 to obtain the municipal status, which was eventually granted by Royal Decree on 29 December 1858, effective on 1 January 1859. Some 120 years later, the municipal reform intended to reincorporate Oud-Turnhout into Turnhout but Mayor Jan Nuyts and the Municipal Council could obtain a status quo, with a few concessions: the hamlets of Schoonbroek and Kijkverdriet were incorporated to the municipalities of Retie and Ravels, respectively, with a loss of nearly 1,000 ha and 1,038 inhabitants.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 16 September 2007
The municipal flag of Oud-Turnhout is white with three red lions with
blue tongue and claws, placed 2 and 1.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal
Council on 5 June 1980, confirmed by Royal Decree on 13 January 1981
and published in the Belgium official flag on 21 February 1981 and,
again, on 4 January 1995.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.
The municipal website gives the official description of the flag:
Wit met drie rode leeuwen, blauw geklauwd en getongd,
and of the coat of arms:
In zilver drie leeuwen van keel, geklauwd en getongd van lazuur.
The arms were those of the Van der Beken-Pasteel family, who lived in
the former Priory of Corsendonk, then used as a manor and today an
hotel. Frans Van der Beken-Pasteel led the campaign for the municipal
autonomy of Oud-Heverlee and served as the first Mayor of the town.
The lions on the image of the coat of arms on the municipal website do
not match the "official" design, as it is the case in Edegem and elsewhere.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 16 September 2007