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Veendam (The Netherlands)

Groningen province

Last modified: 2011-03-26 by andrew weeks
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Veendam municipality Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net

Other Veendam pages: See also:

Municipal flag

Municipal data of Veendam: Inhabitants: 28.301; Area: 78,81 km2.
Settlements: Bareveld (part), Borgercompagnie (part), Kibbelgaarn, Korte Akkers, Numero Dertien, Ommelanderwijk, Tripscompagnie (part), Veendam (seat), Wildervank, Wildervanksterdallen, Zuidwending.
Veendam is c. 30 km southeast of Groningen city. It is the second largest town of the province, the main town of the 'Veenkoloniën" (Peat-region). It has national fame because of its football (soccer) stadium, called 'De lange Leegte' (The Long Emptiness), symbolizing the sight after all peat had been dug out... It is now a busy industrial municipality.
The flag was adopted 14 May 1955 with the municipal Coat of Arms on the white stripe. Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck (1605-62) founded Veendam and Wildervank in 1647. A monument in front of the old municipal building in Wildervank reminds of him. His original name was Adriaan Geerts Paap, but he was also known as A. G. Wildvang. His wife, Margaretha Hardenberg, was once sleeping in the heather, when she was attacked by a viper. She promised to build on that spot a church, whereupon the viper fell on the ground and disappeared. There the church of Wildervank was built. This story is painted on the Coat of Arms of Veendam, while the Wildervank arms just have a big heap of "turven", blocks of peat, the main product of the marshes, known as "Veenkoloniën". Although they were separate settlements, nearly all settlements were built in one very long stretch along the channels, the main being the Stadskanaal (Stad = city, in this case Groningen, the main town of the Northern Netherlands. No wonder that at present Veendam and Wildervank form one long community.
The oldest reported flag of Veendam was plain white (flagbook of Steenbergen, c. 1870). The Society for the Benefit of the Marine (Maatschappij to Nut der Zeevaart (1817) had a white flag with a twice cut through canton of red, white and blue. Finally there was a white flag with two intertwined V's (merchant flag).
Jarig Bakker, 15 November 1999

Veendam old "all white" flag

[all white Veendam flag] by Jaume Ollé, 30 Apr 2003, after Steenbergen.

Sierksma, in Nederlands Vlaggenboek, 1962 [sie62] mentions three older flags for Veendam:
All white.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Apr 2003

Veendam's VNZ-flag

[Veendam's VNZ-flag] by Gerard van der Vaart, of Shipmate.

The flag of the "Maatschappij tot Nut der Zeevaart" (Society for the Benefit of the Marine), a "Zeemanscollege", a white field with in the canton a red-white-blue flag.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Apr 2003

Veendam's old VV flag

[Veendam's old VV flag] by Jaume Ollé, 30 Apr 2003, after Steenbergen.

A merchantmen particular flag: a white field with a monogram of two "V"s.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Apr 2003

Veendam's present flag according to Sierksma

[Veendam's present flag according to Sierksma] by Jarig Bakker, 30 Apr 2003

Sierksma's drawing of the present flag, as adopted 24 May 1955, has the Coat of Arms close to the hoist, and the bottom of the arms is round. I have asked Mr. Hans van Heijningen's opinion about this version; he replied that he had read all municipal decisions in order to know whether Sierksma's renditions were correct. In the case of Veendam it is his opinion, based on the municipal decision, that the Shipmate-version is incorrect, and that Sierksma's version is correct.
Jarig Bakker, 30 Apr 2003

Veendam municipality Coat of Arms

[Veendam Coat of Arms] image from Ralf Hartemink's site.

Tot Nut der Zeevaart Zeemanscollege, Veendam

[Tot Nut der Zeevaart flag] by Jaume Ollé, 29 Apr 2003, after Steenbergen: Vlaggen van alle Natiën, 1862

(See Zeemanscolleges)
Maatschappij "Tot Nut der Zeevaart" (Society for the Benefit of the Marine), established December 1817 (probably; certainly 1815-1820) in "het Veendammer Schippershuus" in Veendam. This college was such a success that it even decided to establish a School of Navigation, which existed 1851-1879. Leen Smit pictures number 137. The society was still in existence around 1879, but by 1979 it had disappeared.
Flag: Red with a Dutch canton 1/3rd of the flags dimensions in size. In the image the black number can barely be made out, but it appears to starts just flywise of the canton, though hoistwise in the middle 1/3rd of the flag. (I'm unable to ascertain whether or not there's a letter in front of the number.) At this page we have the same flag, without number, but with a white field. I do not know whether this means the flag of the college had a colour different from that of the members.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 6 Dec 2001

Tot Nut der Zeevaart Zeemanscollege other flag

[Tot Nut der Zeevaart other flag] by Jaume Ollé, 2 May 2003, after Steenbergen: Vlaggen van alle Natiën, 1862

Tot Nut der Zeevaart Zeemanscollege variant flag

[Tot Nut der Zeevaart variant flag] by Jaume Ollé, 14 Nov 2003, after Steenbergen: Vlaggen van alle Natiën, 1862 (# 164 a).