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Raard (The Netherlands)

Dongeradeel municipality, Fryslân province

by Jarig Bakker, 3 May 2004

Raard village
Raard Coat of Arms

See also:

Raard village

Flag: Diagonally divided from top-hoist to bottom-fly of white and blue; in white a black letter W of 1/3 flagheight; the first hook of the W topped by a geen cloverleaf..
Explanation: The field colors are those of Dongeradiel; the diagonal division refers to its former position in Westdongeradeel. The W and the clover leaf are from the Coat of Arms of the Van Kleffens family.
Raard had on 1-1-1999 226 inhabitants. The village is on the border of Dongeradiel and Ferwerderadiel
Jarig Bakker, 3 November 2000

Raard Coat of Arms

by Jarig Bakker, 3 May 2004

Description: "Per pale: I. in blue a silver cross-banner with red declining cross; II. In silver a black letter W with in chief and in base a green clover".
The cross-banner is for Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, associated with Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Raard. The capital W and the clovers are from the arms of the van Kleffens family, with reversed colors. The former cabinet minister E. N. van Kleffens (1894-1982) had close connections with Raard - he owned the farm named Kleffens, and his ancestors lived there for a long time. Kleffens was an old neighbourhood between Raard and Lichtaard on the border between Dongeradeel and Ferwerderadiel, of which only the mound "Kleffens-Raard" remains, and my uncle's farm.
Source: "Anoniem, 1994 (Wapens en vlaggen van Dongeradeel)".
Jarig Bakker, 3 May 2004