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Belgium: Beer flags

National beer flag
Chimay
Stella Artois

See also:

Belgium

National beer flag

National beer flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 March 2014

The "national beer flag", a tribute to Belgian beers, is made of the Belgium tricolor flag "with a cold pint of beer in its center".
The flag is part of "Fier op ons bier / Fiers de nos bières" (Proud of our beers), a campaign (website) launched by the "Belgische Brouwers / Brasseurs Belges", the Belgian brewers' professional association (claimed to be among the oldest professional associations in the world).

The Belgian brewers' association (website) is headquartered in the "De Goulden Boom" (The Golden Tree) house, built on the Brussels Grand-Place at the end of the 16th century by the Brussels brouwers' guild. Destroyed in 1695 during the French bombing of the town, the house was quickly rebuilt by architect Willem De Bruyn. The association also manages the Brewery Museum.
The Belgian brouwers' traditions are maintained by the Brotherhood of the Brewers' Mash staff, the direct descendant of the old brewers' guild. They pay special tribute to the King of Beer, Gambrinus (indeed, Jan Primus, or John I, Duke of Brabant and Lorraine [1210-1249], famous for his inextinguishable thirst and the founder of brewing industry in Brussels) and to the brewers' patron saint, St. Arnold (1040-1087, the son of a noble brewer, who transformed beer into a cure against black plague by plunging his staff into the beer kettles).

Ivan Sache, 27 March 2014

Chimay

Chimay beer flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 15 May 2007

The Cistercian abbey of Notre-Dame of Scourmont has been producing since 1862 one of the most famous beers in the world. The Chimay is one of the six genuine Belgian Trappists' beer, that is, completely brewed in a Trappists' monastery; the other Trappists' beers are Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel. The monks of Chimay produce also five kinds of cheese.

The Princess of Chimay once said: "I wish the castle of Chimay were as famous as the beer of Chimay". Anyway, both a related, since the abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Scourmont was founded on a piece of land granted by thePrince of Chimay to the Trappist fathers.
Some limited parts of the abbey can be visited, that is the park and the monks' cemetary. It is also possible to attend the mass and to go into retreat in the abbey. The brewery is not open to visit and there is no shop inside the abbey. To preserve their quietness, the monks have set up the abbey's shop into the inn of Poteaupré, an old school located not far from the abbey. There you can buy the Red, White and Blue beers and the Old Chimay, Chimay with beer, Unpasteurised Chimay and Chimay Grand Classic cheese.
The Poteaupré inn is decorated with flags that reproduce the famous purple label of the Chimay Red beer bottles, with the emblem of the brewery, the word "CHIMAY" surmonted by two white fleurs-de-lis and surmonting "PERES TRAPPISTES", all in white on a purple shield bordered in white.

Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 15 May 2007

Stella Artois

Flag of Stella Artois - Image by Randy Young, 22 September 2015

Stella Artois (website; Wikipedia), informally called Stella, is a beer brand of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, which originated in Leuven, since 1926.
The flag of Stella Artois (photo by Roelant Verhoeven) is white with the company's logo (image) in the middle, with the flag having a red and yellow dual stripe all around.

Esteban Rivera, 22 September 2015