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West Flanders (Province, Belgium)

West-Vlaanderen, Flandre Occidentale

Last modified: 2010-09-24 by ivan sache
Keywords: west flanders | flandre occidentale | lion (black) | west-vlaanderen | flanders | governor |
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[West Flanders]

Flag of the Province of West Flanders - Image by Gerard Van der Vaart, 24 August 2000, after the official construction sheet


See also:


Official flag of West Flanders

The flag and arms of West Flanders were approved on 27 May 1997 by the Flemish Minister of Culture, Family and Welfare. The flag is rectangular (2:3) with a gyronny of six yellow and six blue pieces and a red escutcheon in the middle.

Gerard van der Vaart, 24 August 2000


Logo flag of West Flanders

[West Flanders logo flag]

Logo flag of East Flanders - Image by Ivan Sache, 12 June 2010

Another "provincial" flag of West Flanders is made of the province logo placed on a white field.
The logo of West Flanders is made of a curved triangle itself made of three red triangles surrounding a white one (roughly representing the map of the province?) and of the motto "Provincie / West- Vlaanderen" ("Province / West Flanders", black letters), "Door mensen gedreven" ("Driven by men", smaller, red letters).
The logo flag is shown "on" Clea Van Cauwenberghe, on a photo part of her campaign for the 2010 Miss West Flanders contest, driven by the photographer Melissa Van Belle. The official flag is also shown "on" Clea in the same photo series. Clea Van Cauwenberghe, a 19 year-old student in criminology from Loppem (Zedelgem), eventually ranked third in the contest.

Ivan Sache, 12 June 2010


Unofficial banner of arms of West Flanders

[West Flanders banner of arms]

Unofficial flag of East Flanders - Image by Geraard van der Vaart, 19 April 2001

The traditional banner of arms of West Flanders (per pale 1. gyronny six pieces azure and six pieces or an escutcheon gules 2. or a lion sable armed and langued gules [Flanders]) is used as the unofficial flag of West Flanders.

Ivan Sache, 3 February 2007


Colours of East Flanders

[West Flanders provincial colours]     [West Flanders provincial colours]

Unofficial colours of West Flanders - Images by Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

The Province of West Flanders used, unofficially, colours taken from the arms. These colours were not fixed.
A chart called Vlaggen der Belgische Provincies - Drapeaux des Provinces Belges (Flags of the Belgian Provinces; not dated, but to judge from the font type used, from the 1920s-1930s) shows a flag horizontally divided red-yellow-blue.
Some Dutch atlases and books about the provinces show another design, published by Rudi Koot in Vexilla Nostra [vxn]#185 (1993) p. 32-33, as horizontally divided yellow-red.

Mark Sensen, 6 February 2001


Honorary flag of the Governor of West Flanders

[Governor's honorary flag]

Honorary flag of the Governor of West Flanders - Image by Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

The honorary flags of the Province Governors were adopted by Council Order on 28 October 1936. They are shown with construction details on a book (bilingual Dutch and French) containing regulations (for the Navy?). Each flag is a square version of the Belgian national flag with the respective province arms in the center of the black stripe. The flag is 150 x 150 cm, therefore each stripe is 50 cm in width. The shield is 43.5 cm in width and 50 cm in height, excluding 3.75 cm for the point of the shield.

Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001